Ian Desmond will be the starting shortstop for the Washington Nationals in 2015, if the team doesn't trade him.

"Our approach with Ian Desmond has not changed one bit since the end of last season," general manager Mike Rizzo said.

"Ian Desmond is our shortstop. He is the leader of our team. He is one of the best shortstops in all of baseball, and he is going to be the shortstop of the Washington Nationals. With that said, if a deal comes up that we can't refuse, we will always look to improve ourselves for 2015 and beyond. But it's hard to replace one of the best shortstops in all of baseball. The deal would have to be pretty elaborate not to have Ian Desmond on this team."

The Nationals acquired Yunel Escobar from the Oakland Athletics this week, but the plan appears to be to play him at second base.

Desmond is a free agent after this year. The Nationals reportedly offered Desmond a seven-year, $107 million contract last offseason, but Desmond settled for a two-year, $17.5 million deal before the 2014 season.