WASHINGTON (AP) — Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo indicated during a session with reporters Wednesday that first-year manager Dave Martinez will return next season.“I haven’t considered any other scenario [url=http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-jose-abreu-jersey]http://www... ,” Rizzo responded when asked if Martinez would be back.The Nationals, expected to contend for a third straight NL East title, entered Wednesday with a 69-70 record, 7 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the East and eight games back in the wild card.In addition to injuries to players including Daniel Murphy, Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg and Sean Doolittle, Martinez’s work as a rookie skipper has come under scrutiny.“I think Davey’s doing a great job in managing this team,” Rizzo said. “He’s managed them through a lot of trials and tribulations that a lot of first-year managers haven’t had to go through, and to have a team playing with the exuberance and energy level that they’re playing at at this point I think is a testament to Davey and the staff and the way that they feel about him in the clubhouse.”The 53-year-old Martinez was the Chicago Cubs bench coach before he signed a three-year contract with the Nationals in October 2017. Martinez replaced veteran manager Dusty Baker, who went 192-132 in two seasons with Washington, but was unable to win a postseason series either year.This year’s team was 33-22 after winning their sixth straight game on May 30. They haven’t won as many as four in a row since. Both the Braves and second-place Philadelphia have played sub-.500 baseball since Aug. 15, but the Nationals have failed to make a big move, going 9-9.“We thought all along we had a chance to catch those teams [url=http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-melky-cabrera-jersey]Melky Cabrera Jersey[/url] ,” Rizzo said, “and if we played the way we’re supposed to be playing that we’d have an opportunity to make this a race and it’s frustrating that we haven’t put anything together to really push them to the limits that we thought we should.”The Nationals stood pat at the July trade deadline and Rizzo expressed confidence in the team as constituted, but a run did not materialize and the team has since traded away a number of veterans, among them Murphy, Matt Adams, Ryan Madson and Gio Gonzalez, saving significant payroll dollars.Outfielder Bryce Harper, who entered Wednesday with 31 homers and 89 RBIs, will be a free agent after this season and third baseman Anthony Rendon’s turn will come after next season.“If we have or we haven’t, we’re certainly not going to discuss it in this venue,” Rizzo said when asked if he’s made an effort to sign the pair to long-term contracts. “Suffice it to say both of those guys are near and dear to our heart and we’d love to have them long-term.” LAS VEGAS (AP) — Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner appear to be available for teams looking to bolster starting rotations.Hometown star Bryce Harper and Manny Machado [url=http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-jeff-keppinger-jersey]http:/... , the two top free agents, remain unsigned heading into the traditional high-point of the offseason.Catcher J.T. Realmuto, third baseman Kyle Seager could be among the position players dangled as trade bait in the suites of Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay, where executives and agents gather next week for the annual swap session, which in an age of complicated finances and medical records serves as a midpoint for talks as much as a place to finish deals.Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein predicted the week will be “really active.”“It seems like there is plenty of trade talk, and there are still a lot of good free agents out there,” he said. “A couple of moves have already occurred that sort of always set the stage for increased activity in the next week or so.”First baseman Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona to St. Louis) and second baseman Robinson Cano (Seattle to New York Mets) are among the All-Stars already traded since the end of the World Series.Pitchers Patrick Corbin ($140 million for six years with Washington) and Nathan Eovaldi ($68 million for four years with Boston) already struck big deals in a free-agent market moving more swiftly than last offseason’s, and third baseman Josh Donaldson took a $23 million, one-year agreement with Atlanta.Nineteen of 164 players who exercised major league free agent rights have announced deals, up from eight heading into the meetings last year.And with A.J. Pollock, Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel still unsigned, there’s plenty more holiday shopping. And for the bottom of the market, there is sale time in January [url=http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-crede-jersey]Joe Crede Jersey[/url] , February and even March.It’s not like the old days when teams made deals as soon as the market opened and tried to fill all their needs by the end of the winter meetings.“Things are slow,” Oakland general manager Dave Forst said. “I don’t think it’s that different from last year. Maybe the winter meetings will kind of jumpstart things.”Also on-deck at the meetings:HALL OR NOTHINGOrel Hershiser, Albert Belle and George Steinbrenner will be considered for the Hall of Fame when a 16-member panel votes this weekend in Las Vegas. Results will be announced Sunday at 8 p.m. EST.Harold Baines, Joe Carter, Will Clark, Lee Smith, Davey Johnson, Charlie Manuel and Lou Piniella are included on the ballot. The Hall of Fame board-appointed Today’s Game Era Committee includes Hall members Greg Maddux, Roberto Alomar, Joe Morgan, Bert Blyleven, Pat Gillick, Tony La Russa [url=http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-james-shields-jersey]http://... , John Schuerholz, Ozzie Smith and Joe Torre.PICK-N-PACKThe Rule 5 draft is the last item of business at the winter meetings, held Thursday morning before clubs clear out of town. Teams scour each other’s 40-man rosters, looking for players left off. Royals pitchers Brad Keller and Burch Smith, Tigers outfielder Victor Reyes and Texas outfielder Carlos Tocci were among those picked last December in the Rule 5.HEAR THISEight announcers who called games in the early days of radio are candidates for the Hall’s Ford C. Frick Award that honors broadcasting excellence. Waite Hoyt, Harry Heilmann, Connie Desmond, Pat Flanagan, Jack Graney, Al Helfer, Rosey Rowswell and Ty Tyson are all deceased.Hoyt and Heilmann already are in the Hall as players — Hoyt was the top pitcher on the famed 1927 Yankees, Heilmann played alongside Ty Cobb in the Detroit outfield and hit .403 in 1923. No player in the Hall has also won the Frick award.The prize will be announced Wednesday.