The Washington Nationals agreed to a one-year, $1 million deal with former All-Star shortstop Paul DeJong on Sunday.
The deal also provides DeJong with the opportunity to earn up to $600,000 in performance bonuses.
DeJong, 31, split last season between the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals and batted .227 with 24 home runs and 56 RBIs in 139 games. DeJong smacked 18 homers with the White Sox before being dealt to Kansas City at the trade deadline.
Last season’s homer count was DeJong’s best since he hit a career-best 30 for the St. Louis Cardinals during his 2019 All-Star season. He also had a career-high 78 RBIs in 2019.
“I got rid of some of my no-stride swing mechanics,” DeJong told reporters at Nationals spring training in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I went back to more of the leg kick, natural mechanic last year.
“But a lot of times, I was a little swing-heavy just because I was slugging well, so my plate discipline got a little bit out of whack. … Now, it’s more about, ‘OK, I need to get on base and realize that it’s not just about swinging and hitting for power.'”
DeJong spent six-plus seasons (2017-23) with the Cardinals before bouncing around to four other teams. Now he hopes to make an impact on a team that already has a starting shortstop in All-Star CJ Abrams.
Both Abrams and probable starting third baseman Jose Tena are left-handed hitters, which provides chances for the right-handed hitting DeJong to get playing time.
“I was looking at Paul’s splits, and he really hits righties well,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of DeJong. “If he’s hitting the ball well, he’s going to get a chance to play. With that being said, we also want to play Tena. So we’ll see how that all plays out this spring.”
DeJong has a .229 career average with 140 homers and 400 RBIs in 868 games over eight seasons. He was runner-up for National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2017.
Washington placed right-hander Josiah Gray on the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man roster space. Gray underwent Tommy John surgery in July.
–Field Level Media
