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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- On the first full day of Major League Baseballs annual winter meetings, Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo downplayed reports that Bryce Harpers lofty contract demands have the team prepared to move on when Harpers current deal expires.Its not like us to discuss anything that we talk [about] when were talking to players about anything, said Rizzo on Monday afternoon, addressing a group of reporters in an 11th floor hallway at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. Im not going to answer any of those kind of questions. Those are private discussions between us and the players.Earlier Monday, USA Today reported that Harper -- who is set to become a free agent after the 2018 season -- is seeking a contract in excess of 10 years and $400 million, and that because of those demands, the Nationals are inclined to let him go elsewhere when the time comes.With every player that you acquire, its a possibility that you may lose them in a specific time frame, Rizzo told media members at the Gaylord. So with Bryce Harper and every other player that has a contract expiring, you better make plans. Its not just Bryce Harper. Its everybody on the roster.In 2015, Harper became the youngest unanimous MVP ever after a season in which hit .330 with 42 home runs and led the majors in on-base and slugging percentage.But in 2016, the former first overall pick, who turned 24 in October, struggled to replicate his historic MVP campaign. In 147 games, he hit .243 with 24 homers and an .814 OPS that was nearly 300 points lower than a year earlier. During the second half of the season, when he missed five games in August with a shoulder injury, he hit just .226 with a .709 OPS.According to the USA Today report, Harpers agent, Scott Boras, said he hasnt had any long-term discussions with the Nationals regarding his client.Rizzo, whose roster features several high-profile Boras clients, including All-Star hurlers Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, said the lines of communication between him and the super-agent are always open.We have discussions with Boras and every other agent on a weekly basis, said Rizzo. Were constantly talking to him throughout the year, throughout the winter, during the season. Its talked about quite often. Theyre not specific negotiations, but theyre discussions. About strategies and philosophies and all those things that come into it.In May of last season, the Nationals agreed to terms with Strasburg on a seven-year, $175 million contract extension. Keith Hernandez Jersey . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. David Wright Jersey . Didier Drogba gave away the penalty that put Senegal one goal away from a major upset, but the veteran striker will get another chance -- probably his last -- at the World Cup after Salomon Kalous injury-time strike sealed the Ivorians place in Brazil next year. http://www.metssale.com/ . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. Noah Syndergaard Jersey . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Darryl Strawberry Jersey . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. Fernando Alonso says a stress moment at McLaren caused the tyre mix-up which ultimately led to him qualifying 14th on the grid for Sundays Austrian Grand Prix.Both McLarens made it into Q2, with Jenson Button going on to record his first Q3 appearance since the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he qualified fifth -- the highest position a McLaren driver has achieved since the team returned to Honda power in 2015.Alonso meanwhile was left to rue a mistake which meant he was unable to challenge for a place in the final part of qualifying.We had the threat of rain so we tried to do a quick run in Q2. Unfortunately when we took the blankets off the tyres were not the new tyres, it was the old tyres from Q1, Alonso explained. That was a surprise for the whole team and then when we put the new tyres on we had some yellow flags and we aborted the lap, so it was not a smooth qualifying.We were in a hurry from Q1 and it was aa stress moment with the rain threat.dddddddddddd. It is some races now that we are doing the small mistakes, we are not in a position -- lets say we are not very competitive -- so if we dont execute the races well it becomes even more difficult. The race is tomorrow and hopefully we can recover.Button will start third after gearbox penalties for both Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg are applied. Alonso says he feels confident that he would have been able to join his teammate in Q3 had the error not occurred.I think so. Obviously it was tough but with Perez out, Sainz out, we have to beat only the two Haas [drivers], so I think it was very possible but we didnt execute qualifying good enough.Definitely we need some mixed conditions if we want to recover from P14 so lets wait and see. ' ' '