Lane Thomas has been recognized for his stellar defensive season with his first career Gold Glove Award nomination.

Thomas today was named by Rawlings Sports one of three finalists for the award among National League right fielders, along with the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr.

Winners at all positions will be announced Nov. 5 on ESPN.

It’s the first time Thomas has finished in the top three at his position in voting conducted by major league managers and coaches near the end of the regular season. The ultimate winner will be determined both by those votes and a sabermetic component provided by the Society for American Baseball Research, which accounts for 25 percent of the final tally.

Thomas enjoyed a breakthrough season for the Nationals not only at the plate (where he hit 28 homers and stole 20 bases) but also in the field. He was second among all NL outfielders with 18 assists, trailing only the Rockies’ Nolan Jones (who played all three outfield positions, plus first and third bases) by one.

PLAYER REVIEW: STONE GARRETT

Age on Opening Day 2024: 28

How acquired: Signed as free agent, November 2022

MLB service time: 1 year, 50 days

2023 salary: $720,000

Awards season is upon us despite the leagues competing to determine who competes in the World Series.

The Orioles' Gunnar Henderson, Kyle Bradish and Ryan O’Hearn are finalists for the Major League Baseball Players Association’s Players Choice Awards. The announcement was made earlier today.

As the name suggests, the players handle the voting.

Henderson is competing with the Rangers’ Josh Jung and the Red Sox’s Triston Casas for the American League’s Outstanding Rookie honor.

Bradish is competing against the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole and the Twins’ Sonny Gray for AL Outstanding Pitcher. And O’Hearn is a finalist for AL Comeback Player along with Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow and White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks.

PLAYER REVIEW: ALEX CALL

Age on Opening Day 2024: 29

How acquired: Claimed off waivers from Guardians, August 2022

MLB service time: 1 year, 66 days

2023 salary: $721,800

Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees might not like it, but Orioles fans are probably growing to like the deeper dimensions in left field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Over two years now, it has produced fewer homers and ended the day of the so-called cheap homer to left center. But it also has led to more O’s wins. The 2022 team, coming off 110 losses, went 45-36 at home. That club was eighth in the AL in home ERA at 3.73 and fifth scoring 4.23 runs per game at Oriole Park.

The 2023 club went 49-32 at home, third-best in the AL. The team ERA ranked sixth at 3.82 and the O’s scored 4.47 runs per game at home, which was eighth in the league.

At his season-ending press conference, O’s executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was asked about the wall. Could it be changed or altered in the coming years?

“Look I’m glad we did it,” said Elias. “It coincided with winning baseball in Baltimore and a better style of baseball which is kind of one of the things we talked about it. Is it perfect? Is it the exact perfect dimensions? Does it look perfect and is it going to stay that way forever? No, and I don’t know.

The task of constructing a 26-man roster for 2024, and it’s never too early to begin the process through staff meetings, is easier in some ways for Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias.

The backup catcher already is in place with another season left on the four-year deal that James McCann signed with the Mets. The Orioles usually hold a camp competition that involves players on one-year contracts and minor league deals, or with salaries set via the arbitration process. But next spring’s drama will be reduced to determining who’s the next man up in case of injury.

Anthony Bemboom headed north with the team again after McCann went on the IL with a left oblique strain.

The outfield already is crowded and Elias could be dissuaded from pursuing a veteran. He’s got to figure out how to potentially fit Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad. Not to block them.

The infield also is deep, and Jackson Holliday has a chance to make the Opening Day roster. Second baseman Connor Norby put up big numbers in Triple-A. Third baseman Coby Mayo mashed in Double-A and Triple-A, hitting a combined .290/.410/.564 with 45 doubles, three triples, 29 home runs and 99 RBIs in 140 games, and earning Most Valuable Player honors in the Eastern League.

PLAYER REVIEW: LANE THOMAS

Age on Opening Day 2024: 28

How acquired: Traded from Cardinals for Jon Lester, July 2021

MLB service time: 4 years, 14 days

2023 salary: $2.2 million

It used to be said that the Orioles worrying about a closer was akin – as opposed to Keegan Akin, which wasn’t said – to putting shiny hubcaps on a rusted Ford Pinto.

They had far bigger issues than worrying about ninth inning leads. Like, trying to get a ninth inning lead.

But we’ve moved past bad teams. The Orioles won 101 games this season. They are expected to be the favorites to win the division again in 2024. Their odds to win the World Series won’t be 100/1.

The Orioles have tried their own relievers in the past, most recently Félix Bautista, who went from imposing setup man to imposing closer and made the All-Star team. Averaged an obscene 16.2 strikeouts per nine innings and entered the Cy Young conversation before tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and undergoing surgery that removes him from next year’s roster.

Jorge López went from starter to closer before Bautista replaced him. Jim Johnson was a minor league starter in the Orioles’ system and later a closer who saved 50-plus games in back-to-back seasons. Zack Britton was Zach Britton while starting and later closing for the Orioles, going 47-for-47 in 2016 and finishing fourth in Cy Young voting.

PLAYER REVIEW: ILDEMARO VARGAS

Age on Opening Day 2024: 32

How acquired: Signed as minor league free agent, May 2022

MLB service time: 4 years, 7 days

2023 salary: $975,000

The Nationals are adding another experienced name to a revamped scouting department, hiring Brad Ciolek away from the Orioles to serve as senior director of amateur scouting, a source familiar with the move confirmed.

Ciolek spent 12 of the last 13 seasons with the Orioles in a variety of roles, most recently as director of draft operations. Owner of a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in computer information systems, and having spent a year working as an analyst for Bloomberg Sports, he brings an analytical background to a Nats scouting department that appears to be making an effort to bolster that area.

In D.C., Ciolek will hold a title not previously held by anyone in the front office. He’ll work for recently hired vice president of amateur scouting Danny Haas, who replaces longtime head of scouting Kris Kline, who is moving into a new role as a special assistant to general manager Mike Rizzo.

Haas, who came from the Diamondbacks, previously worked for the Orioles with Ciolek, so the two are being reunited in Washington, tasked with overhauling an amateur scouting department that has produced few notable big league players in recent years.

Ciolek first joined the Orioles in 2011 as a player development intern at their spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla. He left after one year to work for Bloomberg Sports but returned to Baltimore in 2013 as scouting administrator, advancing to assistant director of scouting, supervisor of domestic scouting operations and ultimately director of draft operations the last two seasons.

PLAYER REVIEW: CARTER KIEBOOM

Age on Opening Day 2024: 26

How acquired: First-round pick, 2016 draft

MLB service time: 2 years, 167 days

2023 salary: $733,400

PLAYER REVIEW: CJ ABRAMS

Age on Opening Day 2024: 23

How acquired: Traded with MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022

MLB service time: 1 year, 130 days

2023 salary: $724,200

PLAYER REVIEW: LUIS GARCÍA

Age on Opening Day 2024: 23

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016

MLB service time: 2 years, 142 days

2023 salary: $739,000

PLAYER REVIEW: DOMINIC SMITH

Age on Opening Day 2024: 28

How acquired: Signed as free agent, January 2023

MLB service time: 5 years, 81 days

2023 salary: $2 million

PLAYER REVIEW: JOEY MENESES

Age on Opening Day 2024: 31

How acquired: Signed as minor league free agent, January 2022

MLB service time: 1 year, 65 days

2023 salary: $723,300

Davey Martinez is returning for his seventh season as Nationals manager, but he’ll do so with a number of changes to his coaching staff.

Several members of Martinez’s big league staff have been informed in recent days their contracts are not being renewed, including bench coach Tim Bogar, third base coach Gary DiSarcina, first base coach Eric Young Jr. and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, a source familiar with the decisions confirmed.

Jim Hickey will be brought back for his fourth season as pitching coach, the source said. It wasn’t immediately clear if decisions have been made on hitting coach Darnell Coles, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco and bullpen coach Ricky Bones, along with others on the staff who aren’t among the official eight coaches the team employed.

The Athletic was first to report these changes.

With everyone on the staff working on contracts that were due to expire Oct. 31, the possibility of changes has loomed for weeks. Asked during the season’s final week about the fate of his coaches, Martinez said no decisions had been made at that point, and he intended to meet with general manager Mike Rizzo once the season ended to discuss each position.

PLAYER REVIEW: KEIBERT RUIZ

Age on Opening Day 2024: 25

How acquired: Traded from Dodgers with Josiah Gray, Donovan Casey and Gerardo Carrillo for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, July 2021

MLB service time: 2 years, 64 days

2023 salary: $1.375 million

Now that the 2023 season is a wrap, we’ve taken broad looks at the year that was for the Nationals. Individual player reviews will start coming out on a daily basis this week, with Mark Zuckerman handling the major league roster and me taking a look at some of the top prospects.

But before we take a deeper dive into each player's performance, I wanted to have one overarching view of the minor league system in the form of a fun exercise.

Overall, the Nats’ minor league system did not fare too well this year in terms of win-loss records. The Dominican Summer League Nationals finished 11-39, the Florida Complex League Nationals 24-25, Single-A Fredericksburg 65-63, High-A Wilmington 55-75, Double-A Harrisburg 59-77 and Triple-A Rochester 66-80.

But among those results, there were some really strong individual performances.

“The best part of the minor league season was that all the players that we really were looking forward to take a step forward, we believe have,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “We think that was a success in that regard.”

Never let it be said we don’t hold ourselves accountable around here. For more than a decade, all of us who cover the Nationals have made Opening Day predictions for the coming season. And each year, we revisit those predictions and reveal just how we all did.

Some years, we have a pretty good take on things large and small. Other years, we don’t come close to getting anything right. This year was a mixed bag. While as a group we did pretty well in some categories, we completely whiffed on some others.

As always, a profound thanks to all my colleagues who were willing to subject themselves to this particular form of torture. And with that, here’s how we did in 2023 …

WHICH NATIONALS WILL BE SELECTED FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME?
Bobby Blanco (MASNsports.com) – Keibert Ruiz
Jessica Camerato (MLB.com) – Keibert Ruiz
Jesse Dougherty (Washington Post) – Hunter Harvey
Andrew Golden (Washington Post) – Joey Meneses
Craig Heist (106.7 The Fan) – Keibert Ruiz, Dominic Smith
Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – Keibert Ruiz
Bill Ladson (MLB.com honorary) – Josiah Gray, Keibert Ruiz
Mark Zuckerman (MASNsports.com) – Joey Meneses

Correct answer: Josiah Gray earned the first All-Star selection of his career with a strong first half. The right-hander struggled for a good chunk of the second half but did close strong to finish with a respectable 3.91 ERA.

The Nationals are hiring Danny Haas, a key member of the Diamondbacks’ scouting department (and prior to that the Orioles and Red Sox), as their new scouting director, a source familiar with the decision confirmed.

Haas, 47, replaces longtime Nats scouting director Kris Kline, who last month was shifted into another role in the front office working for general manager Mike Rizzo.

After a season that produced encouraging progress at the big league level and the ascension of several key prospects in the minors, the Nationals are reshaping multiple areas of their baseball operations department. Among the most notable changes: DeJon Watson was let go after two years as director of player development, and Johnny DiPuglia resigned after more than a decade running the team’s international scouting operation.

The reassignment of Kline, who had been the Nationals’ amateur scouting director since 2009, signaled another major change, the organization seeking improved performance in the MLB Draft after a sustained stretch that produced few notable big league players.

Haas has never run an entire scouting department, but he has extensive scouting experience with three organizations that enjoyed considerable success developing homegrown players.