It took the entire day, but the Nationals did sign all four of their arbitration-eligible players to 2024 contracts Thursday, with Lane Thomas ($5.45 million) and Luis García ($1.95 million) agreeing to their deals prior to Major League Baseball’s 1 p.m. deadline, then Kyle Finnegan ($5.1 million) and Hunter Harvey ($2.325 million) agreeing to their deals before the 8 p.m. deadline to file arbitration offers.

With that, the Nats avoided any awkwardness – or even nastiness – that could have come from an arbitration hearing next month. The best takeaway from the day: The team and the players appear to have been on the same page on those players’ value to the club. That’s always better than the alternative.

The other notable takeaway from the day: The team’s Opening Day payroll is starting to come into clearer focus.

The Nationals now have 13 players signed for the 2024 season. The list is top-heavy, with both Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin set to earn $35 million this year (though each is deferring at least $10 million until a later date, so their actual income will be closer to $25 million.

Four other players are signed for $5 million to $7 million: Thomas, Finnegan, Keibert Ruiz ($6.875 million) and Trevor Williams ($7 million). Everyone else makes less than $3 million, that list including Harvey, García, Victor Robles, Dylan Floro, Nick Senzel, Tanner Rainey and Ildemaro Vargas.

The Nationals announced their full 2022 coaching staff today, one that includes four new faces and one new position. The newcomers to manager Davey Martinez's staff: Darnell Coles (hitting coach), Eric Young Jr. (first base coach), Gary DiSarcina (third base coach) and Ricky Bones (bullpen coach). The first three had previously been reported, with the addition of Bones coming today and coming in conjunction with the shifting of Henry Blanco from bullpen coach to the newly created job of...

Juan Soto is back in the Nationals lineup, his right knee feeling better five days after he tweaked it running the bases. Soto, who was held out of the lineup for the Nats' entire weekend series in Atlanta, was cleared to return to full-time duties tonight for the opener of a three-game series in New York. "I talked to him; he felt pretty good," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "He felt like he could play today. He went through his routine. He's...

As much as the Nationals roster has undergone massive changes in the last two weeks, let's not forget what happened to manager Davey Martinez's coaching staff as well. Just one day before the frenzied 36-hour stretch that saw eight veteran players traded away for 12 prospects, the Nats learned five of their big league coaches, plus four other staff members, had tested positive for COVID-19. With pitching coach Jim Hickey, bench coach Tim Bogar, first base coach Randy Knorr, third base coach...

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Carter Kieboom is like any other player sidelined by the baseball shutdown, but acknowledged the third baseman is getting extra infield and hitting instruction during the downtime brought on by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The replacement for All-Star Anthony Rendon at third base was the biggest spring training story as players descended on South Florida in mid-February. The 22-year-old top Nationals prospect slashed .233/.395/.300 in 14 exhibition...

Pat Roessler was formerly the hitting coach for the Mets, most recently in 2018. He takes over as the assistant hitting coach for the Nationals this season. His resume is stacked with stops as assistant baseball coach at Old Dominion University (1983-1988) to years in the big leagues. The University of Arizona product was a minor league hitting coach in the White Sox system from 1988 to 1994, the Expos hitting coordinator from 1995 to 1997 and the Pirates chain from 1998 to 1999. He coached...

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals are shuffling three of their coaches to new positions for the 2020 season, with Tim Bogar taking over as bench coach, Chip Hale moving to third base coach and Bob Henley switching to first base coach. Every member of Davey Martinez's World Series winning staff returns next season, with one exception: Pat Roessler has been hired as assistant hitting coach, replacing Joe Dillon, who accepted the lead hitting coach's job with the Phillies last month. That means three...