Late Friday afternoon, a sharply dressed Cade Cavalli strode into a news conference room inside Nats Park bearing a wide grin. He hunched down at a table next to Paul Toboni, the team’s president of baseball operations, and stared out at a sea of familiar faces staring back at him. His wife and members of his agency sat in the front row to his right, while members of the Nationals’ ownership sat to his left. His teammates quickly filed into the room and scattered along the back wall.
Behind Cavalli, plastered in large white letters, read a three-word phrase: Here to stay. Last week, the organization signed Cavalli to a four-year, $47 million extension, locking in the 28-year-old pitcher until 2030 with a player option for 2031.
“It means the world to me that you guys put your trust in me and we can go compete together on the diamond for the next hopefully five years and go do something special,” Cavalli remarked to the Nationals’ ownership group sitting feet away. “Ever since I got drafted here in 2020, it’s been a dream of mine to be able to go not only compete but win games for the Nationals, and I just want to thank you for the opportunity to do that.”
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Cavalli’s signing is a breath of fresh air for Nats fans, who have waited since March of 2023 for the organization to sign a player to a contract extension. Washington ranks 24th in the MLB in spending, with a $97 million projected payroll in 2026.
The signing is also a signal that the team’s ownership may be ready to invest in a contender after the team fielded one of the most potent offenses in baseball but missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
“It wasn’t just like a ‘Oh sure, you can do this,’” said Toboni, reflecting on his conversations with ownership during Cavalli’s extension process. “It was like, ‘Heck yeah, this is the type of stuff that we want to be doing.’”
Minutes later, Nationals manager Blake Butera entered the room with a matching smile on his face.
“As you can tell, I’m in a really good mood today,” Butera joked.
With Cavalli signed, the Nats can turn their attention to what is poised to be an offseason of change. One of the team’s chief concerns, Butera put bluntly, is the bullpen rotation, a unit that has given the team headaches at a historic rate late in games.
The Nats are up to 42 blown saves this season with two games left to play, shattering the previous MLB record of 37 blown saves by the 2024 Chicago White Sox.
“I think if we had an average bullpen, I think we’re probably talking about who we’re playing this weekend,” Butera said. “Whether it’s personnel, whether it’s roles, whatever it might be, we’re going to spend a lot of time on the bullpen this offseason.”
Toboni expressed confidence in the futures of Cavalli and Andrew Alvarez, who started in the Nationals’ win over the Mets Friday night (which also featured the first career save for Josiah Gray). He also expressed an optimism in 24-year-old Connelly Early, whom the Nats acquired via trade in July for infielder Curtis Mead.
“Beyond that, we’re going to be pretty open-minded,” Toboni said. “What is involved there, too, is not just like ‘Are we going to go outside and sign players?’ but [also] we have a number of pitchers on our staff that are at inflection points in their career. ... We want the process of really developing this offseason to be really dialed, and I think our guys are bought into that.’”
What Butera and Toboni can hang their hats on following a 75-plus win season is that the organization rosters an offensive nucleus loaded with talent. Between James Wood and CJ Abrams becoming national names to the development of Cavalli and Daylen Lile into reliable standouts, next year’s iteration of the Nationals brings intrigue and loftier goals.
For Cavalli, that means playoff baseball.
Hours after celebrating his extension, a contract earned after he battled back from Tommy John surgery to become one of the most reliable pitchers in baseball, Cavalli swapped out his suit for a long-sleeved shirt and baseball cap. He stood in the dugout and felt the early fall breeze swirl over Nats Park, the ballpark he’s expected to excite for the next half-decade of his career.
“We’re walking around here feeling the weather, it feels like playoff baseball weather,” Cavalli said. “We’re planning on playing in it next year, and I know that every guy feels it and thinks that.”
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