Vouchers for autograph sessions at Orioles FanFest will go on sale Wednesday, January 17, at 10:00 a.m. ET. The list of autograph session times and participants will be posted online for preview at www.orioles.com/fanfest by 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 16. Orioles FanFest will be held on Saturday, January 27, at the Baltimore Convention Center from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with early entry for Orioles Season Plan Members beginning at 10:00 a.m. as part of the Orange Carpet Program.
At this...
The Baltimore Orioles have named Brian Ebel as the club's Head Athletic Trainer, and Mark Shires and Pat Wesley as Assistant Athletic Trainers. Ebel spent the last 21 seasons as the Assistant Athletic Trainer under former Head Athletic Trainer Richie Bancells. He is just the fourth Head Athletic Trainer in Orioles history since the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954.
The 2018 season will mark Ebel's 34th year with the Orioles organization. He began his career in 1985 at the age of 19 when...
Perhaps Nationals slugger Bryce Harper has learned a thing or two about being politically correct from his time in the nation's capital.
Tonight, before the Capitals played the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas native Harper was at center ice to drop the ceremonial first puck between Caps star Alex Ovechkin and Golden Knights left wing James Neal.
Pay particular attention to the ensemble Harper wore for his pregame duties: a Golden Knights jersey (he's a regular at T-Mobile arena for the home...
The Washington Nationals agreed to terms on a one-year contract with first baseman/outfielder Matt Adams on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Adams, 29, joins the Nationals after hitting .274 with 22 doubles, one triple, 20 home runs, 65 RBI, 23 walks and 46 runs scored in 131 games for the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves in 2017. His 20 home runs marked a new career high, besting his previous high of 17 with St....
It didn't take long for Dave Martinez's coaching staff to come together. Barely two weeks after Martinez was introduced as Dusty Baker's successor, he and general manager Mike Rizzo assembled a staff deep in savvy baseball men that included a pair of former managers, first base coach Tim Bogar, who skippered the Rangers for 22 games late in the 2014 season, and bench coach Chip Hale, who managed the Diamondbacks for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
Martinez and his coaches - Hale, pitching coach...
The Washington Nationals agreed to terms on a two-year contract that includes a club/player option in the second year with right-handed pitcher Brandon Kintzler on Thursday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Kintzler, 33, returns to the Nationals after serving as one of the key members of Washington's bullpen down the stretch in 2017. Acquired from Minnesota moments before the non-waiver trade deadline, Kintzler, went 2-1 with...
Nationals fans have been hearing for years how Pedro Severino is the catcher-in-waiting on the organizational depth chart. Sometimes, it's hard to remember Severino is only 24 and has only 35 games and 61 at-bats on his major league resume. That's hardly enough time for a rookie to make much of an impression.
But with Jose Lobaton signing a minor league contract with the Mets last week, Severino is firmly entrenched as the backup to starting catcher Matt Wieters entering the 2018 season....
A former Nationals pitcher is returning to D.C.
The Nats have signed left-hander Tommy Milone to a minor league contract, an industry source has confirmed. He will receive an invitation to major league spring training.
Milone, 30, was drafted by the Nats in the 10th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Southern California and made his major league debut with the club in 2011, going 1-0 with a 3.81 ERA in five September starts and homering in his major league debut on Sept. 3 against...
For Wilmer Difo, a little confidence went a long way.
When shortstop Trea Turner broke his wrist last season, Difo stepped in to fill the void, starting 52 games in the speedster's stead and slashing .303/.359/.398 in those outings. It seemed that the more Difo played, the more comfortable he felt and the better he got.
"I felt super good," Difo said through translator Octavio Martinez at Nationals Winterfest. "I felt better when I started playing every day. I felt more comfortable, better,...
Some players trying to carve out a spot on a 25-man roster get frustrated by riding the shuttle between Triple-A and the majors, their role changing on a whim because of a parent club's immediate needs. Nationals right-hander A.J. Cole has used his frequent trips between Syracuse, N.Y., and Washington, D.C., as a motivational tool.
"It always gives you little extra fight in there because you are going back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues," Cole said at Nationals Winterfest....
Stephen Strasburg quieted his critics last season, his seven shutout innings in the Nationals' Game 4 of the National League Division Series victory capping a workmanlike season that saw the right-hander take the ball from opening day until final outing, the dominant start-to-finish season that had eluded him.
Yes, there were some speed bumps along the way, just to test his mettle. His spot in the rotation changed when staff ace Max Scherzer's start of the season was delayed by a fractured...
If you think Michael A. Taylor is resting on his laurels after a breakthrough season that catapulted him back into the long-range plans of the Nationals, think again.
Taylor said yesterday at Nationals Winterfest that he isn't taking anything for granted, and that he's approaching spring training in February the way he's approached every one of the major league camps he's attended.
"I take the same approach as I have in years past and every year: just come out, be ready to go and be in the...
Daniel Murphy hobbled into his scheduled interview session on crutches and said made sure everyone knew he's already begun walking. He's learned a lot about the microfracture surgery performed on his right knee on Oct. 20, eight days after the Nationals ended their season with another first-round playoff exit in the National League Division Series.
He's not sure if the injury was the result of overuse or just an acute condition. And despite general manager Mike Rizzo's assurances at the...
Like many Nationals fans, right-hander Koda Glover keeps replaying the fateful fifth inning in Game 5 of the National League Division Series in his mind. Unlike most Nats fans, however, Glover isn't focusing on the fact that eventual National League Cy Young winner Max Scherzer failed to throttle the Cubs in a rare relief appearance when his team most needed him to.
Glover thinks about Scherzer being undone by bloops and bleeders, bad luck and a debatable call by a home plate umpire and...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Nationals neither made a selection nor lost any players the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft today at the Winter Meetings. But they improved their organizational depth with a pair of picks in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5.
In the first round of the minor league phase, the Nationals selected second baseman Jacob Wilson off the Cardinals' Double-A Springfield roster. A round later, the Nats grabbed right-hander Kaleb Fleck off the Double-A Mobile roster of...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Thursday morning's Rule 5 draft is the last order of business at the Winter Meetings, and while the Nationals probably won't add anyone to their 40-man roster, it's possible they could lose one or more prospects.
Teams with openings on their 40-man rosters are allowed to select players who were first signed at 18 and not added to a club's 40-man roster within five seasons or players signed at 19 who have not been added to the 40-man roster after four seasons....
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Wherever he starts the 2018 season, top Nationals prospect Victor Robles is going to be patrolling the outfield every day. There's no role for him as a part-time outfielder with the Nats, general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday at the Winter Meetings.
"He won't be an extra outfielder on the big league club," Rizzo said during his daily briefing with the media. "He's going to play every day somewhere. If it's not set up for him to play every day in the big...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - No matter how prepared he thinks he is, new Nationals manager Dave Martinez cannot escape one indisputable fact that will dog him until March 29: He's never managed in the major leagues.
Baseball history is rife with learned men who have been unsuccessful in their first go-around at the helm of a big league club. Joe Torre finished in last place his first three seasons as Mets skipper and was fired from three jobs before he latched on with the Yankees, where he won...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Rumors are as much a part of the Winter Meetings as suite visits, shopping lists and late-night quaffing of beers. Most rumors don't pan out, and those that have legs often tire out long before they reach the finish line. But you listen to them, consider them, and then decide which of them have a shred of validity and which don't.
It's kind of like tossing strands of boiled spaghetti at the wall to determine if the pasta is done. Only the strings ready to be eaten...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Catcher Matt Wieters will be back behind the plate for the Nationals next season, having exercised his $10.5 million player option. But the guaranteed contract doesn't mean he'll carry the same workload.
The numbers the veteran backstop amassed during his first season in D.C. were abysmal. He caught in 118 games as the Nats grew increasingly dissatisfied with backup Jose Lobaton's lack of offense and unusually poor defense, and had little positive to show for it....