Nationals Star Infielder Offers Most Bang for Buck With Bargain Contract

There aren’t many teams in baseball that have as good of a salary cap situation as the Washington Nationals.

Outside of still paying former World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg, who hasn’t pitched in the Major Leagues since 2022, they don’t have any glaring bad contracts on the books. The front office has done a great job of keeping the payroll clean as they look to build up their next foundation.

It is one of the advantages of having such a young roster. The Nationals are getting some excellent value from players compared to what they are earning in salary.

There are a lot of talented young players on the roster who are not yet arbitration-eligible, which is the first chance for players to see a real spike in salary. A good amount of them aren’t even making $1 million yet.

Only 12 players on the roster are earning seven-figures in 2025, which made choosing which player is the best on the team who is earning under $1 million a difficult decision.

Two of the most popular answers are likely left fielder James Wood, who is earning $764,600 this year, and right fielder Dylan Crews, who is making $761,800.

Both have sky-high ceilings based on their immense potential. Wood has already established himself as a legitimate MLB contributor and there are some former players who believe he has what it takes to be the next great player with Hall of Fame potential.

Crews is off to a tough start this year, performing at an even lower level than he did during his debut last year. But, it is way too early to write him off as he still adjusts to Major League pitching.

Starting pitcher Mitchell Parker, who is going to earn $767,200 this year in salary, is making a strong case to be the best player making under $1 million with the excellent start he is off to in 2025.

But, it is shortstop CJ Abrams, who is earning $780,600 in 2025, who has received the nomination from Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report, and with good reason.

His potential was on full display in 2024 when he made the All-Star game as the team’s lone representative before closer Kyle Finnegan was added as an injury replacement.

Abrams was incredibly productive, finishing the year with a 111 OPS+, 29 doubles, 20 home runs and 65 RBI. All four statistics were career highs for the 2019 first-round pick.

So far this year, he is off to another strong start with a 148 OPS+. He is hitting the ball with more authority than in years past with an average exit velocity of 90.8 mph.

The ball is also being put in the air more, which should lead to more damage being done and productive numbers racked up.

With improvements being made with his glove defensively as well, Abrams is becoming the all-around player that many analysts thought he was capable of being as a former top prospect.

He has put himself in a great position to see a massive increase in his salary for the 2026 season since he is arbitration-eligible for the first time in his career following the 2025 campaign.