The Nationals have agreed to a one-year, $900,000 deal with first baseman/outfielder Tyler Moore, reaching a pact ahead of tonight's 11:59 p.m. Eastern time deadline to tender contracts to unsigned players.
Moore was the first of eight arbitration-eligible Nationals to sign. CBSSports.com was first to report the agreement.
The 28-year-old Moore has seen his statistical output and playing time fall over the past few seasons, and he has been unable to replicate the .263/.327/.513 slash line with 10 homers in his rookie 2012 season.
MLBTradeRumors.com predicted that Moore would receive $1 million through arbitration after earning $518,200 in 2014. The site also listed him as one of several Nationals in danger of being non-tendered.
The team's remaining arbitration-eligibles are right-handers Stephen Strasburg, Craig Stammen and Drew Storen; catchers Wilson Ramos and Jose Lobaton; and infielders Danny Espinosa and Anthony Rendon.
We'll update this entry throughout the day with the latest information on signings and possible non-tenders.
Update: The Nationals have announced that they've avoided arbitration by agreeing to terms with Moore and Lobaton. Lobaton gets a one-year deal for $1.375 million; MLBTradeRumors.com predicted he would earn $1.5 million through arbitration after getting $1.2 million in 2014.
Moore, Lobaton and Stammen were thought to be the most vulnerable to being non-tendered.
Update: The Nationals have non-tendered Stammen. That doesn't mean his career in Washington is over, however. The Nats could still sign him to a less-expensive deal - which happens often for players coming off an injury like the flexor tendon surgery that sidelined the righty for most of last season - and bring him to camp. But for now, he's a free agent.
The other five arbitration-eligible players - Strasburg, Storen, Ramos, Espinosa and Rendon - were tendered contracts.
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