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...

Baseball has turned into an all-or-nothing, strikeout-or-hit-a-home run game, but not all players are with the program. Check out the Dodgers' Cody Bellinger. In his previous two seasons, Bellinger has been all or nothing. In 2017, he hit 39 home runs with 146 strikeouts in 480 at-bats. The following season, the numbers were 25, 151 and 557. Now Bellinger, the son of former big league infielder Clay Bellinger, is turning back the clock. He's improved his strike zone discipline, shortened his...

With Alex Gordon off the board, it's fair to wonder whether he truly was on the Orioles' radar. They want another left-handed bat. They'd gladly take a four-time Gold Glove outfielder. They'd build a shrine to a hitter with a career .348 on-base percentage over nine seasons. Gordon made sense on many levels, but he came with health concerns that tempered the Orioles' enthusiasm. Where have we heard this before? Gordon missed two months with a groin injury, limiting him to only 104 games....

He didn't get $100 million. He didn't get an opt-out clause. He did get a contract that includes some deferred money. But outfielder Alex Gordon is no longer on the board. He signed a four-year deal worth $72 million to stay with the Kansas City Royals. His combination of a career .348 OBP (it was .377 last year) and his defensive excellence would have looked real good in the Orioles outfield. But despite a recent report that Kansas City had "no chance" to re-sign Gordon, he no doubt had a...

The Orioles need an outfielder and three key free agents that play outfield are still on the board: Justin Upton, Alex Gordon and Yoenis Cespedes. The Orioles must, at a minimum, be monitoring their markets if not doing more. MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez reported Tuesday that the Orioles and White Sox are emerging as favorites "for now" to sign Cespedes. The 30-year-old Cespedes has one edge over the other two outfielders. A team signing him would not have to give up a draft pick. He is also...

Merry Christmas to everyone who observes the holiday. I hope your stockings are stuffed, your chestnuts are roasted, your lights are blinking only if you want them to and your credit card bill is lost in the mail. The Orioles shopped early and picked up Korean outfielder Hyun Soo Kim. No assembly required, though I started to wonder as the days passed without any word on his physical. I'm wondering how much we can read into the Orioles' desire to sign another left-handed hitter. When I asked...

The Royals and Mets are trying to siphon all the drama out of the League Championship Series. Is Jake Arrieta running out of gas or has he just proven to be human? Arrieta threw 229 innings in the regular season and he's added 19 2/3 in the playoffs, including five last night. His previous high was 156 2/3 innings last season. We can't say with any certainty that Arrieta has hit a wall, but opponents finally are hitting him. The Orioles' offseason is less than a month old and they've...

Alex Gordon did it all to help the Royals get an upper hand in the American League Championship Series. The 30-year-old outfielder put together a monster performance in his first career ALCS contest, using both his bat and his glove to lead the Royals to an 8-6 Game 1 win over the Orioles in 10 innings. Gordon went 3-for-4 with a bases-loaded double, a 10th-inning homer and four RBIs, while adding a diving catch in the third. Kansas City manager Ned Yost was thrilled to see Gordon come...