Nats avoid arbitration with Harper, Rendon, Roark, Norris

The Nationals came to terms with all four of their arbitration-eligible players on 2017 contracts before today's deadline, avoiding the potential for contentious hearings next month with some of the most prominent members of their roster.

Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Tanner Roark and Derek Norris all settled on one-year contracts before the 1 p.m. Eastern time deadline. Harper's 2017 salary will be a hefty $13.625 million, with Rendon making $5.8 million, Roark making $4.315 million and Norris making $4.2 million, sources familiar with the agreements confirmed. (FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman was first to report Roark and Norris' salaries, ESPN's Buster Olney was first to report Harper's salary and the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes was first to report Rendon's salary.)

Had the Nationals been unable to reach a deal with any of the four in time, they would have needed to submit competing offers to Major League Baseball. The two sides would have been free to continue negotiating in the meantime, but arbitration hearings before a three-person panel would have been scheduled for next month in Arizona.

Harper and Rendon, both represented by agent Scott Boras, may have proved to be the trickiest negotiations from this group, given the way their careers have played out to date.

Harper winds up getting a huge bump from his $5 million salary last season, though it should be noted that figure had already been agreed to before the young slugger put together his unanimous MVP performance. Had he gone through the standard arbitration process last winter, Harper's salary likely would have been significantly higher, and that would have set him up to make more this winter.

MLBTradeRumors.com projected Harper's 2017 salary to be $9.3 million, but the Nationals were willing to go much higher, perhaps making up for the admitted savings they got on the right fielder last year.

Rendon, meanwhile, made $2.8 million last season, his first as an arbitration-eligible player, after a disappointing 2015 in which he missed significant time with injuries. The third baseman bounced back in 2016, hitting .270 with 20 homers, 85 RBIs and a .797 OPS while being named a Gold Glove Award finalist.

MLBTradeRumors.com had projected Rendon's 2017 salary to be $6.4 million, so he wound up a bit below that mark.

The Nationals have gone to only 12 arbitration hearings in 12 seasons, most recently with Jerry Blevins in 2015 and John Lannan in 2012. They, like many teams, insist they practice a "file and trial" method, meaning that once players file for arbitration the team will go to a hearing no matter what.

In reality, that hasn't always been the case. Despite filing for arbitration with Jordan Zimmermann in 2013 and with both Tyler Clippard and Doug Fister in 2014, the Nats settled with all three players before ever setting foot in a hearing room, taking those negotiations right down to the wire into February.

Roark and Norris, meanwhile, got their contracts taken care of slightly earlier in the afternoon, though still within a half-hour of the 1 p.m. deadline.

Roark, a first-time arbitration-eligible player coming off a standout season, gets a significant raise from his 2016 salary of $543,400, though MLBTradeRumors.com had him going even higher than the $4.315 million he settled for today, projecting a 2017 salary of $6.1 million.

Norris, in his second season of arbitration eligibility, is coming off a difficult season with the Padres but still gets a nice raise from his 2016 salary of $2.925 million. MLBTradeRumors.com projected him to make $4 million, slightly less than he agreed to today.

With today's signings, the Nationals have now committed roughly $144 million to 15 players for the 2017 season. If the 10 other players who fill out the roster make near the league minimum of $535,000, the club would be looking at an opening day payroll approaching $150 million. (They opened last season at $145 million.)