Could the Nationals Actually Extend Dylan Crews or James Wood?

The Nationals will have to go above market value to lock up either of their young superstars. The question is: How much is too much?

Amidst a flurry of other news about the MASN resolution and stadium naming/jersey patch sales on Monday, The Nats Report reported that the Washington Nationals have started “preliminary talks” for long-term extensions with both James Wood and Dylan Crews.

The initial reaction to this, of course, is that gif of Jonah Hill getting really excited.

Yeah. That one.

Anyway, this isn’t necessarily new ground for the Nationals. They’ve signed former franchise cornerstones like Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg to extensions, made big-dollar (albeit, not big enough) bids to retain others like Bryce Harper and Juan Soto, and more recently, even jumped on the early-career extension trend with Keibert Ruiz before the 2023 season.

But where the excitement comes from is the prospect, however slim, that the club could finally lock up a (potential) superstar to an early-career deal that keeps them in Washington well beyond the six-seven years of a rookie deal. We’ve seen names like Bobby Witt Jr., Julio Rodriguez, Corbin Carroll, and nearly the entire Atlanta Braves roster sign these deals in the last few years, but Ruiz remains the lone National to be a part of that trend.