Washington Nationals, Veteran Reliever Agree to One-Year Deal To Avoid Arbitration

The Washington Nationals and one of their key relievers have agreed to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration.

Jul 5, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Derek Law (58) throws a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning at Nationals Park. / Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals had some work to do on pre-arbitration deadline day with six of their seven eligible players remaining without a deal.

Earlier in the day, they were able to settle on a deal with catcher Riley Adams, agreeing to a one-year, $850,000 contract. 

Right before the deadline, they came to an agreement with another player; relief pitcher Derek Law.

The 34-year-old veteran avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $2.75 million deal, per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post.

Reliever Derek Law and the Nationals settled at $2.75 million to avoid arbitration, per source.

Law, 34, had a 2.60 ERA in 75 appearances a season ago.

— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) January 9, 2025

In his last year of being eligible, he is seeing a significant raise, as he earned $1.5 million in 2024.

That jump in salary was certainly deserved as he was a workhorse for manager Dave Martinez out of the bullpen.

After spending two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, he was granted free agency last offseason and landed with the Nationals.

In his first year in the nation’s capital, he was relied upon heavily. 

Law made 75 appearances and threw 90 innings with 76 strikeouts. Despite the major workload, he performed at a high level throughout the campaign.

A 2.60 ERA was recorded along with a 1.9 WAR, as he put together the best season of his career to this point. He recorded one save and finished out eight games in total.

Not an overpowering pitcher, Law was able to find so much success because he limited walks in 2024 with a minuscule 6.6 walk percentage, the second-lowest of a single season. He did an excellent job of avoiding hard contact as well, recording average exit velocities and hard-hit percentages both below the league average.

As the most experienced member of what is a very thin bullpen, he should have a prominent role once again. Martinez could use him in more high-leverage roles late in games out of the gate until other reliable options emerge.