The Washington Nationals avoided salary arbitration with three of their last four eligible players Friday morning, agreeing to one-year contracts with right-handers Doug Fister, Drew Storen and Stephen Strasburg before the league’s 1 p.m. deadline.
The Nationals were unable to reach a settlement with only one player: left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins, who is in the third and final year of arbitration eligibility.
Blevins and the team will now exchange salary figures for the 2015 season and subsequently submit those figures to a three-person arbitration panel. Next month, the arbitration panel will then choose between Blevins’ recommendation and the team’s in a 90-minute hearing, thereby setting his salary for the upcoming season.
Friday’s deadline triggered that step in the arbitration process, but it is not a strict cutoff. The Nationals may continue to negotiate with Blevins up until his hearing, which will be scheduled during a three-week window from Feb. 1 to Feb. 21. If an agreement is reached, the hearing will be cancelled.
In the past few days, the Nationals also avoided arbitration with infielder Danny Espinosa, right-hander Craig Stammen, and catchers Jose Lobaton and Wilson Ramos.
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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