While the rest of the baseball world pretty much locked itself indoors and watched football all weekend, the Nationals made two somewhat surprising moves, signing veteran infielders Dee Strange-Gordon and Maikel Franco to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training. And as the sun comes up to begin this new work week, it's probably safe to admit we're seeing a pattern developing from the office on South Capitol Street. At a time when clubs are prohibited from signing players...

The Orioles had a quiet weekend, at least on the transactions wire. They could have been working on their minor league coaching staffs or engaging in negotiations with representatives for minor league free agents. But nothing public to digest. Their work isn't done behind the plate, but Jacob Nottingham is a heavy favorite to make up half the catching duo on opening day because he's under contract. It doesn't take much more than that. The 40-man roster is lacking a backstop and that won't...

The Nationals are bringing in another experienced major leaguer who wasn't on a major league roster at season's end, signing veteran third baseman Maikel Franco to a minor league contract, a source familiar with the deal confirmed. Franco joins fellow infielder Dee Strange-Gordon, who agreed to a minor league deal of his own Saturday evening, as newly added veterans to a Nationals organization that is lacking in experience after this summer's trade deadline sell-off. Like Strange-Gordon,...

Though clubs are prohibited from signing free agents who were on big league rosters last season during the lockout, they are allowed to sign players who weren't in the majors in 2021 to minor league contracts. And the Nationals took advantage of that Saturday night, striking a deal with veteran infielder Dee Strange-Gordon, a source familiar with the signing confirmed. Strange-Gordon, who appeared in 1,002 big league games with the Dodgers, Marlins and Mariners from 2011-20 but spent 2021...

The Nationals haven't made many roster moves so far this offseason, and those they have made don't exactly have a lot of wow factor. César Hernández? Lucius Fox? Francisco Pérez? Andrew Young? These aren't names that are going to inspire a fan base to believe the club is bound for big things in 2022. These are, however, exactly the kind of moves the Nationals should be making at this stage of their rebuild. And there will probably be more to come once the league-enforced lockout of...

Another week has passed since my last shallow dive into my mailbag. And if anyone is well-versed in being shallow, it's this guy. As usual, you're getting the raw and untampered version. The only editing is done if I catch the wrong punctuation in a sentence or change my mind about using profanity. Also, my mailbag strips down to its underwear, slaps on a coat of oil and wins every posedown. Are players chosen in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft required to stay on the team the entire...

It's crazy how much we take after our role models. It's unfortunate that you sometimes don't fully understand their impact and the similarities between you until those people are gone. My grandfather passed away early Sunday morning. Ramiro Blanco was 91 and thankfully passed away peacefully. He had a few ailments that came with old age, including prostate cancer, but it was just his time. He was at peace with that. And so is the rest of the Blanco Family Circus, as we so lovingly call...

Well, there's not a whole lot going on right now in the baseball world, as you probably are painfully aware. The sport's first work stoppage in 27 years has brought a halt to the hot stove league, though those final 48 hours leading up to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement sure were eventful, weren't they? In our continuing quest to keep everyone engaged throughout this downtime, we're going to fire up the Q&A machine this morning and take your questions. On the...

The Orioles signed five more pitchers this week to minor league deals, according to Major League Baseball's transactions page: Right-handers Bryan Bautista, Raynel Duran, Wilton Rondon and Darwin Caballero, and left-hander Noelin Cuevas. They also signed right-hander Jarlin Guerrero on Monday, which I noted a few days later. I didn't think the page was incorrect, but I checked anyway for confirmation. You're safe to run with it. These are the signings that don't garner much attention....

The signing of Rougned Odor for the 2022 season fit the usual description of a placeholder for the Orioles until their top middle infield prospects are ready to hold down full-time jobs in the majors. Until the club decides where to spread out its shortstops, including Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg. The Orioles waited until Aug. 24 to recall Jahmai Jones from Triple-A Norfolk, after his bat had cooled and he appeared to grow a little more comfortable in his reintroduction to second base....