Potential Washington Nationals Free Agency Target Projected to Land $100 Million Deal
The Washington Nationals have seen their fair share of slugging outfielders don their uniform throughout the history of their franchise.
From Adam Dunn to Jayson Werth, and Bryce Harper to Juan Soto, the list goes on and on, though the team has only one World Series Championship to show for it.
It has been a rough go of late for the Nationals, who find themselves in yet another rebuild, and this one seems to be coming to an end much sooner than any of their others.
With the end of any rebuild comes the beginning of spending a billionaire's money to bring in pieces through free agency to help push the team over the edge and kickstart the all-powerful contention window.
That looks to be no different for Washington this offseason, as the team has been heavily linked to slugging outfielder Anthony Santander, with many predicting that he will land at the nation's capital through free agency.
In a recent article for The Athletic, Tim Britton took a crack at projecting the contracts that each of the top available free agents would garner and projected Santander to receive a 5-year, $105 million deal.
This would be a raise of $9.5 million for the one-time All-Star per AAV, and a contract that he is well worth, as well as the Nationals having more than enough money available in their payroll to swing the deal.
Santander has been a veteran presence in the Baltimore Orioles clubhouse for the last three years and has shown that he is capable of suiting up and taking the field every day in the process.
In that time, he has batted .244/.317/.478 with 105 home runs, 286 RBI, and a 125 OPS+ across 1,968 plate appearances in 460 games.
This past season, the outfielder batted .235/.308/.506 with a career-high 44 home runs, 102 RBI, and a 134 OPS+ across 665 plate appearances in 155 games.
Washington is in need of a veteran the likes of Santander with their young roster, and the outfielder would add an immense amount of power to the middle of their lineup, aiding James Wood in getting the team closer to 200 total home runs in a season.
Santander is a diamond in the rough through free agency this winter, and any team would be lucky to have his services in the middle of their lineup.
The team that most desperately needs his services in the middle of their lineup, however, is the Nationals, and they are more than capable of getting that deal done.
