Rendon focused on playoff present with Nats

LOS ANGELES -- Anthony Rendon took a seat at the table in the interview room at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night, immediately leaned back in his chair with his hood pulled halfway on his head. After winning the National League Wild Card Game the night before in stunning fashion, and spending the night spraying champagne, the Nationals took a cross country flight to Los Angeles the next morning. So while Rendon acknowledged he was tired, it was, as he put it “part of the gig.”

He also acknowledged he has been considering another reality of the gig -- that his time with the Nats could be coming to a close. Had Washington not snatched victory from the Brewers the night before, his career with the only organization he has ever known could have been over, just like that.

Game	Date	Result	Highlights
Gm 1	Oct. 3	LAD 6, WSH 0	Watch
Gm 2	Oct. 4	WSH 4, LAD 2	Watch
Gm 3	Oct. 6	LAD 10, WSH 4	Watch
Gm 4	Oct. 7	WSH 6, LAD 1	Watch
Gm 5	Oct. 9	WSH 7, LAD 3	Watch

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So even if television cameras caught Rendon yawning in the dugout during the eighth inning, as he prepares for the start of the NL Division Series with the Dodgers, which begins on Thursday, the prospect still looms in his mind that these could be his final days as a National.

“Yeah, of course,” said Rendon, who can become a free agent at season's end. “As the human aspect of it, you want to think about your future, and you want to wonder what's going to happen because nothing's set in stone.”

By looking at Rendon, especially at the podium on Wednesday, it would have been difficult to know that such a big decision will be weighting on his mind this offseason.

He was asked how often he thinks about the 2016 NLDS, which the Nats dropped to the Dodgers in five games, losing a crushing Game 5 at home after Clayton Kershaw entered and recorded a save.

“That's in the past,” Rendon said. “You think about your girlfriend that broke up with you like 20 years ago? Probably not.”

Well, what about his career year in 2019, a season where he was worth 7.0 Wins Above Replacement, per Fangraphs, after batting .319/.412/.598 with 34 homers and a Nats team record 126 RBIs. How did he do it?

“I think I'm partly -- I'm getting lucky,” he said with a straight face before reminiscing about the balls off the end of the bat that have dropped and what he believes was his cheapest hit of the season, a ball he thought would be a lazy fly ball that wound up being a homer.

"You know what, I think he's been lucky for a lot of years now,” manager Dave Martinez said with a laugh.

Rendon was honest about hearing the MVP chants from sold-out crowds at Nationals Park and feeling the pressure of playoff games. He made a joke about umpires strike zones and was surprised to hear his numbers were good (3-for-6 with two doubles) against Dodgers Game 1 starter Walker Buehler.

It was Rendon, who shies away from attention like he’s allergic, out of his element, but also at his finest.

“As we all know him, he's been the same guy day in, day out,” Martinez said. “Doesn't talk about [free agency] much, doesn't really say anything about it much. He just comes to the ballpark, gets his work in and gets ready to play every single day. It's a testament to the kind of person that he is, that he knows his job, and he just comes to the ballpark, and he's just trying to help us win every day.”

The Nats understand just how vital Rendon has been to their success, not just this season but throughout his seven-year Major League career.

They have touted for some time that he is baseball’s most underrated player. They lobbied for him to be an All-Star for years before he finally made it this season. And they have made attempts to re-sign him to a long-term contract on a few occasions, the latest of which was reported by the Washington Post this week to be a seven-year contract in the $210-215 million range, although the offer reportedly included deferrals. Rendon has still been willing to listen to offers, and he’s certainly not shut the door on a return to Washington. But now that he is this close to free agency, he has said it is tempting to see his value on the open market.

First, Rendon wants to focus on the now and what could be his last chance at a playoff run in D.C. And although outwardly his personality might project a laissez faire attitude, even as he commanded the room on Wednesday, he also pointed out that it’s not as easy as it looks, playing out what could be the final games of his career in a Nationals uniform.

“To be honest with you, it's like anything else, it's a big decision in our life. In my life and my wife and my daughters and my family,” Rendon said. “But you can't worry about the future. We can only worry about what's happening right now. And we might have bigger plans for ourselves, but when does that ever come to fruition? ... We can't worry about the future, just try to be the best person we can today.”