"The Nationals, if they're inclined, do not have to choose between Ryan Zimmerman and Prince Fielder. They have the means to sign the face of their franchise to a contract extension and to land the game-changing free agent slugger.

But for the Nationals to acquire Fielder and extend Zimmerman, it would require a fundamental change in how the team's ownership operates.

Since the Lerner family purchased the team from Major League Baseball in 2006, the perception has been that ownership has run the team more as a bottom-line business than as a competitive outlet."