Last night it was reported that the Washington Nationals were closing in on a contract extension for Cade Cavalli, the staff ace. I was going to hold off on writing about this until it was official, but as more time passes, I thought it was important to give an update. Locking up Cavalli would be a strong statement of intent for both the front office and ownership.
Robert Murray was the first to report on this deal but many others, including Spencer Nusbaum have also confirmed that a deal is close. For years, Nats fans have wanted to see extensions. Locking up home grown players has not been happening very often in DC. The only time in recent history that the Nats gave out an extension was Keibert Ruiz’s 8 year deal back in 2023.
Since then, the Nats have been very hesitant to give out long term contracts. In fact, we have not seen them go past two years for any players since Ruiz. However, it looks like that will change soon with Cavalli. If/when this deal is done, it will be something that benefits both the player and the team.
For these extensions, it takes two to tango. With Cavalli, it is easy to see why he would be receptive to a deal. He had a very bumpy road back from Tommy John Surgery and many people lost faith in him. The organization always stood by him and kept him in the plans. That loyalty gave the two sides a strong relationship.
In his age 27 season, Cavalli has rewarded the faith and has emerged as one of the best starters in the National League. This season, he has a 3.12 ERA with 194 strikeouts in 164.2 innings. Cavalli should get some down ballot Cy Young votes in his first full season as a big leaguer. He has also taken his game to another level here in the second half.
Despite only making 11 career starts this season, the new regime had a ton of trust in Cavalli. We saw that when he was made the Opening Day starter. Giving that honor to such an inexperienced player is usual but it showed how much belief the team had in Cavalli.
Seeing two parties with a good working relationship come together and make a deal is a beautiful thing. Hopefully this extension is done before too long. While the deal is moving, it does seem like there still are a couple final hurdles to clear. That is what Talk Nats reported earlier this morning.
The fact this deal is public knowledge now makes me think it is very likely to happen though. Paul Toboni and the Lerner’s can’t really afford to let this slip away now that it is out in the open. Hopefully it can get done today before Cade Cavalli takes the mound tonight in St. Louis.
We still don’t know the official details of the deal. However, Mark Zuckerman did provide some insight. He said that the deal will buy out at least one of his free agent years. That means the deal will be at least four years.
I would think that the sweet spot here would be a 5 or 6 year deal. At 28 years old, you don’t want to make the deal too long. However, I want to see them buy out multiple free agent years. A four year deal would just feel like window dressing to me.
Hopefully we can see the details soon. My final prediction is that this is a 5-year $80 million deal with a club option for a 6th year. That is just me looking at comparable deals and making an educated guess. When actual details come, I will keep you guys updated.
