Nats leave Winter Meetings with major league, farm rosters intact

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals got through the major league phase of this morning's Rule 5 draft without losing any players, nor did they make a selection with the 29th pick in the first round. They survived five rounds - yes, you read that right, five rounds - in the Triple-A phase of the draft without losing anyone and didn't add any players.

And when all 30 clubs passed in the Double-A phase of the Rule 5, the Winter Meetings closed without the Nationals making a move.

The morning entry by MASNsports.com's Dan Kolko highlighted some of the flurry of activity Wednesday night and Thursday morning that turned a sluggish Winter Meetings into a frenzy of player acquisitions. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was engaged in talks with a host of teams during the Winter Meetings at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, but flew out this morning for Washington, D.C., without consummating a deal or signing a free agent.

The blockbuster trade rumored last night did not come to fruition. Yet.

Doug Harris, the Nationals assistant general manager and director of player personnel, went into the Rule 5 unsure of whether he could keep the organization intact, a legitimate concern when a team reaches the playoffs two times in three years, drafts well, and has a well-stocked, well-regarded farm system.

"We did our due diligence with the exercise and prepared our rosters accordingly. We felt good about it going in," Harris said. "You never know how other people will assess your players."

Just because the Winter Meetings are over doesn't mean the Nationals' work is. Rizzo continues to seek a solution at second base, is entertaining offers for bullpen arms, and is still working toward contract extensions with several players who will reach free agency after the 2015 season - starting pitchers Doug Fister and Jordan Zimmermann, and shortstop Ian Desmond.

But Rizzo has a history of making substantial moves all through the offseason. In 2011, he traded for lefty Gio Gonzalez just before Christmas, two weeks after the Winter Meetings ended. Some of the groundwork for that deal was struck at the Winter Meetings in Dallas.

NatsFest is Saturday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. We'll see if they make an announcement about a player acquisition at that time.