The trade deadline has come and gone and Mike Rizzo did not pull the trigger on an Adam Dunn trade. At this point Rizzo only has one of two options:
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- Sign Dunn to a contract extension before he becomes a free agent at the end of the season. ↵
- Hope no one swoops in and outbids the Nationals in free agency. ↵
Considering how bitter fans are about the Alfonso Soriano rental in 2006, I'm guessing that Rizzo will be opting for the former, but before he takes care of locking up Adam Dunn, let's not forget he has another contract he must deal with first. The deadline to sign Bryce Harper to a contract is Aug. 16, which means he has just over two weeks left to sign the No. 1 overall pick to a deal.
↵Given Harper's recent thoughts on Facebook, it looks like Rizzo might have some work ahead of him in the coming weeks to get him to sign on the dotted line. Hopefully for the sake of everyone it gets done with more than 77 seconds left before the deadline this time around.
↵Between satisfying the desires of Adam Dunn and Bryce Harper and keeping space for players down the road, Mike Rizzo will have his hands quite full over the next few weeks. Once all is said and done, we'll have a much better idea of what kind of negotiator Mike Rizzo is with elite talent.
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