Heading into today, the Washington Nationals needed to agree on 2021 salaries with three arbitration-eligible players, Juan Soto, Trea Turner, and newly-acquired first baseman Josh Bell.
The deadline to do so in order to avoid potentially going to arbitration was at 1:00 PM ET this afternoon, but the Nationals’ deals with their three remaining unsigned players were announced hours after the deadline passed.
Soto, 22, earned a pro-rated amount of his $629,400 salary in 2020, when he finished with the highest batting average in the National League (.351; which was second-highest in the majors), MLB’s top OBP, (.