Rizzo on Harper grievance and absence, Werth and Detwiler deal

Bryce Harper's upcoming grievance hearing to determine whether he can opt out of his contract and into salary arbitration will be held Tuesday in New York. But the potentially contentious faceoff has already had an effect on Harper and the Nationals. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said the star outfielder opted not to attend NatsFest, though he had previously been listed by the team among the participating players, because of the hearing, which will be held in New York. "We're disappointed he's not here, but he chose not to be here because of the grievance," Rizzo said during his media availability on Saturday. Harper has already secured enough service time to qualify for arbitration as a Super Two - a player who ranks in the top 22 percent of players who have between two and three years of service time - but there is a disagreement on whether he is able to opt out of the major league contract he signed after being drafted in 2010 to become eligible for arbitration. Most players in that situation are able to opt out of their deal once eligible for arbitration. But the Nationals say that an opt-out clause was not included in Harper's contract, which was agreed upon less than a minute before the midnight deadline for teams to reach terms with drafted players. Per an agreement with Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, a grievance hearing will determine Harper's availability to opt out of the contract and be eligible for arbitration. While Rizzo said at the Winter Meetings in San Diego that the Nats and Harper would continue to talk to avoid the possible unpleasantness that could accompany the grievance hearing, Harper's absence could indicate that the sides are retreating to their respective corners and digging in their heels for a fight. On Saturday, Rizzo dismissed a question about the upcoming hearing, saying, "I can't talk about any part of the grievance because it's a legal matter, and we're not going to discuss it." Legal issues could also be behind the team's decision not to make Jayson Werth available to the media at NatsFest. Werth was recently convicted of reckless driving for operating his Porsche at 105 mph in a posted 55 mph zone in Fairfax County. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail with 170 days suspended, but is appealing the sentence. "That was my decision," Rizzo said. "He's going to be around and meet the fans, visit with the fans, and I think that's the important part." Rizzo also spoke for the first time about Thursday's trade that sent left-hander Ross Detwiler to the Rangers for two prospects. "I thought we had some depth at pitching in the bullpen," Rizzo said. "We have Xavier Cedeno in the bullpen and we put Mike Grace on the (40-man) roster, so I thought we had great depth in our left-handed relievers. I thought it was a good time to acquire two good prospects for a player who was a five-plus and was going to leave in free agency after the season." Despite a diminished role last season, Detwiler did not ask for a trade, Rizzo said. "Ross never asked for a trade," Rizzo said. "His representatives wanted to know what his situation was and I told them what his situation was going to be: one of our starting candidates after our starting five and competition there and then go to the bullpen." Not that asking for a trade would have carried much weight with the GM. "Asking for a trade doesn't make me do a trade anyway," he said.