García, Gore among Nats agreeing to 2025 contracts
The Nationals agreed to terms to a one-year contract for the 2025 season and avoided arbitration with five players on Thursday: second baseman Luis García Jr., right-handers MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray and Derek Law, and catcher Riley Adams.
Newly acquired first baseman Nathaniel Lowe also was arbitration eligible. Lowe filed at $11.1 million, and the Nationals filed at $10.3 million, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Lowe, 29, slashed .265/.361/.401 with 16 home runs and 69 RBIs last season on the Rangers.
García, 24, is coming off a Silver Slugger Award finalist performance in 2024. In 140 games, García slashed .282/.318/.444 with a .762 OPS. He accumulated 141 hits, 25 doubles, one triple, 18 homers, 58 runs scored, 70 RBIs, 22 stolen bases, 27 walks and 86 strikeouts. García also established career highs in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, hits, doubles, homers, RBIs and stolen bases.
Adams will earn $850,000 this season, per Feinsand. Adams, 28, split last season playing 41 games with the Nationals and 40 games with the Triple-A Red Wings. He stepped up when starting catcher Keibert Ruiz was sidelined by the flu in April, recording three multi-hit games in his first seven contests. In the bigs, he slashed .224/.292/.336 with two home runs, five doubles and his first career stolen base. Adams is expected to vie with Drew Millas for the backup catcher role in Spring Training.
Gore, 25, was 10-12 with a 3.90 ERA in a career-high 32 starts and 166 1/3 innings last season. Among NL pitchers, he ranked fifth in home runs per nine innings (0.81) and seventh in strikeouts per nine frames (9.79). Gore finished the second half of the season strong, ranking fifth in ERA (1.55) among all pitchers from Aug. 23 to the end of the year.
Gray, 27, is recovering from Tommy John surgery. After earning his first All-Star selection in 2023 and being named the '24 Opening Day starter, he was limited to only two outings last season. Gray was 0-2 with a 14.04 ERA before being sidelined by a right elbow/forearm flexor strain in early April. He is expected to return this season.
Law, 34, produced a bounce-back season after being non-tendered by the Reds in November 2023. He threw a career-high 90 innings out of the 'pen, ranked second in all of baseball. Law also became just the fourth Nats reliever in team history (2005-present) to reach that milestone. Overall, Law went 7-4 with a 2.60 ERA and earned one save. He ended the season with eight consecutive scoreless appearances. Law is the most experienced arm in the Nationals’ bullpen heading into this season.
The Nationals avoided arbitration with righty reliever Mason Thompson, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, in November with a one-year deal worth $770,000.