SAN DIEGO - The Philadelphia Phillies have signed free agent shortstop Didi Gregorius and that's both good and bad news for the Nationals. One, it makes the Phillies lineup stronger, especially if Gregorius can shake off his struggles with the Yankees from a year ago. But it also helps the Nationals in that it likely takes away one less team speculated to be in the competition for signing free agent third baseman Anthony Rendon. The Phillies believe they have taken care of their two biggest...

SAN DIEGO - Angels manager Joe Maddon likes the idea of quickening the pace of the game. He doesn't like the idea of making relievers pitch to three batters or finish an inning before coming out of the game, a rule that Commissioner Rob Manfred might implement for 2020. "I don't like it. I haven't liked it from the beginning," Maddon said during his Winter Meetings press conference. "I don't quite get it. I'm all for messing with the pace of the game. I think that's important. "The...

SAN DIEGO - Thanks to a record seven-year $245 million deal, pitcher Stephen Strasburg is staying with the Nationals. Strasburg, 31, who opted out of the four years left on his $100 million contract, will spend his career with the Nationals. He's on a path to make the Hall of Fame, but the question is how long will his record contract be a record? Apparently not long. Various media reports, including ESPN, MLB Network and MLB.com, say that teams will start making their offers to Gerrit Cole,...

SAN DIEGO - Catcher Ted Simmons, who played in the shadows of Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk and Gary Carter, will join the three backstops in the Hall of Fame in July. Simmons, who caught at least 150 games in eight different seasons, was voted into Cooperstown by the Hall's Modern Era Committee Sunday at baseball's Winter Meetings. The Modern Era Committee, one of four rotating committees that considers various periods, also voted in Marvin Miller, the pioneering union executive that led the...

SAN DIEGO - Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings are this week at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, a 15-minute walk from Petco Park, home of the Padres. It's an event where reporters and pundits take a kernel of corn and in seconds turn it into a jumbo bag of popcorn. Trade rumors are what make these meetings beautiful. But some years, such as last December in Las Vegas, there was more speculation than action. The podium in the press room stood most empty. Little happened. This December, if the...

The Dodgers played in the World Series four times from 1974 through 1981, but they don't have a position player representing that era in the Hall of Fame. That could change when the Hall of Fame's Modern Baseball Era Committee considers Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey, who has the strongest case to be in Cooperstown. The committee covers players from 1970 through 1987 and meets Sunday with the results announced that evening at the Winter Meetings in San Diego. Garvey played in five World...

Last offseason, the Nationals' Mike Rizzo went to work early on building his roster, getting catchers Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes and relief pitchers Trevor Rosenthal and Kyle Barraclough. This offseason, it is the Braves, defending National League East champions, that are roster-building early. The Braves signed free-agent lefty pitcher Cole Hamels to an $18 million contract, adding to a list of transactions. They spent $98 million this offseason by signing three relievers - Will Smith, Chris...

The Braves, who have won two consecutive National League East titles, have been the most productive team in the early days of the hot stove season, signing two relievers for their bullpen. But in a division where the four top teams have bullpen arms on their shopping list, what will each do this offseason? The Braves signed lefty Will Smith, who had 34 saves as a closer for San Francisco last season, and re-signed Chris Martin, 33, a reliever they acquired from Texas before the July 31 trade...

As the slowest part of the baseball offseason arrives, here are seven answers to seven questions: Question: Will the signing of major free agents speed up this year, or will teams be signing players the first week of spring training 2020? Answer: Most observers think the process will speed up. The teams' rosters aren't likely to get set before Christmas, which used to be the case, but it's likely not going to drag into late February as it did last offseason with Manny Machado (San Diego)...

A primer on the postseason awards that are voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America before the end of the season that will be announced this week: NL Manager of the Year: Yes, it was a bonehead admission by the voters not to have the Nationals' Davey Martinez among the final three, given that he led the team to a wild card postseason spot after starting 19-31. This award has vague standards, but the Cardinals' Mike Shildt is on because his team was an overachiever. Craig...

The Baseball Writers' Association of America this week announces its four major postseason awards. Votes have to in before the end of the regular season. Here's an American League primer: AL Rookie of the Year: Orioles lefty John Means wasn't one of the team's top pitching prospects in spring training and started the season in the bullpen. He made the AL All-Star team and was the Orioles' best pitcher, getting 12 of the team's 54 wins. He had 121 strikeouts in 155 innings. He made...

The Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman held a World Series trophy one day and became a free agent the next. The Nationals declined his $18 million option and gave him a $2 million buyout. The 35-year-old first baseman, who has been with the team since their first season in D.C. in 2005, wants to finish his career with the Nationals. He doesn't want to move to a new team and uproot his family. At least with 81 home games, he gets more family time. Chances are good that the Nationals ownership will make...

The Astros arrived in Washington, D.C., looking for relevance. They left leading the best-of-seven World Series three games to two and have a chance to win a Fall Classic for the second time in three seasons. "If we win in front of our own fans, it will be special," Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said. "I think I will black out for the first time in my life." Correa hit one of three home runs and Gerrit Cole pitched seven strong innings as the Astros cruised to a 7-1 victory against the...

Rookie pitcher José Urquidy pitched five shutout innings and Alex Bregman hit a grand slam Saturday night as the Houston Astros tied the World Series with an 8-1 win against the Nationals in Game 4. The Astros win guarantees the best-of-seven series, tied at two games apiece, will have a Game 6 on Tuesday in Houston. Game 5 is Sunday night at Nationals Park with the Astros' Gerrit Cole pitching against Max Scherzer, a rematch of Game 1. Urquidy, 24, who was the Astros' opening day starter...

After losing the first two games at home, the Astros have made this World Series competitive, thanks to a pitching staff that snuffed out a steady stream of potential Nationals rallies. The Astros avoided an almost insurmountable situation by beating the Nationals 4-1 on Friday night in Game 3 of the World Series, the first World Series game in D.C. since 1933, the year the American League Senators lost the title to the New York Giants. The Nationals lead the best-of-seven series two games to...

The Astros will play in their third World Series, and their second in three years, when the Fall Classic opens Tuesday night in Houston's Minute Maid Park. The Astros won 107 games and are champions of the American League West. They beat Tampa Bay in a five-game American League Division Series and then beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, just as they did in 2017. It's well documented that Washington is playing in the World Series for the first time since 1933 and trying to win its...

After sweeping the Cardinals to win the National League pennant, the Nationals are a team hot to play in the World Series. There's only one problem: The Nationals aren't sure if they going to start the World Series in Houston or New York. While the Astros and Yankees play for the American League pennant, the Nationals return to spring training mode in the quiet of Nationals Park, hoping to maintain the sharpness that helped them sweep the Cardinals in the National League Championship...

The Cardinals finished their regular season on a 47-27 run, won the National League Central and returned to the postseason for the first time since 2015. They beat Atlanta in the NL Division Series and scored 10 runs in the first inning of a Game 5 13-1 smashing of the Braves. But when they got to the NL Championship Series against the Nationals, the Cardinals fell apart. The Nationals beat them 7-4 in Game 4, giving Washington a sweep and the city its first pennant since 1933, when the...

Having starters Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin pitch postseason bullpen innings isn't new to Washington baseball. In fact, the strategy is decades old. In 1924, the only season Washington has won the World Series, the Senators' future Hall of Famer, starter Walter "Big Train'' Johnson, pitched four shutout innings in a 4-3 Game 7 victory against the New York Giants at Griffith Stadium, currently the site of Howard University Hospital. The Senators, then in the American...

The Cardinals came to D.C. taking aim at becoming the second National League team to recover from a 0-2 deficit in a best-of-seven series and make the World Series. Instead, they dug themselves an even deeper hole. The Nationals, a win away from bringing the World Series to Washington for the first time since 1933, beat the Cardinals 8-1 in Game 3 on Monday night to take a three games to none lead in the NL Championship Series at wild and crazy Nationals Park. The 2004 Red Sox are the only team...