Washington Nationals (Almost) Acquired Adam Jones from Baltimore Orioles

Adam Jones and the Baltimore Orioles are nearing a contract extension, and Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi tweet that it could be worth a nice chunk of money.

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Sources tell me and @jonmorosi that Adam Jones deal with #Orioles will be six years in $85 million range.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 25, 2012

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This past offseason, the Washington Nationals were apparently denied by the Orioles regarding a trade of Jones, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.

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#orioles could have had lannan, storen, Lombardozzi and CF for Jones over winter. Passed
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) May 25, 2012

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While we all know that Jones is a great player, it's probably a good thing that the Nationals ended up holding on to Drew Storen, Steve Lombardozzi, John Lannan and the unnamed center fielder.

While Storen and Lannan have yet to help the club this season, both of them are capable of providing the team with solid pitching—albeit in very different roles.

Lombardozzi has been a nice surprise for manager Davey Johnson this season, hitting .317/.385/.378 with five doubles and five RBI.

Acquiring Jones would have added some much needed pop to the Nationals offense. However, keeping Storen, Lombardozzi and Lannan will prove to be the better option in the long run.