Could work stoppage mean no rule changes in 2022?

Could work stoppage mean no rule changes in 2022?
In anticipating the negotiations between owners and players leading up to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, everyone assumed there would be two major areas of dispute: baseball's economic model and potential rule changes to the sport. Turns out the two sides really only discussed money before the CBA expired late Wednesday night and owners instituted a lockout. Commissioner Rob Manfred, during his Thursday news conference with reporters in Dallas, revealed the rule change...

Will DJ Stewart face a challenge to hold his roster spot?

Will DJ Stewart face a challenge to hold his roster spot?
There were high hopes for the two hitters the Orioles selected at the top of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft. There was Florida State outfielder DJ Stewart, taken No. 25 overall by the club in round one. There was Florida high school infielder Ryan Mountcastle, taken No. 36 by the team. Both, of course, have made the big club, but save for a few stretches here and there, Mountcastle has been much more productive than Stewart. And while Mountcastle seems to have a future on the team batting in...

Nats have questions they can't answer until lockout ends

Nats have questions they can't answer until lockout ends
The baseball world came to an abrupt halt at midnight Thursday, and we don't know when the machine is going to be turned back on again. It would be weeks. It could be months. Which leaves every club and a whole lot of players feeling helpless for the time being. Normally, everyone would be gearing up for the Winter Meetings, which were to begin Monday in Orlando. Trades would've been made, free agents would've been signed, Scott Boras quips would've been trotted out to a throng of reporters...

Minors matter more to Orioles during lockout

Minors matter more to Orioles during lockout
Even when Major League Baseball was fully operational and a lockout only meant that a guard needed to open the gate to the players' lot after hours, the Orioles welcomed and encouraged the increased attention on their minor league system. The talent pumped into it via the draft and international signings, the developmental tools and personnel spliced into the organization, a modernized approach that the rest of the industry was embracing. Can't stand the sight of the mounting losses that...

A look at more free agent pitchers

A look at more free agent pitchers
Now that the Orioles have an agreement with right-hander Jordan Lyles for 2022, pending a post-lockout physical, are they done looking for pitchers? Not very likely. Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at some back end rotation options as noted by MLBTradeRumors.com and going in alphabetical order. So we have addressed pitchers like Brett Anderson all the way through Lyles. Yep, he was in our last grouping of pitchers that were potential future Orioles. He was mentioned in this post....

Another look at Lyles, plus other notes

Another look at Lyles, plus other notes
The lockout that occurred seconds after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement could produce the largest gap between an Orioles free agent agreement and actual signing in franchise history. Pitcher Jordan Lyles accepted the terms of his one-year, $7 million deal, which also contained an $11 million club option for 2023 and $1 million buyout. But the ink hasn't dried on the contract because a pen never touched paper. The transaction is pending a physical that can't be done until...

What happens now that the lockout has begun?

What happens now that the lockout has begun?
And so we have entered uncharted territory. Uncharted, that is, for the last 27 years. For the first time since the infamous 1994-95 strike, Major League Baseball is now officially in a work stoppage. When the collective bargaining agreement expired at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday with no new deal in place, owners enforced a lockout of players. How long will it last? What are they fighting over? What does this mean for the Nationals the rest of the winter? Let's try to address as much of this as we...

A few notes on O's agreement with Jordan Lyles

A few notes on O's agreement with Jordan Lyles
For the Orioles, a new pitcher arrived just before a baseball lockout did. It was just after midnight this morning when Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted that the Orioles were in agreement to add free agent right-handed pitcher Jordan Lyles on a one-year contract worth $7 million that includes a club option for the 2023 season. Lyles pitched for the Texas Rangers the last two years. He signed a two-year deal with Texas for $16 million on Dec. 13, 2019. In 12 games during the shortened 2020...

Mancini moved forward as stoppage neared (updated)

Mancini moved forward as stoppage neared (updated)
The sides met multiple times again yesterday, Major League Baseball's negotiating committee and representatives for the MLB Players Association engaging in face-to-face discussions that, according to various reports, lasted about as long as it takes to get through self-checkout at the grocery store. Negotiations were shut down by the middle of the afternoon, with the sport expected to follow after midnight. MLB Network's Jon Heyman tweeted that owners voted unanimously to institute the...

Last chance to make moves before tonight's expected lockout

Last chance to make moves before tonight's expected lockout
After an awfully quiet start to the offseason, then a furious 48 hours of nonstop news, now baseball has fewer than 24 hours to wrap up any remaining business before the collective bargaining agreement expires and a league-imposed lockout is expected to commence. All of this has made for an unusual couple of days as clubs around the sport rushed to make moves both big and small before a transactions freeze brings a stop to all activity until owners and players can agree on a new CBA. It could...

Nationals sign veteran infielder César Hernández

Nationals sign veteran infielder César Hernández
Only 90 minutes after clearing three spots on their 40-man roster, the Nationals filled one of them with a veteran infielder who could help in a variety of ways next season: César Hernández. The Nats signed Hernández to a one-year contract tonight, making the 31-year-old only their second major league free agent addition of the winter to date, with only one more day left to make any more moves before Major League Baseball is expected to institute a lockout of players. Hernández...

Leftovers for breakfast

Leftovers for breakfast
The Orioles took a few swipes at their 40-man roster yesterday, including how they outrighted infielder Richie Martin to Triple-A Norfolk. The former Rule 5 pick couldn't decline because it was his first outright. Martin stays in the organization and can compete for a job in spring training or provide more depth in the organization. Injuries have messed with Martin the past few years. Who knows how badly they've hurt his development - the factures in both wrists and a broken hamate bone? They...

A few thoughts as O's tender six players contracts

A few thoughts as O's tender six players contracts
Perhaps only a lockout could keep the Orioles from making what seems now almost daily changes to their 40-man roster. Yesterday began with the club holding 40 players on the 40-man. It ended with them at 38 after tendering contracts and/or reaching agreements with all six of their remaining arbitration-eligible players. No one was non-tendered. No one was traded. The Orioles have also signed infielder Rougned Odor, 27, to a one-year contract and outrighted infielder Richie Martin to Triple-A....

Suero, Harper, Ford are non-tendered by Nats before deadline

Suero, Harper, Ford are non-tendered by Nats before deadline
The Nationals chose not to tender contracts to relievers Wander Suero and Ryne Harper, plus minor league first baseman Mike Ford, before tonight's league-wide deadline, making all three free agents only 28 hours before Major League Baseball is expected to begin a lockout of players that could stretch through most of the winter. The Nats did tender contracts to all other unsigned players on their 40-man roster, including seven arbitration-eligible players - Juan Soto, Josh Bell, Joe Ross, Erick...

Nats add two infielders, including 40-man roster addition Fox

Nats add two infielders, including 40-man roster addition Fox
The Nationals have added to their infield depth, claiming Lucius Fox off waivers from the Orioles and signing former Blue Jays shortstop Richard Ureña to a minor league contract. Fox immediately joins the Nats' 40-man roster, which for the moment is full. That very well could change by the end of the day if the club chooses not to tender contracts to any of their nine unsigned arbitration-eligible players before the league's 8 p.m. deadline. Fox was acquired only two weeks ago by the...

Orioles remove Kriske, Fox from 40-man roster (with multiple updates)

Orioles remove Kriske, Fox from 40-man roster (with multiple updates)
While the Orioles are busy making contract decisions on their arbitration eligible players, with the deadline set at 8 p.m. tonight, they also cleared two spots on a 40-man roster that's no longer filled. Reliever Brooks Kriske was released to pursue an international opportunity, according to the club, confirming news that appeared this morning on baseball's transactions page. And the Nationals claimed infielder Lucius Fox off waivers, ending his stay with the Orioles only two weeks after...

Nationals face tender decisions with nine players today

Nationals face tender decisions with nine players today
After a frantic Monday that saw a handful of clubs handing out hundreds of millions of dollars to free agents like candy, every major league club now faces a busy Tuesday deciding whether or not to retain a bunch of its own players. By 8 p.m. today, teams must tender contracts to all arbitration-eligible players. Those who don't receive offers are non-tendered and immediately become free agents. So while the Nationals have been awfully quiet on the transaction front so far this winter, they...

Stevenson avoids arbitration, agrees to 2022 contract

Stevenson avoids arbitration, agrees to 2022 contract
The Nationals got a jump start on what should be a hectic Tuesday in advance of Major League Baseball's non-tender deadline and Wednesday night's expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, agreeing to terms with Andrew Stevenson on a 2022 contract to avoid arbitration. Stevenson, who qualified for arbitration despite having not yet accrued three years of big league service time as a so-called Super Two player, stands to earn a modest raise from his 2021 salary of $579,100. The...

Next deadline is upon Orioles as CBA is set to expire (updated)

Next deadline is upon Orioles as CBA is set to expire (updated)
With the clock ticking much louder on the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, and a resolution by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday seems impossible, the next order of business for anyone covering the Winter Meetings is to check the hotel's cancellation policy. Don't want to get charged for a room that isn't used. (The policy is 48 hours before check-in, if you care.) Also, who doesn't love a Southwest credit? A free agent still must pass his physical and sign a contract after the final...

It was not just another offseason Monday in MLB

It was not just another offseason Monday in MLB
The dizzying pace of free agent signings in the last day or two has made the last 48 hours look like a frenzied edition of the Winter Meetings. Yet those meetings, if held, happen next week, not this one. The teams and players have been rushing to beat an expected deadline - the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement. This happens at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday night. The deadline to non-tender players has also been moved up ahead of the original Dec. 2 deadline. I digress here,...