Nationals avoid salary arbitration with Taylor
$3.3 million deal has bonus for 300 plate appearances
The Washington Nationals and Michael A. Taylor avoided salary arbitration for the second straight year by striking a deal late Thursday night. The two sides settled on a one-year contract worth $3,325,000, a source confirmed to The Washington Post.
The agreement includes a $25,000 performance bonus if Taylor reaches 300 plate appearances this season. Taylor had 97 in 2019, spending most of the season in Class AA Harrisburg.
The Nationals have three players headed toward arbitration — shortstop Trea Turner, pitcher Joe Ross and reliever Roenis Elías — and the deadline to exchange salary figures with them is Friday afternoon. Those players are eligible for arbitration because they have played more than three but fewer than six seasons in the majors and don’t have a contract for next season. Teams and players generally prefer to avoid arbitration because it can create friction and harm their relationship.
The agreement with Taylor is particularly notable because last offseason the Nationals and Taylor went to salary arbitration over $250,000. Taylor asked for $3.5 million last year; the Nationals offered $3.25 million. The sides couldn’t settle on a number, so each argued its case in front of three neutral arbiters in St. Petersburg, Fla. The panel sided with the Nationals.
Last season, Taylor and reliever Kyle Barraclough were the first players to take the Nationals to salary arbitration since reliever Jerry Blevins in 2015.
With Gerardo Parra departing for Japan, Taylor, 28, seems likely to reassume the role of the Nationals’ fourth outfielder following a disappointing 2019. He provides elite defense and some pop in his bat, though the team wants him to become more consistent on offense. He showed this past postseason he may be ready to take a step forward. In Game 2 of the World Series, he blasted a solo home run toward the end of a blowout win.
Reaching the plate appearances threshold to trigger his incentive will be difficult if the club’s other outfielders remain healthy. The Nationals’ everyday outfield probably will include Juan Soto in left, Victor Robles in center and Adam Eaton in right. Each played at least 150 games last season. Manager Dave Martinez could work Taylor into the lineup more regularly by giving the 31-year-old Eaton periodic rest, though it seems unlikely that Eaton, who embraces baseball’s daily grind, would prefer that arrangement.
Taylor is the third player with whom the Nationals have avoided arbitration this offseason. They signed reliever Hunter Strickland and utility infielder Wilmer Difo to one-year deals worth $1.6 million and $1 million, respectively.
According to the site MLB Trade Rumors, the projected values for the three remaining arbitration-eligible Nationals are $7.5 million for Turner, $1.9 million for Elías and $1.4 million for Ross.