Washington Nationals avoid arbitration with Tyler Moore and Jose Lobaton

Reports earlier this afternoon said the Washington Nationals agreed on a 1-year/$900,000 deal with 28-year-old 1B/OF Tyler Moore, avoiding arbitration with their 2008 Nationals' 16th Round pick, who put up a .203/.250/.364 line, 12 doubles and six home runs in 97 games and 200 plate appearances this past season.

The $900,000 deal was less than MLBTraderumors.com's projection of a $1M salary for Moore, who made $518,200 on a deal he signed with the Nationals last March.

Moore, the right-handed hitting and throwing bench bat was one of eight arbitration-eligible Nationals this winter who have to be tendered a contract or non-tendered before midnight on the East Coast tonight.

CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman was first with the news of Moore's deal with the Nationals today:

tyler moore, nationals settle at 900K

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 2, 2015

The Nationals confirmed this afternoon on Twitter that they had avoided arbitration with Moore and also announced they avoided arbitration with backup catcher Jose Lobaton:

The #Nats have agreed to terms and avoided arbitration with 1B/OF Tyler Moore & C Jose Lobaton.

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) December 2, 2015

Lobaton, 31, put up a .199/.279/.294 line in his second season with the Nationals following the February 2014 trade with Tampa Bay that brought him to the nation's capital along with left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero and sent Nate Karns to the Rays, hitting four doubles and three home runs in 44 games and 136 plate appearances, and finishing the year at -0.3 fWAR after a 0.5 fWAR campaign in 2014.

Lobaton avoided arbitration with the Nationals last winter as well, agreeing on a 1-year/$1.2M deal in mid-January.

MLBTraderumors.com projected a raise to around $1.5M this season.

Washington Post writer James Wagner reported on Twitter that Lobaton and the Nats agreed on a $1.38M deal for 2016:

The Nats and Jose Lobaton avoided arbitration for $1.3875 million.

— James Wagner (@JamesWagnerWP) December 2, 2015

The Nats still have to make decisions on whether or not to tender contracts to relievers Craig Stammen and Drew Storen, starter Stephen Strasburg, catcher Wilson Ramos and infielders Danny Espinosa and Anthony Rendon.

More information when it's available...