Washington Nationals Apparently Stand Pat At 2012 MLB Trade Deadline. No Deals Announced.

The Washington Nationals reinstated veteran bench bat Chad Tracy from the DL after a rehab stint that saw the 32-year-old eight-year veteran hit in 13 of 37 at bats as he worked his way back from a torn groin muscle suffered in a May 26th game on the road in Atlanta. To make room on the roster for Tracy's return, the Nationals optioned outfielder Corey Brown to Triple-A Syracuse after the 26-year-old outfielder went 3 for 13 with a double and a home run over the recently-completed six-game road trip through New York and Milwaukee. Brown, a former A's prospect acquired along with RHP Henry Rodriguez in the deal that sent OF Josh Willingham to the A's in the winter of 2010, has a .300/.384/.559 line with 19 doubles and 21 HR's in 95 games and 426 PA's at Triple-A Syracuse this year.

According to several reports out of the nation's capital, Jayson Werth was in D.C. for BP this afternoon. The 33-year-old outfielder who broke his left wrist in a May game against the Philadelphia Phillies won't be in the lineup tonight, but he could be close to returning to the Nationals' outfield after eight games in which he was 6 for 24 with two doubles on his rehab assignment.

As for any Non-Waiver Trade deadline deals, the Nationals barely came up in reports this afternoon. There was some chatter about the Nats talking to other teams about a catcher, but the deadline passed without any deals announced. If the Washington Nationals made a deal it hasn't been announced yet.

Nats' principal owner Mark Lerner, as the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore tweeted (@AdamKilgoreWP) spoke briefly to reporters about the Nationals standing pat with the lineup that currently has the best record in baseball:

Lerner says, "We're going all the way with what we've got in this room." (Plus any possible August trades, I would add.)

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) July 31, 2012

As in recent years, Nats' GM Mike Rizzo will likely meet with reporters now that the deadline has passed and we'll update with any additional information. When the Nationals' general manager spoke to reporters a few weeks back he was quoted stating that a big deal was unlikely because, as he explained, "There’s not a whole lot of things that we’d like to upgrade.'" Rizzo told the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore in a July 17th article entitled, "Mike Rizzo: Nationals looking long-term at the trade deadline", that the Nats would keep an open mind about any deals that came up. "'If there’s a way we can upgrade with a clear upgrade,'" Rizzo told the WaPost reporter, "'We certainly would exhaust all the ideas to try and do that.'"

It appears that no such deal came up.