Zimmermann on a winter of rumors and prospects for an extension

VIERA, Fla. - There were times this offseason when Jordan Zimmermann couldn't help but wonder if his career in Washington, D.C., was over.

Try as he might to stick to his usual winter routines, there were constant reminders that he was entering his walk year, that his pending free agency might result in the Nationals dealing him if they were unable or unwilling to come to an agreement on a long-term contract extension

Zimmermann returned to his native Wisconsin and tried to immerse himself in family, hunting and fishing. But those nasty little trade rumors kept cropping up and interrupting his respite.

"You see your name pop up all the time, and anything can happen in this game," he said Saturday while dressing for the Nationals' first pitchers/catchers workout of spring training. "I was hoping I wasn't going to be traded and could stay. I'm here now and it's looking like I'm staying. I'm happy to be here."

Even if he seemed destined for a new team every few days from early December until he arrived at Space Coast Stadium on Feb. 2 to get ready for camp. He tried not to listen to the chatter, but it was difficult not to.

"I try not to, but when I turn the TV on and see it everywhere and people are texting me," he said. "Everywhere I go (it's), 'You're going to Boston,' 'You're going here.' I don't know anything, I tell them."

During the Winter Meetings in San Diego, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo met with Zimmermann's representatives, but little came of the talks, which Rizzo termed as preliminary. The last time the sides chatted was last winter, when Zimmermann reportedly turned down a five-year deal that would have been worth $60 million, but that was before the 28-year-old went 14-5 with a 2.66 ERA and tossed the team's first no-hitter on the season's final day. And before right-hander Max Scherzer was signed by Washington to a seven-year, $210 million deal.

After one trade rumor surfaced - an unsubstantiated report that had the right-hander going to the Chicago for one of the Cubs' young middle infielders - Rizzo made a point of reaching out to Zimmermann and telling him he hoped he was part of the team's long-term future. Zimmerman, however, understands both sides of the equation in a possible trade, the notion of being dealt and the idea of being wanted by another team.

"I look at it both ways: Why would they want to trade me and also ... it's good to know that there's other teams out there that are interested," he explained. "I'm just happy to be back in camp and with the Nats for another year."

Zimmermann is happy to continue dialogue with the Nats on an extension, but doesn't want talks to bleed into the regular season. As he said last spring, talks will cease once the first pitch of 2015 is thrown.

"Once the season starts, I don't want to talk," he said. "If something happens in spring, we're willing to listen. But once the season starts, I don't really want to talk about it."

With Scherzer's deal being the highest ever for a righty, and with pitchers still commanding big bucks despite teams' insistence they will be fiscally responsible, who could blame Zimmermann for testing the market?

But for now, his walk year is just another season.

"I'm not going to think about it, just going to go out there and pitch," Zimmermann said. "I'm a Nat for another year and I'm going to do the best I can and pitch for these guys. We'll see what happens after the season. ... If they want to bring something up, we're here to listen. But I think everything's on hold for right now."