Nats' most significant moves in January

Nats' most significant moves in January
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...
    

Houston natives Rendon and Albers set up relief fund for victims of Hurricane Harvey

Houston natives Rendon and Albers set up relief fund for victims of Hurricane Harvey
Anthony Rendon and Matt Albers have had their minds and hearts with Texas for the last few days as Hurricane Harvey has devastated parts of the state, including their hometown of Houston. On Tuesday evening, the duo set up a YouCaring page, raising money to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey, with proceeds going directly to the Houston Food Bank plus other area shelters. In less than 24 hours, the page surpassed the original $50,000 goal, which has now been raised to $80,000. More than 600...
    

Nationals sign veteran infielder César Hernández

Nationals sign veteran infielder César Hernández
Only 90 minutes after clearing three spots on their 40-man roster, the Nationals filled one of them with a veteran infielder who could help in a variety of ways next season: César Hernández. The Nats signed Hernández to a one-year contract tonight, making the 31-year-old only their second major league free agent addition of the winter to date, with only one more day left to make any more moves before Major League Baseball is expected to institute a lockout of players. Hernández...
    

The Nationals: "No Way Home"

The Nationals: "No Way Home"
In honor of this weekend's release of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," I'm going to attempt to create parallels between the blockbuster movie and the upcoming Nationals season. I like baseball and superheroes, and we're in a lockout, so bear with me. This is a spoiler-free reference to "No Way Home" for those of you who have yet to see the film. I saw it opening night since Spider-Man is one of my favorite characters of all time, and I hate when people spoil things for me, so I will not do...
    

What if Desmond took the Nationals' $107 million offer?

What if Desmond took the Nationals' $107 million offer?
Heading into the 2014 season, few shortstops in baseball were trending up like Ian Desmond. Back-to-back Silver Slugger seasons for a Nationals franchise that was beginning to establish itself as a perennial contender catapulted one of the last remaining Expos draft picks into the national spotlight. And that meant Desmond was due to be paid big money in the near future. The Nats recognized this, and in the kind of move they hadn't really been in position to make with many homegrown players...
    

A few thoughts on what lies ahead for the Nationals

A few thoughts on what lies ahead for the Nationals
For most of the past decade, the offseason has meant pretty much one thing for Nationals fans: Watch carefully as general manager Mike Rizzo makes moves to improve the few holes on the team and eagerly anticipate the first workout of pitchers and catchers in spring training. Not this winter. And not just because the business of baseball has been brought to a screeching halt by a labor stoppage. When Rizzo pulled the plug on a 97-loss campaign that resulted in a last-place finish in the...
    

The Carter Kieboom dilemma facing the Nationals

The Carter Kieboom dilemma facing the Nationals
Just 106 games into his major league career, Carter Kieboom is at a crossroads. When spring training begins - hopefully next month - in West Palm Beach, the Nationals are hoping that Kieboom, 24, shakes off whatever competition is provided for him and proves he can handle everyday duties at third base. So far, it's been a mixed bag for the first-round pick in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft. There have been flashes on offense and defense, but Kieboom has pretty much whiffed on the...
    

Bickering over latest Hall of Fame ballot

Bickering over latest Hall of Fame ballot
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...
    

Conway on Lucas: "He gave us a lot out of the bullpen"

Conway on Lucas: "He gave us a lot out of the bullpen"
The non-tender deadline in 2019 brought a trade that wasn't popular with Orioles fans who still vented over the decision a week earlier to place infielder Jonathan Villar on waivers. Villar wasn't coming back with an estimated arbitration raise pushing his salary to $10.4 million. The Orioles were motivated to move him for the right return, which turned into left-hander Easton Lucas. "It's hard to let him go, but we've got to keep an eye on our strategic objectives, which prioritize the...
    

O's 2022 rotation candidate: right-hander Jordan Lyles

O's 2022 rotation candidate: right-hander Jordan Lyles
It's an assumption - but probably a pretty safe assumption - that right-hander Jordan Lyles is not only a rotation candidate for the 2022 Orioles, but he is very likely to be a key member of their rotation. This is why the club agreed with the free agent pitcher on a one-year deal for $7 million right before the lockout, and the Orioles hold a team option on his 2023 contract. Lyles went 10-13 with a 5.15 ERA for Texas last season. And that produced an ERA+ of 85 for last year or 15 percent...
    

Friday morning Nats Q and A

Friday morning Nats Q and A
It's been three weeks since we last did one of these, and so much has happened since then, right? Right? OK, so very little has happened since then, at least in the baseball world. At least the owners and players met Thursday for the first time since the lockout began six weeks ago, so that's a good thing, right? Right? Alas, the entire sport remains very much in a holding pattern until the two sides start to feel a little more urgency to get a deal done, which probably won't be for several...
    

What to make of Romero's latest transgression

What to make of Romero's latest transgression
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that left-hander Seth Romero could be running out of chances with the Nationals. News that the 25-year-old left-hander was arrested Friday morning in Sweeny, Texas, on a charge of driving while intoxicated is only the latest misstep in a checkered career for the 25th overall selection in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft, who has just three major league relief appearances in the 2020 campaign on his register. Romero was released on a $5,000 bond, according to...
    

International program's contribution to the elite talent pipeline

International program's contribution to the elite talent pipeline
With a new academy coming in the Dominican Republic and their latest signing class announced yesterday, the Orioles' resurgent international program keeps growing and getting better. The elite talent pipeline, international division, got better as a result. On one Saturday afternoon, the Orioles announced the signings of 24 players and spent their entire pool allotment of over $6.2 million, according to Koby Perez, the club's senior director of international scouting. Where the Orioles once...
    

Speed and outfield defense will be important in new Oriole Park left field

Speed and outfield defense will be important in new Oriole Park left field
While we expect Oriole Park at Camden Yards to yield fewer homers in 2022 with the deeper outfield fence coming in left and left-center, the new dimensions and angles of those outfield walls will create more ground to cover for the defenders. Outfield defense in left and center just got more important for the Orioles. The Orioles may now place more of a premium on that outfield defense than before. And an outfield of Austin Hays in left and Cedric Mullins in center with have more frequent...
    

O's add Braylin Tavera at $1.7 million as signing period begins (updated)

O's add Braylin Tavera at $1.7 million as signing period begins (updated)
A new international signing period arrived today in Major League Baseball and the Orioles have announced a class of 24 players. This includes 16-year-old outfielder Braylin Tavera from the Dominican Republic. The 6-foot-2, 175-lb. right-handed hitter agreed to a bonus of $1.7 million, according to MLB.com, and that is the largest ever given by the club to an international amateur. Tavera, who profiles as a speedy center fielder, also features some power potential and gets scouting grades of 50...
    

Elias and Mejdal on outfield changes at Oriole Park

Elias and Mejdal on outfield changes at Oriole Park
Yes, the Orioles are quite aware that their pitching staffs in recent years have struggled. But the changes underway in left field and left-center field at Camden Yards are more about producing a park that plays more neutral and more toward norms in Major League Baseball. Right now, the club plays in a stadium that produces among the most home runs and runs in baseball - for all pitchers - and this will create a shift in that. Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said...
    

Bullpen improvement must come both from within and from outside

Bullpen improvement must come both from within and from outside
Stability has never been a hallmark of the Nationals bullpen. Truth be told, it's rarely a hallmark of any club's bullpen, given the inherent instability of the position. But the Nats took this longstanding theme to new (and often painful) levels in 2021. For only the third time in team history, Nationals relievers finished a season with a collective ERA north of 5.00, joining the 103-loss 2009 group and the tightrope-walking 2019 unit that managed to get it together just in time to win in...
    

New owners for Baysox and Keys, left field construction pics and more

New owners for Baysox and Keys, left field construction pics and more
In a transaction that took effect on Jan. 1, 2022, the Orioles' Double-A Bowie affiliate has a new owner. So does a former O's affiliate, the Frederick Keys. Attain Sports and Entertainment - Maryland Baseball, LLC announced that it has purchased the Bowie Baysox and Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League. Led by owners Greg Baroni, CEO and principal general partner, and Richard Roberts, president and general partner, Attain Sports and Entertainment's mission is to present baseball as...
    

O's will take BP program from the minors to the majors

O's will take BP program from the minors to the majors
When the 2022 big league season begins, no doubt, the Orioles' new, young co-hitting coaches, Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte, may have some thoughts on how O's hitters can improve. There may be some methods they eventually want to introduce and/or enhance for the big league hitters. One aspect that the Orioles are now likely to implement at the big league level was the batting practice routine and approach they used on the farm last year. The Orioles had actually intended to begin this...
    

Shortened spring could really hinder Nats' pitching prep

Shortened spring could really hinder Nats' pitching prep
There's a prevailing sense around the baseball world right now that a delayed start to spring training wouldn't necessarily mean a delayed start to the regular season. If owners and players can work out a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement by late February, it would be possible to shorten camps from six weeks to four weeks, or (gulp) maybe even three weeks and still wrap things up in time to begin the season March 31 as scheduled. This, of course, all makes sense. Does spring...