Five days after the end of the World Series, which began last night, teams can sign free agents. It could be an active winter for the Orioles, who have two key free agents of their own hitting the market.

They are right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes and right fielder Anthony Santander. Both are almost certain to get qualifying offers from the Orioles, which would net the team a draft pick if they leave and sign elsewhere.

The consensus opinions seem to be that Burnes is almost certain to leave while the O’s may have at least an outside shot at retaining Santander.

But if that were to come at the price from one prediction this week, I can’t see that happening.

Former big league general manager Jim Bowden predicted who top 45 free agents will be, where they end up and at what price in The Athletic this week (subscription may be required).

Christmas Eve and baseball. They go together like, well, Christmas and hot dogs. This just isn't historically the time of year to be thinking much about the national pastime. Especially when the national pastime is nearly one month into a work stoppage. And yet for the Nationals, Christmas Eve has been the source of a surprising amount of news. Big news. Go back through the annals and you'll find six significant transactions made by the Nats in the final 72 hours leading up to Christmas,...

All this time off has given us plenty of opportunity to look back and fondly remember events of the past 15 years. Great games that were won. Great players that made an impact. Big decisions that had long-lasting ramifications for the future of the organization. But what if some of those big moments didn't happen? What if one of those decisions wasn't made the same way? What impact would that have had on the Nationals in the long term? I've thought of several possible moves that could've...

Baseball has taken Manny Acta all over the place the last eight years, to nearly every ballpark in the majors, to spring training complexes across Florida and Arizona, to winter ball stadiums in his native Dominican Republic and across the Caribbean. It had not, however, taken him to the corner of South Capitol Street and Potomac Avenue. No, when Acta - now third base coach for the Mariners - walked into Nationals Park this afternoon, it was the first time he had set foot here since June 12,...

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The Nationals added some outfield depth to the organization Monday with the signing of Brett Carroll to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training in Viera, Fla. The 29-year-old Carroll has spent parts of five seasons in the majors with the Marlins and Brewers. A 10th-round pick by the Marlins in the 2004 draft, Carroll is a career .203 hitter with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 175 games. The addition of Carroll helps the Nationals replace Erik Komatsu, who was taken by the...