The Washington Nationals have made the re-signing of first baseman Adam LaRoche their top priority in order to make the rest of their offseason simpler, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN:

Mike Rizzo just told us that Adam LaRoche is their no. one priority right now because that would make the rest of the winter easy for them

— JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) November 11, 2012

The 33-year-old LaRoche rejected the Nationals’ one-year qualifying offer last Friday, but could still end up back in D.C. on a multi-year deal. The Nats have competition for the LaRoche in the Red Sox and Rangers, but if they are able to come to come out ahead in discussions then the only thing left on their offseason wish list would be an addition to the starting rotation.

Mike Morse is currently set as the Nats’ left fielder, but could move to first base if LaRoche were to sign elsewhere. LaRoche hit .271/.343/.510 with a career-high thirty-three home runs in one hundred fifty-four games this season.