The Washington Nationals officially named Michael Johns the team’s bench coach on Monday. The announcement was made by Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni and Manager Blake Butera.

Johns, 50, brings nearly 20 years of coaching experience to Washington’s staff, most recently as the first base coach for the Tampa Bay Rays the last two seasons (2024-25). Prior to that role, he managed Triple-A Durham in 2023, leading the club to an 88-62 record and an appearance in the International League Championship Series.

“Michael shares the same values that are important to me and to our organization,” said Butera. “He’s humble, has an incredible work ethic, and his preparation and attention to detail are unmatched. He played a major role in building Tampa Bay’s player development system and brings valuable recent Major League experience. More than anything, I know he’ll do everything he can to help our players, staff and organization succeed.”

Johns was Tampa Bay’s Minor League field coordinator for five seasons (2018-22), having moved to that position after managing Single-A Charlotte (2015-17), where he led the club to its only Florida State League championship in 2015. Prior to that, Johns managed Single-A Bowling Green (2014), Single-A Hudson Valley (2013) and Rookie-level Princeton (2010-12). He joined the coaching ranks in 2008, spending two seasons on Hudson Valley’s coaching staff.

Prior to joining the Tampa Bay Rays, Johns was the head coach at Orange Park (Fla.) High School from 2004-07 and prior to that, was an assistant coach at Fernandina Beach (Fla.) High School.

Baseball’s general manager meetings begin today in Las Vegas. The Orioles did some heavy roster shuffling last week to keep it at a full 40. Perhaps they can make the kind of progress this week that leads to other moves.

Pitchers Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano and catcher Gary Sánchez became free agents, and none of them are expected to return. Eflin’s back surgery diminished his chances but didn’t completely eliminate. He could stay on the market while teams monitor his recovery from back surgery.

Pitchers Félix Bautista, Grayson Rodriguez and Brandon Young were reinstated from the 60-day injured list. It’s a temporary reprieve for Bautista.

The bullpen added Andrew Kittredge in a trade with the Cubs. I’m old enough to remember when it was the other way around.

The Orioles picked up the $9 million option and also could be responsible, per Cot’s Contracts, for performance bonuses for appearances and games finished, and award bonuses that include Reliever of the Year, World Series Most Valuable Player, All-Star selection and Gold Glove.

On the same day that the Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde, they also dismissed Tim Cossins, a close friend who served as major league field coordinator and catching instructor. The title wasn’t attached to anyone else on the staff. It just disappeared like the man behind it. 

The Orioles are in the process of hiring coaches for new manager Craig Albernaz, with the only confirmed addition being Dustin Lind as hitting coach. We’ll find out whether field coordinator and catching instructor are making a return.

Hyde and bench coach Robinson Chirinos also were former catchers. Chirinos won’t return.

Albernaz caught in college and in the minors, with arm strength and accuracy that became legendary for the people close to him. Everyone’s got a story. The ink hadn’t dried on his contract with the Orioles before media and fans began wondering how he might influence the careers of Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo.

Rutschman is a two-time All-Star and Rookie of the Year runner-up whose offense has declined since the All-Star break in 2024. The two oblique injuries didn’t allow him to get on any sort of roll.

Baseball – a game that spans generations around the globe – is a vast world. And yet, sometimes we discover hidden connections that make it seem oh so tiny.

Much like that Disneyland theme ride says: It’s a small world after all.

When the Nationals announced Blake Butera as their eighth manager last week, very few people (if any) in local circles knew much about the 33-year-old former senior director of player development with the Rays.

In fact, even the guy who hired him, new Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, had only heard about Butera without ever meeting him prior to the interview process, though he did scout Butera as a draft prospect coming out of Boston College in 2015.

“We didn't know each other personally,” Toboni explained Tuesday during a Zoom call with reporters to discuss his first major hire. “I heard a lot about him, actually, even though I'm not much older than him (35), I scouted him when he was at Boston College. We just have a lot of mutual connections where I'm actually surprised that I had never met him prior to this process kicking off. So many mutual connections. I can't remember exactly the first time I really heard about him, but there had been a number of people over the years that had told me about Blake. I really went into this process having an understanding of what I thought it was going to be like, but didn't honestly know until I really hopped into it. I'm really fortunate that we did reach out to interview him because he blew me away throughout the process.”

We noted earlier this week how the Nationals have cleared a bunch of spots on their 40-man roster, losing several players to other clubs via waiver claims while outrighting several more to Triple-A Rochester, some of those players electing to become free agents in the process.

All of those moves leave the team with only 34 current players on the 40-man roster heading into the offseason, which means new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni has a lot of work to do to assemble his 2026 major league roster.

Toboni and his staff also have a lot of work to do to assemble their minor league rosters, which have already seen a host of slots open up following the recent departures of players.

A whopping 32 minor leaguers officially became free agents Friday, the date when all minor league players with enough professional service time have the right to leave their organizations. The Nationals aren’t the only club to experience a significant exodus, but that number is pretty staggering nonetheless.

Most of the names aren’t recognizable to anyone but the most hardcore of prospect hounds, but there are several notable ones sprinkled in there who played this season at Triple-A: Joan Adon, Juan Yepez, Nick Schnell, Jackson Cluff, C.J. Stubbs and Chase Solesky.

The Orioles are just as busy making changes to their front office as they are the coaching staff and roster.

Matt Blood is receiving another promotion, according to sources, with a new title of vice president of player and staff development.

In his new role, Blood will continue to oversee all aspects of minor league player development and operations, but with duties expanded to provide executive support for manager Craig Albernaz in major league staff and player development, as well as supporting the sports medicine and performance departments.

The latest bump removes Blood’s title of vice president of player development and domestic scouting, which he held since October 2023.

The Orioles hired Blood in September 2019 as director of player development after he served as Rangers' director of baseball innovation. Blood had worked for three years as USA Baseball's director of the 18-and-under National Team Program, and he previously spent seven seasons as an area scout in the Cardinals organization, where he worked with Mike Elias.

Former Orioles third base coach and interim manager Tony Mansolino didn’t need much time to find a new job.

The Braves have hired Mansolino as third base coach under new manager Walt Weiss. Weiss replaced Brian Snitker, who announced his retirement.

Mansolino was hired as the Orioles' third base coach and infield instructor prior to the 2021 season and replaced Brandon Hyde as manager on May 17. The Orioles finished in last place but went 60-59 with Mansolino in the dugout.

President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias referred to Mansolino as a “real candidate” for the full-time job during the season-ending press conference, but the Orioles hired former Guardians bench coach and associate manager Craig Albernaz. Mansolino wasn’t going to be retained in a coaching capacity, though many players endorsed his return toward the end of the season.

"Managing under the interim tag will be the hardest thing I’ll do in my career in a lot of ways," Mansolino said on Sept. 29. "In a sense, it is your team, especially after the trade deadline and all the guys that came in. It did start to feel like my team at that point. Up until the trade deadline with the players that were here under the previous leader, it didn’t in a lot of ways, and I think that’s fair. I think people can understand that. It’s a challenge.

The Orioles need to replace all of their hitting coaches from the 2025 season.

They’ve settled on their lead guy.

Dustin Lind is set to become the club’s main hitting coach, according to a source. He replaces Cody Asche, who accepted a job as the Tigers’ assistant.

Lind, 37, has worked as Phillies' assistant hitting coach for the past two seasons and he has ties to new manager Craig Albernaz in San Francisco, where he served as director of hitting and assistant hitting coach from 2020-23.

The Mariners hired Lind in 2018 as a minor league quality assurance coach and a year later named him director of hitting development and strategies on the major league coaching staff.

Good morning to everyone out there in NatsTown. Hope you aren't suffering too much from baseball withdrawal after one of the best postseasons, start to finish, in recent years and an absolutely fantastic World Series we'll be talking about forever.

It's time for the offseason now, and boy is there a lot for the Nationals to do. They've already made two of the most important hirings in club history: Paul Toboni as president of baseball operations and Blake Butera as manager. There's no way of knowing yet how either man is going to do in the short or long term, but it's safe to say the organization is entering a completely new era.

Let's take some time this morning to address what has already happened and what may still happen before pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach. As always, please submit your questions in the comments section below, then I'll do my best to answer as many of them as possible over the course of the morning. (Fair warning: There are probably going to be some questions I honestly don't have answers for at this point, but I'll try my best.) ...

The Orioles began yesterday with a full 40-man roster and finished it with a full 40-man roster.

Many of the names changed.

Pitchers Félix Bautista, Grayson Rodriguez and Brandon Young were reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Pitcher Anthony Nunez had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk to protect him in the Rule 5 draft, ahead of the deadline to do so. Cuban outfielder Pedro León was claimed on waivers from the Astros. Outfielder Leody Taveras signed a $2 million contract.

Outfielder Dylan Carlson elected free agency. The Orioles declined infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo’s $5.5 million option. Pitchers Josh Walker and Carson Ragsdale were designated for assignment. Pitcher Shawn Dubin was outrighted to Norfolk and became a free agent. The Mets claimed left-hander José Castillo on waivers.

Six added and six subtracted.

The Orioles are staying busy making roster moves that so far are geared toward improving depth and camp competitions.

A source confirmed earlier today that Cuban outfielder Pedro León has been claimed on waivers from the Astros.

León, 27, appeared in seven games with the Astros in 2024 and was 2-for-20 with 10 strikeouts. He played in 22 games with Triple-A Sugar Land this year and hit .241/.312/.422 with six doubles, three home runs and 10 RBIs. He began the season on the injured list after straining the MCL in his left knee in spring training, with an eventual transfer to the 60-day IL.

The Astros put León on waivers two days ago.

León made the Pacific Coast League Triple-A All-Star team in 2024 after batting .299/.372/.514 with 25 doubles, 24 home runs, 90 RBIs and 29 stolen bases in 118 games.

The Nationals continued to remake their 40-man roster this afternoon with a series of transactions that included the departures of pitchers Zach Brzykcy and Ryan Loutos, the demotion of infielder Trey Lipscomb and the official activation of Josiah Gray, DJ Herz, Drew Millas and Trevor Williams off the injured list.

Both Brzykcy and Loutos were claimed off outright waivers, Brzykcy by the Marlins and Loutos by the Mariners. Lipscomb, meanwhile, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Rochester, coming off the 40-man roster in the process.

The transactions were the latest in a string of moves by new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and his front office to reset the Nats’ 40-man roster heading into the offseason. They’ve managed to clear a good amount of space for future additions, with six openings now available for their use, and the potential for even more in the coming weeks.

Brzykcy briefly looked like an organizational success story, an undrafted reliever out of Virginia Tech who had the potential to become a high-leverage arm in the big leagues. But the 26-year-old was beset by injuries, and once healthy couldn’t sustain any success in the majors. In 32 games over the last two seasons, he went 0-1 with a 10.05 ERA and 1.814 WHIP, striking out an impressive 9.4 batters per nine innings but doomed by a high walk rate (4.7 per nine innings) and home run rate (2.3 per nine innings). He'll now get a shot to realize his potential in Miami.

Loutos, 26, was a midseason acquisition by former general manager Mike Rizzo, claimed off waivers from the Dodgers. The right-hander struggled in 10 appearances, going 1-0 with a 12.00 ERA and 2.444 WHIP, with the same number of walks as strikeouts (six) and three homers surrendered in only nine innings. Originally with the Cardinals, he’ll try to resurrect his career in Seattle.

The Nationals have announced the following roster moves:

-Trey Lipscomb cleared outright waivers, and he has been assigned outright to Triple-A Rochester.

-The Seattle Mariners claimed Ryan Loutos off of outright waivers.

-Reinstated Josiah Gray, DJ Herz, Drew Millas, and Trevor Williams from the 60-Day Injured List.

-The Miami Marlins claimed Zach Brzykcy off of outright waivers.

Unique slate of themes and items include a Jackson Holliday & Coconut bobblehead, Hawaiian Shirt Weekend with kids-sized shirts, Samuel Basallo, Gunnar Henderson & Jordan Westburg bobbleheads, and a Maryland-themed replica jersey

The Orioles today announced the 2026 promotional schedule, which is highlighted by unique new items and returning fan favorites. Additional details, including quantities and imagery of the full slate of items, will be unveiled at a later date. New this year is a Fan Choice Item, where fans will have the opportunity to select one of the final giveaways of the season as part of Fan Appreciation Weekend.

Home game times are now available at Orioles.com/Schedule. The on-sale date for single game tickets will be announced soon. Fans can sign up to be a Birdland Member, the best way to secure the top seats at a great value with exclusive benefits including unmatched flexibility, priority ticket and event access, discounts, and new for 2026, guaranteed gate giveaways. For more information, visit Orioles.com/Memberships.

The Birdland Hawaiian Shirt will return this year, again featured at two separate games (July 24 and July 25), and for the first time ever, a third date on Sunday, July 26, when kids will receive a youth-sized version. Other returning fan favorites include the Hockey Jersey (April 25), Pride Jersey (June 26), and Floppy Hat (July 10). The bobbleheads will include JACKSON HOLLIDAY with his dog COCONUT (April 11), SAMUEL BASALLO (May 23), JORDAN WESTBURG (May 30), and GUNNAR HENDERSON (June 27).

New Orioles themed giveaways for 2026 include a KYLE BRADISH Jersey Hoodie (March 28), Denim Crab Cap (May 10), Hot Dog Race Caps (July 11), a Hispanic Heritage Jersey as part of Hispanic Heritage Night (September 18), and various items exclusive to kids.

The Orioles aren’t focused only on their bullpen as the offseason has moved into a new month.

Outfield depth also must be addressed.

The team reached agreement last night with veteran Leody Taveras on a one-year contract pending the results of a physical. The deal pays $2 million, according to Spotrac.

Taveras, 27, is a switch-hitter who made $4.750 million this year while batting .205/.226/.304 in a combined 58 games between the Rangers and Mariners. Seattle selected him on waivers May 6 and designated him for assignment a month later. He became a free agent in October.

Taveras made his major league debut with the Rangers in 2020 and batted .240/.291/.370 in parts of six seasons. He appeared in 151 games in 2024 and stole 23 bases in 29 attempts. He hit a career-high 14 home runs with 67 RBIs in 143 games in 2023.

For generations, the division between a franchise’s front office and the manager’s office was clear-cut. The general manager’s job was to assemble the team’s roster. And the manager’s job was to use that roster as he saw fit.

That’s the way the Nationals operated under Mike Rizzo, who always insisted he let his managers make out their own lineup cards and decide on their own when to pull a starting pitcher and who to use out of the bullpen. That doesn’t mean Rizzo didn’t have opinions. Strong ones. Nearly every night during his 17-year tenure, he went into the manager’s office postgame and discussed all aspects of the just-completed game, often raising his voice about any decisions he didn’t exactly agree with.

But Rizzo never ordered his managers to fill out a lineup card a certain way. When Davey Martinez decided to move Kyle Schwarber into the leadoff spot, that was his own decision. When Dusty Baker decided to keep a slumping Jayson Werth in the 2-spot for Game 5 of the 2017 National League Division Series against the Cubs instead of starting Howie Kendrick in his place, that was his own decision. And when Matt Williams decided to pull Jordan Zimmermann in favor of Drew Storen with two outs in the ninth, a runner on first and the Nats leading the Giants 1-0 in Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS … well, that was solely his own decision.

That’s just the way it was always done. It’s not, however, necessarily the way it’s always done anymore.

Over the last decade-plus, more and more front offices have been dictating the usage of certain players to their managers. Smart executives well-versed in analytics create optimized lineups, mandates about starting pitchers only facing opposing hitters twice per game and specific situations that should fall upon specific relievers. And in some cases, these are some of the most successful teams in baseball: The Dodgers and Yankees, in particular, are among the organizations believed to operate this way.

When the clock strikes 5 p.m., free agency will officially be underway in Major League Baseball. 

The 2026 class doesn’t feature a headliner like Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto, but there is plenty of talent to be had. Spotrac estimates a dozen players to earn at least $20 million annually, a list that includes six starting pitchers. 

Throughout the offseason, we’ll take a deep dive into some potential fits in Baltimore. 

Player: Framber Valdez, LHP, 31 years old  

2025 Stats: 13-11, 192.0 IP, 3.66 ERA, 1.245 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 3.2 BB/9

Craig Albernaz brought his three children on the honeymoon phase of his hiring as Orioles manager.

The family posed for photos this week on the Camden Yards field, with sons CJ and Norman and 2-year-old daughter Gigi wearing their nicest clothes and batting helmets.

“I’ve got an eagle right here,” Gigi said, pointing at the bird.

Albernaz gently corrected her.

“That’s an Oriole,” he said.

The Orioles made another move with a potential impact on their bullpen.

Right-hander George Soriano was claimed on waivers today from the Marlins. The Orioles designated outfielder Daniel Johnson for assignment to create room on the 40-man roster.

Soriano, 26, has registered a 5.95 ERA and 1.475 WHIP in 72 games (one start) over the past three seasons. He’s struck out 117 batters in 118 innings. Soriano had an 8.35 ERA and 1,773 WHIP this year in 24 games.

The Marlins signed Soriano as an international free agent in 2015. He missed the entire 2017 season due to injury and 2020 after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the minor league season.

Soriano mostly used a slider/changeup mix this year but also incorporated a four-seam fastball and sinker. The mid-90s four-seamer was his primary pitch the two previous seasons.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Claimed RHP George Soriano off waivers from the Miami Marlins.
• Designated OF Daniel Johnson for assignment.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.