Nats taking another shot at extension with Zimmermann

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals have engaged Jordan Zimmermann and his representatives in the past about a possible contract extension that would keep the right-hander in D.C. long-term.

These previous talks haven't progressed too far. But with Zimmermann now set to enter his final year of team control, a source confirms that the Nationals are set to take another crack at a long-term deal with Zimmermann.

Zimmermann is set to earn $16.5 million in 2015, the final year of a two-year deal reached last winter. At that time, the Nationals reached out to Zimmermann to try and work out a long-term deal that would buy out his final two years of arbitration and extend into his free agent years, but the two sides were too far apart for the negotiations to reach a serious stage.

Instead, the Nats and Zimmermann inked a two-year deal worth a total of $24 million.

The Nationals have made it clear to opposing teams that they are open to trading Zimmermann - if the right deal presents itself. But the priority would be to lock up Zimmermann to an extension, keeping one of the top right-handed starters in the game in a Nationals uniform past the 2015 campaign.

Zimmermann would surely demand a contract worth well in excess of $100 million. The Homer Bailey deal with the Reds (six years, $105 million) has been talked about as a possible starting point for negotiations, but Zimmermann has outperformed Bailey thus far as a professional, posting a WAR of 15.4 over the last four seasons, compared to 8.8 for Bailey.

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal was first to report that the Nationals are planning to take another shot at a deal with Zimmermann.