Good Tuesday Morning Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for Tuesday, October 12, 2021.

Salary Projections for Nationals’ Arbitration-Eligible Players Revealed. Yesterday MLB Trade Rumors released salary projections for every Major League Baseball team. During the upcoming offseason, the Nationals have ten players who are eligible for Arbitration including Josh Bell, Victor Robles, Joe Ross, Erick Fedde, and Tanner Rainey just to name a few. Another important Nationals' that is arbitration-eligible: Juan Soto. According to MLB Trade Rumors, they are projecting Soto to be eligible for a salary of $16.2MM. Click here to read the full article.

Talking about Juan Soto… Recently, MLB Trade Rumors came up with a plan to pay Soto a deal of $400 million in a new contract so that he remains in Washington D.C. In the article, MLB Trade Rumors proposed a "14-year contract with an average annual value of $28.6MM, that would bring the total amount of the contract would eclipse $400MM."

Our good friend Stephen at TalkNats.com posted an interesting way to make Soto a Washington National for a long time in which they "added one more year above MLBTR and added an additional $30 million to exceed the Trout contract extension." Stephen also suggested that the contract could have "two mutual options to get it to a possible $500 million and essentially a half-billion dollars."

In all negotiations, both sides have to want to make it happen. A couple of important questions to think about:

• Does Juan Soto even want a contract extension or does Soto hold out and hit free agency?
• If Juan Soto hits free agency, would he give the Nationals a "hometown discount?"
• Are the Lerner's willing to pay for a generational talent like Soto?

Related The Nats Report Article: How the Tatis Deal Impacts the Nationals & More Importantly Juan Soto

Kevin Long Is Moving to the City of Brotherly Love… In yesterday's Morning Briefing we wrote about the recent turnover in the Nationals front office. Well, it looks like the Nationals will have another hole in their coaching staff that they will have to fill. According to Britt Ghiroli and Matt Gelb of The Athletic, former Washington Nationals hitting coach will be joining Joe Girardi's staff as a hitting coach.

The former Nationals hitting coach will be reunited with Girardi and Rob Thomson, who he coached in New York. Will also be reunited with Bryce Harper. Long has been with the Nationals since 2018. Kevin Long is regarded around baseball as one of the league's best hitting coaches. He has been on two World Series-winning teams the New York Yankees in 2009 and Washington Nationals in 2019.

The Nationals will now need a first base, third base, and hitting coaches for Davey Martinez’s 2022 staff.

Business of Baseball… According to Nielsen, Sunday Night's ALDS Game 3 was the most-watched Sunday League Division Series game in its history and was the most-watched League Division Series game 3 in MLB Networks' history and was the Sixth-most watched program in its history.

MLB 2021 Playoffs

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are one win away from advancing to the NLCS thanks to a pinch-hit home run by Joc Pederson. His fifth-inning three-run home run put the Braves one victory from a second straight trip to the NLCS. In an interview with TBS after the game, Pederson said: "That's what it's like to have a lineup where anyone can clip you… It puts a little bit more pressure on the pitchers, that if they make one mistake, one through nine can leave the yard at any time. So it's fun to be a part of."

San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Games between the Giants and the Dodgers have been all nail bitters so it's no surprise that the best-of-five Nationals League Division series between these two teams are going to be must-watch baseball. Heading into last night's game, the Giants won Game 1 thanks to a dominant performance by right-hander pitcher Logan Webb and the Dodgers offense bounced back in Game 2. In last night's game, the Dodgers sent Max Scherzer to the mound to face the Giants. The Giants countered with left-hander Alex Wood.

Last night, the Giants pieced together a nearly flawless game, holding on for a 1-0 win in Game 3 of the National League Division Series to seize a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five showdown between the longtime rivals.

Left-hander Alex Wood set the tone with 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Evan Longoria broke out of a prolonged slump with a fifth-inning solo shot off Scherzer. Brandon Crawford made a jaw-dropping leaping grab to rob Mookie Betts of a game-tying hit in the seventh. And rookie Camilo Doval went through the heart of the Dodgers’ fearsome order to earn a six-out save in only his second career postseason appearance.

The Giants are now only one win away from advancing to their first NL Championship Series since 2014. They’ll attempt to advance to the next round tonight when they’ll send Anthony DeSclafani to the mound in Game 4.

Houston Astros vs. Chicago White Sox

Yesterday's American League Division Series Game 4 between the Astros and the White Sox in Chicago was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up today, at 2:07 pm EDT. As of this morning, the Astros lead the series 2-1 after a wild Chicago rally to win Game 3 on Sunday night. Astros manager Dusty Baker discussed the postponement by the league "If anything, I really appreciate the swiftness that the league office made this decision… That gives us time to do whatever you got to do. It gives both sides another chance at resting their bullpen, but we'll see the effects of it tomorrow."

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox

Who knew that all the Boston Red Sox needed to win to advance to the ALCS was a sacrifice fly from Kiké Hernández in the bottom of the ninth. After giving up a 5-0 lead to the 100 win Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox were able to clinch the series in a great night at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox will either travel to Houston or Chicago to face one of them in the ALCS. In his post-game press conference, Hernadnez discussed one of the reasons why he signed with the Boston Red Sox over the offseason: "I wanted to play every day where it mattered," said Hernández.

"I told my mom, 'There's nothing that compares to winning the World Series, but I want to go somewhere where I can win the World Series and be in that starting lineup every day.' It feels like I'm a little bit more important piece than just one more guy on that team. Boston ended up being the greatest of fits. I don't regret that decision one bit."