Rendon hit .276 in the World Series, homering in Games 6 and 7 and leading the Nationals in runs batted in, with eight. He batted .328 overall in October, building off the best season of his seven-year career.
Rendon, 29, had a 1.010 on-base plus slugging percentage, 117 runs scored, 34 homers and 126 runs batted in. The last player to reach all of those numbers in a season was Albert Pujols in 2009. It sets up a bonanza in free agency for Rendon, who was offered a seven-year extension worth around $210 million in September.
“He was a key player this year, he’s been a key part of this ball club, this franchise, this community,” Rizzo said after Game 7. “We love him, he’s near and dear to my heart, and we’d like to keep him.”
The Nationals have made many deals with Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, who also represents Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and the former Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth. They did not re-sign Bryce Harper last winter, but invested $140 million in starter Patrick Corbin, who won Game 7 in relief of Scherzer.
“I wanted to win,” Corbin said, “and I had an opportunity to go somewhere that wants to win, has the players to do it and the commitment.”
Commitment — in other words, a high payroll — is part of the formula in Washington under the ownership of the Lerner family. But so is a strong player-development system that drafted Strasburg first over all from San Diego State in 2009 and Rendon sixth over all from Rice in 2011, and then signed Juan Soto for $1.5 million from the Dominican Republic in 2015.
Rendon was the first college position player taken in his draft, and the Nationals did not expect him to fall to them at No. 6. But when he hit just six homers as a Rice junior, after 26 as a sophomore, other teams backed off. Ankle and shoulder injuries had temporarily turned him into a designated hitter.