At Nationals Park, every player turned out to see the budding star Washington has locked down.
Read more Supreme Court blocks Missouri congressional map favoring GOP for third time
Every Washington Nationals player filtered into the news conference room at Nationals Park on Friday afternoon, taking their seats among Cade Cavalli’s family, team ownership and staff members.
They were there to congratulate Cavalli, who last week signed a four-year, $47 million extension that buys out his final three years of arbitration and one year of free agency, with a club option for a second. And while it was an incredible moment for the right-hander amid a breakout season, it also could be an inflection point for the franchise.
As the sign above him read, Cavalli is here to stay. For the first time since Keibert Ruiz signed an eight-year, $50 million extension in March 2023, not only does a player see a long-term future with Washington, but the team itself is willing to commit the money to keep him.
When President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni approached Nationals ownership about the possibility of extending Cavalli, the response, he said, was a resounding “heck yeah.”
“It wasn’t just a, ‘Sure, you can do this,’” Toboni said of the conversation. “This is the type of stuff we want to be doing.”
The Nationals have the sixth-lowest 2026 payroll in MLB, coming in at $99.3 million, according to Cot’s Contracts. But this is a baby step, one that they haven’t been willing to take in recent years.
It’s too early to say whether Cavalli’s deal will portend extensions for other players who were in the room, such as two-time all-stars James Wood and CJ Abrams, or even Andrew Alvarez, who is also having a breakout season. Friday’s start, in a 7-6 win over the New York Mets, wasn’t his best, as he allowed five runs in 4⅔ innings. But he still ends 2026 with a 3.43 ERA, lining himself up to join Cavalli in the rotation next season.
Josiah Gray, who recorded his first save in his first home appearance following Tommy John and internal brace surgery two years ago, or Dylan Crews, who hit his 13th home run Friday, also could draw inspiration from Cavalli’s career path.
“It just shows to us … he’s in this, obviously, for the long run and wants to do this for the Nationals,” Crews said. “I think it shows all of us that we’re in this together. I’m really happy for him, it’s an awesome day for him, and he’s going to do really great here for the next four or five years.”
When Cavalli was drafted 22nd overall in 2020 and debuted two years later, it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine him sitting at a news conference one day celebrating a long-term deal. But Tommy John surgery, and subsequent setbacks, held him off a major league mound for over two seasons.
Read more White House has not acted on RFK Jr.’s push for proof ultra-processed foods are safe
Even during his darkest days, he kept showing up. He stayed consistent, and when he didn’t feel his best, his loved ones — including his wife Maddie, who is due with their first child early next year — reminded him there were better days ahead.
“It’s true love when you get a kick in the butt,” he said.
Those better days finally arrived this season, Cavalli pitching to a 3.02 ERA and a 1.90 ERA since the all-star break. In August, before Cavalli had even completed a full major league season, Toboni decided he had seen enough. He approached Cavalli and asked whether he would be interested in signing an extension. Cavalli was pumped.
Six weeks later, the Nationals had an ace locked up through at least 2030.
“I was really excited, not only for the opportunity, but feeling the value from the organization that they would trust me with something like this,” Cavalli said. “That means a lot.”
Cavalli’s value to Washington goes beyond the mound. His character, and his potential to develop into a leader, showed Toboni and ownership that he was the guy they should build the rest of their pitching staff behind.
He had already started to take on that role. If the Nationals needs a jolt of energy, he runs up and down the dugout trying to pump them up. When reliever Erik Tolman needed advice on how to channel his competitiveness into productivity on the mound — something Cavalli himself has struggled with and even found himself suspended for when he let it get too far — Cavalli took him under his wing.
On Friday, after the news conference had finished, Cavalli held off on celebrating with his family until he had gone next door to the adjoining suite to personally thank the staff members — the majority of whom have nothing to do with baseball operations — who had assembled to watch it.
“It doesn’t matter if Cade is talking with Blake, with one of the best players on the team, or the custodian who is coming into the clubhouse — he always treats people the way you would want to be treated yourself,” Toboni said.
That’s the culture the Nationals want to develop. If Cavalli, after the ups and downs of his career, can earn an extension, then maybe other players in that room can, too.
“It’s a compounding effect of making little decisions every day, making the next best choice, putting our work in,” he said. “I just want to see what is best for the player.”
Read more Pentagon quietly adds dozens to tally of troops wounded amid Iran war
