The following is transcribed from a post-Non-Waiver Trade Deadline press conference DC GM Mike Rizzo held at Nationals Park on Saturday afternoon:
• How close to the deadline were you still talking to other teams?
Mike Rizzo: "We were engaged right up to the last couple minutes, and like I said, we couldn't come up with a deal that I thought was good enough for the type of player that Adam Dunn is..."
• What was the team's goal at the deadline?
Mike Rizzo: "The goal was to make a prudent baseball deal. We understand what the dynamics of that are. If to trade Adam Dunn would get us players in return, multiple players that were as good or better than Adam Dunn, or the impact of more than Adam Dunn we would've made the deal, but we certainly weren't going to take a step backwards or do a multi-player, a quantity deal for Adam Dunn. This is a prototypical clean-up hitter in the lineup that hits 40 HR's and drives in 100 runs and is a great clubhouse presence, and that means a lot to us and our fanbase, and if there was a deal to be made we certainly would have made it. We proved that with the difficult trade we had to make with Matt Capps but we saw value for value there, we just didn't see the value in return with an Adam Dunn trade."
• Do you have to sign Dunn for not trading him to be a success?
Mike Rizzo: "We are going to talk extension with Adam Dunn and his representatives, we're certainly not going to talk about it with the media. Adam Dunn is a big part of our ballclub, we've shown that by not trading for lesser value."
• Wilson Ramos plans?
Mike Rizzo: "He's going to Triple-A to catch every day in Triple A."
• Will we see him [in DC] in September?
Mike Rizzo: "The odds are you'll see him in September, or maybe before depending on what happens in the major leagues."
• Any other inquiries as the deadline approached?
Mike Rizzo: "There were inquiries on several other players, some more serious than others, down to the wire, there was a couple of players that we were talking serious deals with that had serious legs to them."
• Do you anticipate any possible waiver deals?
Mike Rizzo: "There's always a possibility. We're always doing our jobs and looking to improve the ballclub."
• Were there more calls than in previous years?
Mike Rizzo: "Most definitely. There's no comparison between the volume of calls that we received for our players. I don't know if I'd use the word pride, but I'd use the word going in the right direction, and I think the industry sees where we're going and the players that we have, and when other teams are interested, especially contenders, when contenders are interested in your players that means that you have playoff-caliber players on your team that other people want, and that's a good feeling. It gives us something to build on and a mark to shoot for."
• Did you get many inquiries about Josh Wilingham?
Mike Rizzo: "Yes. He was a very popular item to discuss. There were serious inquiries for Josh Willingham and we didn't feel that we got the return back to feel good about moving him."
• Post deadline, where are you priorities?
Mike Rizzo: "I think evaluating the team, preparing to take the last two months of the major league season and playing better, evaluating the big league club, seeing what we have to do in the winter and certainly signing the remaining draft picks that we want to sign."