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Will Paul Toboni’s first offseason running the Nationals end with his first arbitration hearing against a player? If the club and Cade Cavalli can’t settle on their own in the next few weeks, they will indeed have to let a three-judge panel decide the right-hander’s 2026 salary.
Cavalli was the only one of the Nats’ seven arbitration-eligible players who did not agree to terms with the team prior to Thursday night’s leaguewide deadline. The two sides were required to file arbitration figures, with Cavalli asking for $900,000 and the club countering at $825,000, according to USA Today.
The $75,000 difference represents the smallest gap between any of the 18 major leaguers who filed for arbitration this year, paled in comparison to the record-setting $13 million gap between Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and the Tigers ($32 million vs. $19 million).
Given the relatively modest difference, there’s reason to believe Cavalli and the Nationals will be able to continue negotiations and possibly settle on their own before a trial actually takes place prior to the start of spring training. But given the lack of any track record from Toboni and his front office, it’s hard to say how the new president of baseball operations will approach these cases, whether he follows the lead of some other executives who refuse to extend negotiations once they’ve already filed for arbitration.
Cavalli’s case is an unusual one, because the 27-year-old has far less experience than most players who reach this stage of their careers, having made only 11 MLB starts.
Despite that lack of game experience, Cavalli did accrue enough service time (2 years, 141 days) to qualify for arbitration as a “Super-2” player. He spent all of the 2023 and 2024 seasons on the 60-day injured list recovering from Tommy John surgery, staying on the major league roster throughout even though he wasn’t active.
If the case goes to a hearing, the three-judge panel will have few comparable examples to consider when deciding Cavalli’s salary.
Toboni and Co. were able to negotiate deals with the six other arbitration-eligible players, two of which agreed to their terms in late-November: right-hander Josiah Gray ($1.35 million) and catcher Riley Adams ($1 million).
Four players signed their deals Thursday. Second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. earned the highest salary of the group at $6.875 million, followed by left-hander MacKenzie Gore at $5.6 million. Both of them have completed at least four years of MLB service time.
Shortstop CJ Abrams, who has 3 years and 130 days of service time, agreed to a $4.2 million salary for the upcoming season. Right-hander Jake Irvin, who like Cavalli qualified as a Super-2 player, will make $2.8 million.
