

(By Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post)

That Adam LaRoche will likely be the odd man out of the Nats’ infield next season is no surprise. Fans and media folks have discussed this for months; if Ryan Zimmerman isn’t at third base, well, he has to be somewhere. And LaRoche has a hefty mutual option for next season.

Via Wagner:

The most notable changes to the Nationals’ roster likely will be in the bullpen and infield. LaRoche has been an important part of the lineup over the past four seasons, but he may be pushed out. LaRoche, 34, has a $15 million mutual option for 2015. Although he loves Washington and his teammates and Rizzo has a lot of respect for him, the Nationals will need to find a spot in the lineup for Ryan Zimmerman. “I have no idea what direction I’ll go from here,” said LaRoche, who is owed a $2 million buyout if his option is not picked up. “But I know I’ll go sit in the tree stand [to hunt] and think about it.”

Still, hearing LaRoche talk frankly about what’s likely to happen makes it all a bit more evocative — a week ago he was hitting clean-up for one of the World Series favorites, and now he’s giving what sound like farewell interviews.

Thursday morning he was on the Junkies on 106.7 The Fan, promoting a baseball complex he is helping build in Fort Scott, Kan., along with his pal, country singer Luke Bryan. And he was frank about the future.

“My initial thought is Zim will probably have to move to first,” LaRoche said. “And I think it’ll be incredibly simple for him to pick that up, as good as he is at playing third. So it just may be a situation where there’s no room. And I hope that that’s not the case. I’ve been here four years now, and there’s nothing I’d like more than to finish out my career in D.C. It’ll just come down to whether it makes sense personnel-wise, and I’m glad that’s not my decision.”

Eric Bickel tried to suggest that as much as LaRoche likes Washington, it could still be exciting to get a fresh start with a different club.

“I’ve had that excitement enough in my life,” LaRoche said. “We’re in our 14th different home in 14 years this year. And the reason I say that is because I don’t think it’s as exciting for my wife as it is for me, bouncing around to these different teams, having to figure out new schools and new Little Leagues, and just keep re-packing and moving somewhere else.

“Don’t get me wrong, it can be [nice to get] a change of scenery and kind of a fresh start for guys, but I also know that the grass isn’t always greener,” he went on. “I know I’m in an unbelievable situation here. I got a chance to thank [Mike Rizzo] after the game for just allowing me to be a part of this four years ago, and I mean it. I know that this is just a class organization. I’ve been around a lot of them, and this is right up there at the top.

“And I’d love to stick around. Again, it may not work out. I don’t think it’s going to have anything to do with the money. I really don’t. I think it’s going to be more of a position issue. If there’s a place for me, if first base is open and they can do it, I think they will. I think that’s going to be the deciding factor more the salary, would be my guess.”

LaRoche also addressed the much-discussed issue of wild-card teams advancing while 90-plus-win teams depart the playoffs. Like others, he admitted that the long break between the regular season and the divisional series is an issue.

“I’ve got to think it doesn’t help,” he said. “And I’m just going off the feeling at the all-star break. The all-star break is huge, that’s the time to go back and kind of recharge, get away from the game for a few days. But that feeling when you come back, it’s almost like another spring training game.

“And you wouldn’t think [that],” he said. “You’d think you play for three months straight, three or four days off, what’s the difference? Well there’s something there. It takes a minute for your eyes to kind of readjust to 95 miles an hour, and kind of get everything back in the right spot. I don’t know that it played a huge factor, but I know it doesn’t help when you’ve got to sit that long.

“And we did everything we could do. Matt had a scrimmage set up, we came out and tried to make it as real as possible, just tried to keep that competitiveness and that vision and everything going. I don’t know if that played into it or not. I wish that there was something they could do to change that. Unfortunately I think TV has too much control over the game now, to where they kind of dictate when teams can play.”