Nationals agree to terms with Jeimer Candelario and Stone Garrett

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms on a one-year contract with infielder Jeimer (JAY-mer) Candelario (can-duh-LAR-ee-oh) and a Major League contract with outfielder Stone Garrett on Tuesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements.

Candelario, 29, has hit .240 with 126 doubles, 13 triples, 66 home runs, 248 RBI, 237 walks, seven stolen bases and 283 runs scored in parts of seven Major League seasons with the Chicago Cubs (2016-17) and Detroit Tigers (2017-22). In 2021, he tied for the Major League lead with 42 doubles while setting career marks in games played (149), hits (151), doubles (42), extra-base hits (61) and RBI (67).

A switch-hitter, Candelario combined to hit .278/.356/.458 with 53 doubles, six triples, 23 home runs, 96 RBI, 85 walks and 105 runs scored in 201 games between the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In his final season with Detroit in 2022, Candelario hit .217 with 19 doubles, two triples, 13 homers, 50 RBI, 28 walks and 49 runs scored in 124 games.

Defensively, Candelario has played 517 games at third base and 64 games at first base during his career. He played 117 games at third base and eight games as the designated hitter during the 2022 season.

Candelario signed with the Chicago Cubs as an international free agent on October 2, 2010 and made his Major League debut on July 3, 2016 against the New York Mets. He was traded to Detroit in 2017 with Isaac Paredes in exchange for Alex Avila and Justin Wilson.

Garrett, 27, will be under team control for six seasons. He hit .276 with eight doubles, four homers, 10 RBI, three walks, three stolen bases and 13 runs scored in 27 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022 after making his Major League debut on August 17 against San Francisco. He hit safely in 10 of his first 12 games, logging six multi-hit games, four doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and three stolen bases. Defensively, Garrett played 13 games in left field and nine as a designated hitter.

At the time of his promotion, Garrett ranked among all Minor Leaguers in RBI (T2^nd, 96), home runs (T4^th, 28), extra-base hits (T6^th, 54) and total bases (10^th, 221).

Garrett was selected by the Miami Marlins in the eighth round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of George Ranch High School in Richmond, Texas. In eight Minor League seasons, he hit .251 with 125 doubles, 25 triples, 94 home runs, 376 RBI, 142 walks, 83 stolen bases and 337 runs scored in 642 games. He has played 140 Minor League games in left field, 87 in center field and 124 in right field. Garrett was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star with Arizona in 2021 and 2022 and with Miami in 2015.

The Nationals now have 40 players on their 40-man roster.