Will Taylor and Barraclough actually get to arbitration?

Will the Nationals really go to arbitration with Michael A. Taylor and Kyle Barraclough over a combined $525,000? For now, yes, but the chances of the club and the two players settling salary figures on their own before engaging in a hearing next month would seem to be pretty strong, given the lack of difference in their dueling offers.

Cases that go to arbitration typically involve a sizeable disparity between sides, almost always at least $1 million. The Nationals, Taylor and Barraclough aren't nearly as far apart.

Though they couldn't agree to terms before Friday's 1 p.m. league-mandated deadline, the club and the players were more than in the same ballpark.

Taylor formally requested $3.5 million, while the Nationals countered with an offer of $3.25 million, according to Fancred Sports' Jon Heyman. Barraclough, meanwhile, asked for $2 million, with the team offering $1.725 million, also according to Heyman.

Though dates will now be set for arbitration hearings in early February, players and teams are free to continue negotiating. The Nats historically have been able to settle with most players before ever reaching a hearing, especially when the difference in offers is so small.

The club has taken only nine players to arbitration hearings in 14 previous offseasons in Washington, and it's happened only once in the last six years (Jerry Blevins in 2015).

For what it's worth, the difference in offers with Blevins was only $200,000. The left-hander wound up winning his case, but then was traded to the Mets late in spring training. The relationship between the two sides, suffice it to say, became strained.

Do the Nationals really want to risk a similar breakdown in relationships with Taylor and Barraclough? Perhaps there's some reason for Taylor to be disgruntled after he spent the second half of the 2018 season on the bench, unable to get playing time over Juan Soto, Adam Eaton and Bryce Harper. Even so, the two sides have always maintained a positive relationship, and it seems an odd time for that relationship to break down over $250,000.

The Nationals haven't had an opportunity yet to build a relationship with Barraclough, who was acquired from the Marlins in October. But they picked up the right-hander because they believe he could be a key part of a remade bullpen in 2019 and beyond. So, again, it seems unlikely they'd want to get things started on a sour note by going to arbitration over a difference of $275,000.

The good news: They all have a month to try to find common ground and avoid the hearing, and they already were almost there when Friday's deadline arrived.

Perhaps the front office will hold firm and stick with the "file-and-trial" threat they and many other clubs make every winter. Or perhaps they'll realize it's not worth damaging their relationships with two potentially key players over what is - by Major League Baseball standards - a pretty insignificant amount of money.