Today marks the date on the MLB calendar where teams must make decisions on their arbitration-eligible players. NT-Day is non-tender day for some players.
The Nationals had six players yesterday who they had to decide whether to tender or non-tender, and they signed Jose Lobaton to a one-year deal for $1.575 million which now leaves five remaining players to make decisions on.
Here is the list of eligible players and arbitration estimates from MLBTR.com:
| Player | Notes | Arbitration Estimates |
| Harper, Bryce | 3rd Yr Arb | $9.30 Million |
| Rendon, Anthony | 2nd Yr Arb | $6.40 Million |
| Revere, Ben | 3rd Yr Arb | $6.30 Million |
| Roark, Tanner | 1st Yr Arb | $6.10 Million |
| Espinosa, Danny | 3rd Yr Arb | $5.30 Million |
Most of the decisions on the players are no-brainers like Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, and Tanner Roark. It seemed that even Danny Espinosa would be retained, but then there was this blurb in an ESPN article on Thursday:
“…the ripple effect of trading for McCutchen would likely be a move to non-tender shortstop Danny Espinosa before tomorrow’s tender date.”
Now we wait with some disquiet as to the fate of Ben Revere and Danny Espinosa, and there are many in the fanbase who believe the final decision on Ben Revere as a Washington National will be that he will be non-tendered.
There is also a chance that any of the five remaining players could negotiate a deal before the afternoon deadline or that a trade could happen. In most cases, tendered arbitration-eligible players will negotiate deals to avoid an actual arbitration hearing. The last Nationals player to go to an arbitration hearing was Jerry Blevins.
Sourced: Confirmation on Ben Revere that he will not be tendered. Only chance is a last minute renegotiation at lower $ which is not likely.
— TALK NATS Blog (@TalkNats2) December 2, 2016
