Nats bring back entire minor league staff, with few role changes
Mark Zuckerman
Masn
The Nationals’ minor league coaching staff is mostly staying put for 2025, with a couple of notable affiliate and role changes. The Nats unveiled their entire player development staff for the upcoming season Wednesday, and it features plenty of familiar names who have been with the organization for some time. Triple-A manager Matt LeCroy and Double
Sugano reshuffles latest Orioles mock 26-man roster
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The holiday week is right around the corner, when baseball doesn’t have to shut down but often gets quiet. The Orioles traded for pitcher Jonathan Heasley on Dec. 18, 2023 and didn’t announce another move until signing free-agent catchers David Bañuelos and Michael Pérez on the 30th. Their only transactions in December 2021 were minor league deals
O's will try to help prospects overcome early struggles at MLB level
Steve Melewski
Orioles
For the Orioles in recent years, seeing a highly-ranked prospect come up and produce right away has been a challenge. Frankly, it’s a challenge for a lot of players and teams. Any move up the minor league ladder can be a challenge for a young player but the move to the majors is the hardest. Hard to get there, sometimes harder to stay there. The O’
Vargas signs with D-backs, Weems joins Braves
Mark Zuckerman
Masn
Two players the Nationals let go at season’s end found new homes Tuesday, with Ildemaro Vargas signing a minor league contract with the Diamondbacks and Jordan Weems getting his own minor league deal with the Braves. Both Vargas and Weems were regular members of the Nats roster in 2023 and were expected to remain in their respective roles throughou
Leftovers for breakfast
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The 11-month mark arrived Monday since the opening ceremony of the Orioles’ new, state-of-the-art training academy in Guerra, Dominican Republic. The 22.5-acre complex is home to the organization’s regional facility for Caribbean, Central and South American player development operations, with three full fields, a sports turf agility field, batting
Sánchez: "I think they have really good chemistry and for me it’s an honor to be part of this team now"
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The role isn’t defined for Gary Sánchez, the new Orioles backup catcher. He isn’t sure how many innings he’ll get behind the plate or whether he’ll do more hitting than squatting. He’s just eager to be part of a contending team, which he’s used to doing, and try to push it further through the postseason. Orioles executive vice president/general man
Four Nationals qualify for pre-arbitration bonuses
Mark Zuckerman
Masn
Jacob Young, MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams and Jake Irvin all performed well enough this season to earn some extra money before the holidays. Young, Gore, Abrams and Irvin recently were revealed as part of a group of 101 players with less than three years of big league service time who qualified for Major League Baseball’s “pre-arbitration bonus pool.”
O's Koby Perez on Samuel Basallo and more (O's add pitcher from Japan)
Steve Melewski
Orioles
With 13 international players ranked among the O’s top 30 prospects by MLBPipeline.com, the club’s international program keeps humming along. It’s big for the Orioles to have both quantity and quality coming from the international prospects. Not only are players like Samuel Basallo getting close now to the majors, but the high number of ranked inte
Mailbag leftovers for breakfast
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
I couldn’t get to a few questions in the weekend mailbag and wanted to publish them before they got stale, like the bread used to make stuffing for your holiday turkey. By the way, it’s dressing if prepared outside the bird. Let me address that one before it’s asked. Here are some extras while we wait for Orioles news. Is the offseason plan to just
Orioles sign Japan's Tomoyuki Sugano to major league contract
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The Orioles went the international route to find a starting pitcher. The team announced this evening that it signed Japanese right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, 35, to a one-year major league contract. ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that the deal pays $13 million. Sugano has spent his entire 12-year professional career with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippo