Nationals Officially Agree to Extension With Ace Cade Cavalli
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On Thursday, there was a report that the Washington Nationals and right-handed pitcher Cade Cavalli were working on getting an extension done.
Now, on Friday, the Nationals announced that they got something finalized with their ace.
Washington revealed that it is a four-year extension that will keep Cavalli in the nation's capital through 2030. There is also a club option for 2031. Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic later reported that this contract will pay Cavalli $47 million guaranteed. And if the club option for 2031 is picked up, then he will receive a total of $70 million.
Nationals Hand Out First Extension of the Some mPaul Toboni Era
It goes without saying that this is a monumental moment for the Nationals under the leadership of first-year president of baseball operations Paul Toboni.
Following an offseason where he made some high-profile moves -- including trades of former ace MacKenzie Gore, projected closer Jose A. Ferrer and top 30 prospect Jake Bennett -- it wasn't clear what direction Toboni was going to take things in Washington. And after he pulled the plug on the season ahead of the trade deadline by shipping out Luis Garcia and other established players, how he was going to operate as the head of this ballclub wasn't known.
Locking Cavalli into a long-term deal sheds some light on what he wants to do, though.
Coming into the 2026 season, Toboni, manager Blake Butera and other members of the front office and coaching staff made it clear that Cavalli was someone they wanted to build around. And now, after getting this extension finalized, that's exactly what they did.
Washington identified someone they believed could be a pillar of this franchise. And when Cavalli went out there and proved that he could live up to that billing, the Nationals wasted little time locking him into a new deal that benefits both the organization and player. That bodes well for what could be coming in the near future, as there are others on this roster who could receive that same treatment this winter.
Overall, the fact that Cavalli finalized something with the Nationals is the latest example that things are headed in the right direction when it comes to the future of this franchise. While there are still plenty of things that need to be improved, this is the brightest the future has looked in some time.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai