Sean Burnett departs for L.A.; Nationals now eyeing lefty J.P Howell

“I won’t really sleep real comfortable until [LaRoche agrees],” said Johnson said, who believes a deal will be reached.

“I hope that gets worked out,” he said. “Everybody knows each other. Everybody has a lot of comfort zone, not just on the field but in the clubhouse. I had him at my golf tournament, and I told him, ‘You don’t want to go somewhere and be miserable. You know you’re going to have a good time in D.C.’ We’ll see … That’d be a nice Christmas present. That would put the icing on the cake.”

Notes

• The Rule 5 draft Thursday holds little interest for the Nationals as they don’t plan to select anyone — and have no room on the roster for a selection anyway. They’re expecting to lose a player or two, though, with pitcher Rob Wort among the candidates to go.

• Only Roger Bernadina has been asked to participate in the World Baseball Classic thus far, agreeing to play for the Netherlands. Rizzo has said he’d hope his players could help Team USA field a strong team, but agent Scott Boras told reporters on Wednesday he did not expect Bryce Harper to play.

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