Washington Nationals avoid arbitration with Joe Ross, Trea Turner, and Roenis Elías; reach deals for the 2020 campaign...

Michael A. Taylor’s 1-year/$3.325M contract for 2020 was announced last night, so that left the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals with three arbitration-eligible players unsigned heading into today’s deadline to either agree on new deals or submit the salary asks and offers for the upcoming season.

With new deals coming at a breathtaking pace this afternoon, two more deals were made public, with the Nationals and Roenis Elías reportedly avoiding arbitration by agreeing on what is said to be a 1-year/$1.975M and Joe Ross signing a 1-year/$1.5M deal.

Elías, 31, was acquired from the Seattle Mariners this past July, but made four appearances overall for the Nationals after injuring his hamstring running out a ground ball after his first trip to the mound for the club, before re-injuring the leg once he returned to the bullpen in September.

Elías finished the 2019 campaign with a combined 3.96 ERA, a 5.07 FIP, 17 walks, and 45 Ks in 48 games and 50 innings pitched.

Elías avoided arbitration with the Mariners last winter when he agreed to a 1-year/$910K deal and MLBTR’s projections had him getting $1.9M in arbitration this winter.

Ross, 26, posted a 5.48 ERA, a 4.59 FIP, 33 walks, and 57 Ks in 27 games (nine starts) and a total of 64 IP for the Nationals in 2019, starting off in the bullpen before moving back to the starting rotation and finishing the season with an emergency start in Game 5 of the World Series when Max Scherzer couldn’t take the mound because a nerve issue in his neck.

Ross avoided arbitration last winter when he agreed on a 1-year/$1M deal with the Nats, and MLBTR projected a raise to around $1.4M for the five-year veteran in 2020, so both Ross and Elías ended up with slightly more than they were projected to receive.

The deals with the two pitchers leaves just Trea Turner unsigned, but on Friday evening there were multiple reports that he too had worked out a deal, avoiding arbitration.

Turner, 26, broke his right index finger early in 2019, but he still managed to put up a solid .298/.353/.497 line with 37 doubles, five triples, and 19 homers in 122 games and 569 plate appearances overall in the regular season.

The infielder put up a .233/.291/.329 line, four doubles, and a home run for the Nationals during their postseason run.

Turner signed a 1-year/$3.725M deal with the Nats last winter, avoiding arbitration, and their incumbent shortstop was projected to get a raise to around $7.5M in his second arb-eligible campaign.