The Nationals only have one player on a guaranteed contract past the 2026 season: catcher Keibert Ruiz, who signed an eight-year, $50MM extension ahead of the 2023 campaign. So, president of baseball operations Paul Toboni should have plenty of financial flexibility for 2027 and beyond. After all, his team’s payroll right now is less than half of what it was during Washington’s World Series-winning 2019 season. As Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic recently acknowledged, some of those savings have been put toward improving the club’s scouting and player development. Even so, it would be surprising if Toboni weren’t at least considering extending any of the Nationals’ talented young players.
If there’s anyone the Nationals and their fan base would most love to lock up long-term, it’s outfielder James Wood. However, the All-Star slugger isn’t the only extension candidate on the roster. He isn’t even the only left-handed hitting, 23-year-old, corner outfield extension candidate on the roster. And while this second outfielder might not be a star of Wood’s stature, he would certainly be easier (and less expensive) for Washington to extend: Daylen Lile.
Nusbaum wrote about Lile earlier this week. Crucially, he acknowledged that “the Nationals have yet to broach Lile with an extension offer.” Meanwhile, Lile’s thoughts on the matter boiled down to “whatever happens, happens.” Yet, Nusbaum also reported that Beverly Hills Sports Council, Lile’s agency, is “always open to engaging with teams in extension conversations.” Two of their notable clients include Jackson Chourio and Kristian Campbell, both of whom signed similar early-career extensions. It’s worth noting that Lile already has more MLB service than either Chourio or Campbell had when they signed their deals, and he was never anywhere close to being the same caliber of prospect. In other words, Chourio and Campbell are far from perfect comps. Nonetheless, it does matter that Lile’s representatives are open to negotiating this type of contract, especially because Wood’s agency, Boras Corporation, has a reputation for opposing pre-arbitration extensions. (Although, the deal that fellow Boras client Cooper Pratt just signed is proof that’s not a hard-and-fast rule).
Lile debuted last May and earned a regular role in the starting lineup by mid-June, looking more and more comfortable as his rookie year went on. His .956 OPS in the second half ranked second among qualified NL hitters, trailing only MVP Shohei Ohtani. His 1.212 OPS in September bested even Ohtani’s, and his 1.83 Win Probability Added in the month was the highest in Major League Baseball. All told, Lile finished his first MLB campaign with an .845 OPS and a 132 wRC+. He hit nine home runs, 15 doubles, and an incredible 11 triples in just 91 games. His strikeout rate and whiff rate both put him among the best 20% of hitters in the league. Only three players took as many trips to the plate as Lile and posted both a higher contact rate and a higher isolated power: José Ramírez, Cody Bellinger, and Isaac Paredes. At season’s end, 11 of 30 BBWAA voters named Lile on their NL Rookie of the Year ballots. He finished fifth.
The sample was small, just 351 PA, and Lile’s success was largely limited to one red-hot month within that already small sample. He also dragged his overall numbers down with shockingly poor defensive metrics (-14 DRS, -8 OAA, -10 FRV) and disappointing baserunning for a player with his speed (8-for-14 in stolen base attempts). Still, he demonstrated real promise, giving himself a strong foundation to build upon in his first full MLB season. Nusbaum notes that evaluators within the Nationals organization “believe in the bat.”
So, despite Lile’s slow start in 2026 – his swing decisions have been worse, and his groundball rate has spiked – it’s not hard to see why an extension might appeal to Washington’s front office. Lile showed off his high ceiling in 2025, but he remains far from a sure thing. If the Nationals truly believe in his bat, now would be their chance to secure him beyond his arbitration years before his price shoots up.
They didn’t expect him to breakout like he did. Let him hit a triple first, then they’ll talk.
lol where are these names coming from. Sounds like the killer in a spoof of an Agatha Christie story
It’s still not as hilarious as “decoldest toevadoit.” Like, did you lose a bet or something?
Just over 100 mlb games of meh production, he wouldn’t be my first choice either
Damn have you informed the Nats FO? They need your opinion.
Well Daylen Lile isn’t any good, so
Surprisingly solid rookie yr
But not off to a great start so far
Is he rly an extension candidate or rumors having a slow news day?
Oh no! More free material! Perish the thought! I’d better gripe about it.
I mean, the author starts by saying the Nats have plenty of financial flexibility beyond 2027 and then lists the reasons for them to be patient with long-term deals. I don’t blame them for taking their time evaluating a guy who had one good month.
They’re in “who is the next unproven player to get locked up long term unnecessarily” mode. Their attention and resources should be focused on Wood.
it seems like Lile was a popular ‘breakout’ (or continued breakout) candidate for this season in the fantasy baseball community… but I think the jury is still out given the lack of volume. His minor league numbers weren’t THAT crazy (.778 OPS in 302 games), although he was playing against older competition every step of the way.
If he has a solid sophomore season, maybe targeting a Ceddanne Rafaela kinda deal ($50m/8y) wouldn’t be a bad idea. Although with the money being handed out to guys that haven’t even debuted, I could see Lile aiming for more than that.
They don’t need to. He’s so far from free agency. Not every guy needs to be extended
MLBTR should just list every player they haven’t had extension talks with, and be done with it.
I’m all for teams locking up their young stars to long-term deals, but not every player should be signed to Long deals. Especially when they haven’t done much to prove they deserve it
The Nats probably aren’t rushing to extend anyone after the fiasco of the Ruiz extension. Especially under the skittish Lerner clan.
I really dislike the first sentence of this story. Makes me think all their players are free agents this winter. But I’m not very bright