Nationals Rumors

Free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche made it clear this winter that he wanted stay in Washington and he hopes that he'll be a part of the Nationals for years to come.  That desire manifested itself in a request for a three-year deal while the Nats insisted on a two-year pact instead.  Beyond that, the veteran told reporters on a conference call this afternoon that he requested a no-trade clause in his contract, but was rebuffed as the front office cited club policy.

"Towards the end, it wasn't necessarily about the third year.  It turned out to be more about the small things, whether it was trying to work out out the buyout or whether we could do a no-trade clause or something like that.  To be honest, the no-trade clause was a hang up for a little while.  You guys all know the direction that the team is going in is phenomenal.  They could be really solid for a long time so I don't want to get traded.  Apparently there's a no no-trade policy where they did it for [Jayson Werth] and they're going to shut it down and not give any more no-trade clauses.  That's something that I had to work through," said the first baseman.

The Nationals were firm in their stance that they would not go to three years throughout the offseason and the SFX client said that he realized sometime last week that he would have to reach a compromise on contract length.  LaRoche declined to get specifically identify the other teams that were interested in him and the kinds of offers that he was receiving, but he feels that he would have had more interest from clubs if he didn't have draft pick compensation tied to him through the qualifying offer system.

"I think that it did [affect me].  That's coming from people a lot smarter than I am that explained it to me.  I think it affected a couple of other players worse than me, there are a lot of solid ballplayers out there still looking for a job," LaRoche said.  "It definitely hindered some teams from going after some guys…I think there were two or three, maybe four teams out there that it did affect as far as teams that were interested me but didn't want to give up that pick."

Regardless of external factors that may have hurt his market, LaRoche says that he's glad to be back in D.C on a two-year deal with a mutual option for 2015.  However, his return means that Mike Morse won't be starting at first and he doesn't figure to have another place to start with the three outfield positions also filled.  LaRoche knows that Morse could potentially be moved for impact pieces, giving him a chance to thrive elsewhere, but he "selfishly" hopes that Morse remains in Washington.

Earlier today, the Nationals and first baseman Adam LaRoche reached agreement on a two-year, $24MM deal with a mutual option for the 2015 season.  Both parties had well-documented interest in a reunion, but they were at an impasse over the length of the deal. 

LaRoche, 33, wanted a three-year deal while the Nats said that they would not go beyond two.  It was reported that the Nationals were confident that no one would go to three years for the veteran, but General Manager Mike Rizzo told reporters on a conference call this afternoon that he saw it as a very real possibility.

"He's a terrific player coming off of a terrific year.  And you know, the market for that kind of player is huge, so it did cross our mind.  We were being really honest with Adam and his people, this was about us having a good in-house backup plan that we didn't really have to worry about.  If a team was going to overwhelm Adam, we had our Plan B in place, but all along Adam was our first choice and our Plan A," Rizzo said.

With Mike Morse in place as a backup plan, Rizzo said that he found himself in an "enviable position in negotiations" and that allowed the club to be patient in their talks with LaRoche.  While Rizzo was willing to wait for the right deal, he admitted that he was anxious to get everything squared away.

"We were both getting tired of the process.  We had a lot of conversations back and forth with his representatives.  [Adam and I] had a few private conversation and I made it clear to Adam that it was time to make a decision.  Our offer was on the table for quite a while and we had other things to move on to.  He made it clear that he wanted to move on too," said the GM.

While Rizzo is now open to moving Morse in a deal and has a number of interested suitors, he says that he won't move the first baseman/outfielder unless he can get impact players in return, whether they're big league ready or minor league prospects.  If that kind of deal doesn't present itself, then Rizzo won't force a trade involving a "middle of the lineup hitter that's fairly attractively priced."

The Nationals tried to add a left-hander reliever this winter and still might, but Rizzo says that he didn't sign a southpaw in part because the club feels comfortable with the bullpen pieces that they already have in place.  Rizzo believes that his right-handers get lefties out better than most left-handed specialists and noted that manager Davey Johnson isn't a big fan of lefty-on-lefty matchups anyway.  The Nats were heavily linked to J.P. Howell before he signed on with the Dodgers last week.