WASHINGTON (AP) – The Washington Nationals are working the phones trying to find favorable deals while Alfonso Soriano is amused by the rumors flying around ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.

“The last seven days, I’ve seen my name (linked) with five different teams, so I’m laughing,” Soriano said before Washington’s game against San Francisco on Tuesday night. “I know and I understand it’s a very difficult decision for the team.”

With the Nationals in last place, and a stated goal of improving with an eye to the future, general manager Jim Bowden is rather busy these days. He said on Tuesday alone, as of 5 p.m., the Nationals had spoken to 27 of the other 29 major league teams about various players.

“The fire department is presently in my office, hosing down my phone, because all it does it burn,” Bowden said.

He wouldn’t go into specifics about Soriano or any other player that could be involved in a swap. But Bowden did say his goal is to acquire talent – regardless of whether a player is already in the majors or in rookie ball. The preference would be for pitching.

“Every conversation I have, I say, Pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching, pitching.’ But you know, not everybody has quality pitching,” he said. “We always try for pitching first, no matter what club calls us. We always want pitching, pitching, pitching. But you have to be open to what you can get.”

He said it’s not likely that the Nationals would grant another club a window for negotiating a new contract with Soriano, who is due to become a free agent at the end of the season.

If Soriano sounds like he’s taking all of the trade talk in stride, he’s looked like it at the plate, too. He entered Tuesday with a hit in 10 of his previous 11 games, batting .432 with five homers, six doubles and 12 runs scored in that span.

“He’s handling it very well,” manager Frank Robinson said. “He’s shown he’s strong enough to handle it and play through it and not let it affect him.”

And there’s been plenty of praise from teammates, who say they’d hate to see the Nationals lose Soriano.

“He’s been our heart and soul this year,” said second baseman Jose Vidro, who went on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a strained left hamstring. “Everybody wishes he could stay here with us.”

AP-ES-07-25-06 2119EDT