The Washington Nationals came up short of their expectations after being touted by ESPN as World Series favorites to start the season. According to The Washington Post, the Nationals are not planning on trading closer Jonathan Papelbon and setup man Drew Storen.

Papelbon was acquired at the trade deadline and made headlines by fighting with NL MVP frontrunner Bryce Harper for not running to first base in a pop fly. The Washington Post noted that Harper reached out to the 34-year-old closer via a phone call to make sure that everything would be all right before spring training.

"Papelbon and Harper are fine together. Harp just wants to win. All he cares about is that we have a 45-save relief pitcher who's going to help us," an insider for the Nationals said. The 23-year-old's response on the situation showed his leadership skills from a very young age.

The report also said that the current plan for Washington is to have Papelbon close out the game and Storen to set him up. The 28-year-old reliever broke his right thumb last Sept. 12 after slamming the lockbox in his locker due to frustration after blowing a lead against the Mets, per MLB.com.

He was one of the better relievers in the MLB this season before the Nationals acquired Papelbon from the Phillies. Storen posted a 1.73 ERA through 36.1 innings pitched with 29 saved games before the trade, as reported by Yahoo! Sports.

The 28-year-old was not excited after the trade and his ERA ballooned to 7.56 after the arrival of Papelbon, with three blown saves in 18 appearances between August and September. Storen has a 2-2 record for the 2015 season with a 3.44 ERA in 58 games, per Baseball Reference.

Washington hired Dusty Baker as their new manager after contract talks with Bud Black fell through. The Washington Post added that Baker is known to have handled one of the leagues famous bad relationships while with the San Francisco Giants in Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds.

The Nationals most likely will allow the 66-year-old manager to use his philosophy of "work-it-out-or-punch-it-out, but produce on the field" mantra. In a report by Bleacher Report, if the Nationals decide to trade Papelbon, it would be difficult to move him because of his guaranteed $11 million option for 2016.

The unpredictable closer has a career ERA of 2.35 with 349 saves for the Boston Red Sox, Phillies and Nationals, per Baseball Reference. He won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2007.