Washington Nationals vice president and general manager Jim Bowden announced Tuesday the club agreed to a four-year contract with catcher Brian Schneider. The deal allows Schneider to avoid two seasons of arbitration and two years of free agency. "Brian is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball and we're glad to be able to keep him in Washington for at least the next four years," Bowden said. "It is the goal of any organization to sign, develop and then retain their own home-grown players, and this is what we've accomplished with Brian's contract." Schneider, 29, led all 2005 NL catchers in percentage of basestealers thrown out with 29 of 77 (37.7). He topped all MLB catchers in 2003 (46.7) and 2004 (47.8). In addition, Schneider has earned the Nationals' best fielding percentage (.993) among catchers at a 250-game minimum. In 504 games with the Montreal/Washington franchise, the left-handed batter owns a career .256 batting average with 37 home runs and 185 RBI. Schneider reached his highest slugging percentage as a front-line starter at .409. Schneider remains active off the field, serving as the Nationals' representative for the Major League Baseball Players Association throughout the last four seasons.