Nats' most significant moves in January
Nats' most significant moves in January
Bobby Blanco
Nationals
As the calendar turns to a new year this January, a new baseball season is on the horizon. When it will actually begin, however, remains to be seen. The lockout is currently keeping teams from making any major league roster moves, which is a shame because Mike Rizzo is usually very busy during the year's first month. No matter the pace of an offseason's free agent market, we have seen the Nationals general manager put together a competitive roster well before the start of spring training year...
Orioles make sure their system stays in sync
Orioles make sure their system stays in sync
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The talent that pumps through the pipeline in the Orioles system, with renewed force over the last few years, is accompanied now by an even flow that's moving managers and coaches. The club hasn't announced its minor league staffs, but Single-A Aberdeen manager Kyle Moore is going to Double-A Bowie, while Buck Britton replaces Gary Kendall at Triple-A Norfolk. IronBirds pitching coach Josh Conway has been bumped up to the Baysox as the replacement for Justin Ramsey, who joins the Tides. The...
Nationals trivia quiz: Hitting
Nationals trivia quiz: Hitting
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Last month, we published our first quiz of the lockout, focusing strictly on Nationals pitching trivia. Today we come back for another round, this time focusing only on hitting trivia. Some of these questions hopefully will be simple enough for semi-serious fans to answer, featuring some of the most recognizable names in club history. Some of them are only for the truly die-hard among us, featuring some names most will have long since forgotten. There are 20 questions in total, with all...
In pursuit of a baseball, the real fun is in the chase
In pursuit of a baseball, the real fun is in the chase
Steve Melewski
Orioles
When I came across this article recently, the prevailing feeling was jealousy. This guy has caught 81 home run balls during big league games over the years. Over the years, before I began to work in the media and more than a few years ago, I attended hundreds and hundreds of games. My home run caught count is zero. Yep, only 81 behind and my days in the stands hoping to catch a homer are pretty much over. I think there are stories out there of fans claiming to have caught thousands of baseballs...
A bunch of business remains for Orioles brass
A bunch of business remains for Orioles brass
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Unless the Orioles conducted minor league business in secrecy and the transactions didn't hit the wire, there hasn't been a move made since the Dec. 16 announcements on catcher Anthony Bemboom and pitcher Matt Vogel. The Vogel deal was confirmed earlier that week and the club later shared the news. Bemboom will try to win a job in spring training, perhaps starting if Adley Rutschman remains in Triple-A. Vogel hasn't pitched for an affiliated team since 2017 and hasn't moved past high...
Sifting through more spring training storylines
Sifting through more spring training storylines
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Mother Nature handled most of the snow that buried my driveway and car last Monday and again Friday morning. Wait for the temperatures to move above freezing and do some light sweeping later in the day. A veteran move. Also, a pandemic move with little reason for me to be driving. The lockout could impact the report dates for spring training, where the biggest weather menaces are those torrential downpours that last about 15 minutes and threaten morning workouts. They also make for a sloppy...
Because You Asked - A New Legacy
Because You Asked - A New Legacy
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
A week has passed since I stuck my head inside my mailbag. And I've been told many times to get my head out of my mailbag. Or something similar. You ask, I answer, you ask again and I'm either accommodating or a jerk. It's fun for the whole family. Your questions and my responses are unedited. We run with scissors here. We pet stray dogs. We go to 24-hour diners and order fish at 2 a.m. We live on the edge. Also, my mailbag takes the last chocolate chip cookie on the tray and leaves your...
Bickering over latest Hall of Fame ballot
Bickering over latest Hall of Fame ballot
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The Baseball Writers' Association of America will announce the results of the Hall of Fame voting on Jan. 25. A recent update from Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs), Twitter's king of Cooperstown calculators, had David Ortiz (83.2 percent), Barry Bonds (80.4) and Roger Clemens (79) above the 75 percent threshold for induction. No ballot is perfect. The inclusion of "cheaters" sickens fans or validates their beliefs. The media tries to figure out where lines should be drawn. Sadly, they're more...
What if Mark Teixeira accepted the Nats' huge offer in 2008?
What if Mark Teixeira accepted the Nats' huge offer in 2008?
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
What are the two biggest free agent signings in Nationals history? Max Scherzer and Jayson Werth, obviously. (We're talking about guys who were signed after playing for other clubs, not the re-signing of homegrown players like Stephen Strasburg or Ryan Zimmerman.) Both of those moves sent major shockwaves throughout the baseball world. The Scherzer signing (for seven years and $210 million) added one of the game's best starting pitchers to a rotation that already looked loaded before his...
Another look at some of the solid offense on the farm
Another look at some of the solid offense on the farm
Steve Melewski
Orioles
When you look at the various lists of Orioles top prospects, most of them will have more hitters than pitchers among the top 10. That is certainly true of MLBPipeline.com, which ranks hitters as six of its top nine prospects for the Orioles, and Baseball America, which ranks hitters in six of the top eight spots. And these include high draft picks the club has made since executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and his staff took over before the 2019 season. He has been here for...