mike rizzo says he's not sure he'll be able to meet that deadline, but he definitely wants zimmerman around for a long, long time. dave feldman, fox 5 sports. >> thank you, feldy. >>> today national league mvp brian braun became the first baseball player to successfully challenge a drug penalty in a grievance. his 50 game suspension has been overturned. the brewer tested positive for elevated testosterone levels in october. at the hearing braun challenged the sample was tape on a saturday and not sent to the -- taken to a saturday and not sent to the lab until 48 hours later. he's off the hook. >>> to basketball, jeff jones and america hosting bucknell. bucknell goes on a 12-0 run capped off on this three- pointer by cameron ayers. bucknell beats american 55-50 to secure a share of the patriot league regular season title. >>> jeremy lin and the knicks facing the miami heat tonight. it was a tough night for lin, eight points with eight turnovers, one of them coming here as miami gets the steal. lebron james, watch this, straight nasty, dunking with some authority. the nicks can't hand

now it's up to the players. >> reporter: that's general manager mike rizzo.eard from ryan zimmerman sitting literally feet apart here at spaceco stadium both asked about the contract situation. ryan zimmerman's agent is here in town. he has been talking with mike rizzo. nobody will say if any progress has been made. of course zimmerman has two years left on his contract so there is no huge hurry but he set saturday as the deadline for when he wants to have a deal done. otherwise he wants to table it for the rest of the season. that's not to say the agent and the general manager couldn't talk amongst themselves. another player we talked to today, michael morris, the breakout star for the nationals last year. played outfield, played first base. he led the team in batting average, home runs with 31. and rbis. and he has been everywhere. he's been in magazines, has his own t-shirt line. michael morris, they call him beast mo. he says he is still trying to keep it humble. take a listen. >> yeah. this is the first year that i hope i'm on the team. you know? but yea

and mike rizzo. expectations are high and that beats the alternative.people think you're not good. >> and that is true. we proved the end of last year and through the winter we're going to be a team to reckon with and we feel we have the personnel to compete in that national league. >> ryan zimmerman. everyone was talking about him to meet with you and with some learners. he wants a new deal and not to discuss it until the end of the season. where do we stand with zimmerman? >> and he is the face of the franchise. a terrific player on the field and in that clubhouse. he's part of the furniture and we would love to keep him here throughout the entire career and we're in discussions and talking all the time. any time you have a player who wants to be here in the front office and ownership group that wants them in d.c., there is -- and that is right to get a deal done. >> he wanted -- put a deadline in by the end of the day tomorrow. will that be met? >> and that is nothing. it's about the teammates and doesn't want it to be a distraction and i don't, i'm

ready to start his first full year after tommy johns surgery, but gm mike rizzo says the plan is to limittrasburg to around 160 innings, then shut him down no matter where the nationals stand in terms of making it to the postseason. the nationals first round draft pick arrived a few days earl to start his major league cha -- early to start his major league career, 21-year-old anthony mondone. drafted as a third baseman the nats plan on playing him at spring in first and second. possibly the biggest story line is whether bryce harper makes the opening day roster. the 19-year-old arrived a few days early looking to get in some extra work making it a little difficult for them. the guys anxious to get to start back up playing considering position players aren't supposed to arrive until saturday officially. opening day is on the road this season against the cubs april 5th, home opener april 12th against the reds. >>> as the redskins scouts make their way to indianapolis for the combine they have another issue to ponder. which free agents do they place their franchise tag on? will be it fred da

everyone is optimistic, the owners, coaches, managers and yes, the gm mike rizzo who i spoke with earlieroved in the last year and through this winter we're going to be a team to be reckoned with and we feel we're competitive in the division in a real tough division and we feel we've got the personnel to really compete in the national league. >> reporter: one of the foundations of this team ryan zimmerman. everyone was talking about his agent was in town today to meet with you. he's contracted through next season. he said he wants a new deal or doesn't want to discuss it until the end of this season. where do we stand? >> he's the face of the franchise, a terrific player not only on the field but he's a terrific guy in the clubhouse and community. he's part of the furniture here in washington d.c. and we'd love to keep him throughout his entire career. we're in discussions. we're talking all the time. we kept the dialogue moving. any time you have a player who wants to be here and a front office and ownership group that wants them in d.c., it's ripe to get the deal done. >> reporter: you'

as mike rizzo calls him the furniture around this place, a fixture, the franchise and a guy under contract through 2013. he wants an extension and wants it done now and he says after tomorrow he's not going to talk about it. >> it's not fair to the other guys and it's not fair to me. i think there's a lot of optimism in camp this year. i think we finally have a talented team that if we stay healthy and continue to get better throughout the year that we can have a chance to make the playoffs and i think we know we have a lot of work to get there, but the work starts here. we need to worry about baseball and not having every other day someone coming up to me and asking me about my contract or how much money i want or how many years i want when we're supposed to be concentrating on baseball. it's just not fair to the other guys that are working hard and supposed to be a group effort. if there's one guy that's continually talking about how much money he's supposed to make or something like that, it's just not fair to the other guys. so tomorrow we'll have a deal done or we won't and we'll talk