September 29, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche (25) connects for a base hit against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Nationals defeated the Cardinals 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports that the Orioles have expressed interest in Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak. Smoak became expendable earlier this week when the Mariners sent pitcher Jason Vargas to Anaheim in exchange for 1B/DH Kendrys Morales. Acquiring Smoak would presumably mean the Orioles are out on LaRoche.

In other news, Jim Bowden of ESPN  reports that the Texas Rangers were “never in” on LaRoche. Bowden says they weren’t interested in a long-term contract or the draft-pick compensation they would have to give up.

In a seperate report this morning, Bowden reports that Rangers Assistant GM Thad Levine said the Rangers have not discussed LaRoche to this point.

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The Orioles have been tied to so many bats this offseason (Jason Kubel, Billy Butler, Smoak just to name a few) and the Rangers appear disinterested in LaRoche as an option, so it’s probably safe to say that both clubs can be taken off the list of his potential landing spots.

So, it appears that the only remaining suitors for LaRoche are the Nats, Seattle (not officially “out”), Boston (Napoli isn’t signed until his name is on the contract) and of course, the always-present mystery team. Of those four, the only ones that appear prominent are Washington and the last-minute mystery team, and any mystery team at this point would probably be a non-contender (Houston, Miami, etc.). Washington has the high ground in these negotiations, and hopefully they’ll utilize it to bring LaRoche home.

LaRoche has long been considered the Nationals’ first priority this offseason. News that another team is very serious about him should be just a bit concerning, though not very surprising after the numbers he put up last season.

ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports that the Orioles have emerged as a serious suitor for Adam LaRoche. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The Orioles represent another perfect fit for LaRoche: Hitter-friendly ballpark, team in need of a first baseman, team that values defense as much as anyone out there. In fact, the Orioles were linked to LaRoche back in the 2010-2011 offseason before the Nationals ultimately signed him.

With Mark Reynolds gone, the Orioles certainly have a need to fill at first base, and GM Dan Duquette has made it known far and wide that he intends to add a middle-of-the-order bat this offseason. So whether Stark’s report is accurate or not, the Orioles should be considered a player for LaRoche anyway.

The Nationals have been unwilling to add a third year to their offers to LaRoche so far, but Bill Ladson of MLB.com wrote earlier that that won’t necessarily be a disadvantage for the Nats. Ladson said that it appears the Orioles are also unwilling to go to that third year, so whoever caves may ultimately decide the winner of LaRoche’s services.

If the Nationals do intend to trade Michael Morse to acquire that fifth dominant starter, they will be aggressive. What happens with LaRoche will ultimately shape the Nats’ offsesaon.. Without him, they lose a substantial trade chip in Morse, and might be forced to deal prospects or overpay on the open market to fill that final rotation spot.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on all things Adam LaRoche as well as all the other rumors, trades and signings as the offseason progresses.

Well, not even a one-hour rain delay could slow down Baltimore Orioles’ ace Jason Hammel in a game where Nationals hitting proved inconsistent once again in this ever-enticing 2012 campaign.

In the fourth episode of the Battle of the Beltway series and first at Camden Yards, the O’s (40-30) downed the Nats (40-28) by a score of 2-1 on Friday night.  Hammel (9-2) earned the win, Jordan Zimmermann (3-6) the loss, and Jim Johnson his 21st save of the season.  The Nats are now 1-3 against the Orioles this year after surrendering two of three matchups played in late May at Nationals Park.  Interestingly enough, all three wins by the O’s have come by one run.

Entering the game off a one hit shut-out in Atlanta last weekend, Mr. Hammel picked up right where he left off, going 8 strong innings whilst allowing only 5 hits, 0 earned runs, and racking up a career-tying 10 strikeouts against a simply baffled Nats lineup.  The Nationals remained close due to a Mark Reynolds error that was able to score shortstop Ian Desmond in the 5th from first base.  However, the Nats couldn’t do much else and Hammel would cruise to his 9th win of the season.

Despite the fact tonight was indeed the Hammel Show, Zimmermann pitched relatively well in yet another outing where he received no run support whatsoever.  Fun, yet frustrating fact: Nats hitting hasn’t been able to muster more than three runs in any Zimmermann loss this season.  To begin the game, the O’s charged quickly ahead 1-0 in the 2nd when Reynolds hit a solo bomb off a miscued high-and-in fastball.  While Zimmermann then settled down for a few innings, the home team struck again in the 5th when J.J. Hardy hit an RBI double to score former Nat first baseman Nick Johnson.  Although Zimmermann clearly did not have his best stuff working tonight, he would in the end only surrender these two runs and one walk in seven innings of work.  The Nats hope to take a few wins back to DC as interleague play draws to a close.

One thing’s for sure: regardless of weather the fans will certainly come to watch these two 40-win teams this weekend.  After drawing over 120,000 in the three game set played at Nationals Park only a few weeks ago, approximately 45,800 fought it out through the rain to see the Nats and O’s battle on Friday night.

Champ of the Game: Desmond, who seemed to be the only National to figure out Hammel.  He went 2-3 with the lone run and walk given up by Orioles pitching.

Although he only went 1-4, the O’s Hardy drove in a run and made an outstanding catch in the 7th to rob Jesus Flores of an RBI single that could have tied the game.

Chump of the Game: Ryan Zimmerman for the Nats, who is slumping like a tired man in a rocking chair.  Now batting a whopping .222 (for those keeping score, this is worse than Danny Espinosa), Zimmerman went 0-4 with a strikeout.

For the O’s, Chris Davis was the only one not to get on base for the home team.  This simple reason gives Davis the nod.

Next Game: Saturday, 7:15 PM, at Camden Yards.  Edwin Jackson (3-4, 3.02 ERA) vs. Wei-Yin Chen (7-2, 3.36 ERA).