Jim Bowden told Mike Rizzo about Mark Buehrle

(Nick Wass/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

“Mike, obviously, you can’t always believe what you read on Twitter, but we’re seeing tweets now that it looks like the Marlins could be locked up with Mark Buehrle,” Casey Stern told Rizzo on MLB Network Radio’s Inside Pitch. (Audio here.) “Have you heard anything or gotten any kind of confirmation on that while we’re sitting here?”

“I have not,” Rizzo said.

“We were just told four years, [$58 million],” Bowden chimed in. “Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting Mark Buehrle four years, $58 with the Marlins, according to Ken Rosenthal. If in fact that’s true, is that a big setback, or now do we just go to Plan B?”

“I think we go to Plan B if that’s true,” Rizzo said. “Mark was our acquisition target in the free-agent market, and a great fit for us. Like I said, he’s gonna do what’s best for his family, and we wish him well.”

“Yeah, we just have confirmation, just so you know, that he has agreed to terms with the Marlins: four years, $58 million,” the former Nats GM told the current Nats GM. “That is now definite. So, I know it’s a disappointing time for you; can you react to that news?”

“Well, we’re gonna have to move on,” Rizzo said. “We have secondary plans in place, and like I said, we like the rotation that we have. It’s very young, but it’s very deep and talented, so we’ll have to see where we’re at and corral the troops and see where we go from here.”

“Mike, when you get in a situation like this where obviously you’re dealing with another team that’s very active, when you get into meetings, is there a play against another club?” Stern asked. “Not badmouthing or any of that, but where you know, hey look, I’ve got the Marlins who are the other team and I’ve got to sit there and try to preemptive strike, say here’s why you want to come here versus going to Miami?”

“Certainly not,” Rizzo responded. “We extol the virtues of coming to Washington, D.C. And we never rap another organization or town, because this is a small fraternity here in Major League Baseball. You have to play nice. We do things above-board, and we’re cognizant and respectful to all the other organizations.”

PS: Marlins suck.