In their last three full seasons, the Orioles have lost 115, 108 and 110 games. That is a lot of losses and no one has to tell a single O's fan that. But the hope is now that executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and his staff have been here since before the 2019 season, and now that the organization has been ranked with one of the best farm systems in the game, that better days are not only ahead, but ahead sooner rather than later. The Detroit Tigers lost 114 games in the...

Four Nationals players will qualify for salary arbitration this winter despite having yet to accrue three full years of major league service time because each has crossed the lower threshold used to designate each year's so-called Super Two players. MLBTradeRumors.com reported Saturday the cutoff for Super Two qualification this winter is 2 years, 116 days of service time. That means Ryne Harper (2 years, 135 days), Austin Voth (2 years, 127 days), Tanner Rainey (2 years, 127 days) and Andrew...

The amount of trade and free agent activity is making heads spin. A dizzying pace that can be explained only by the upcoming deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement. The current one expires on Wednesday, which also explains why the deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players has been moved up to Tuesday. The Mets seem intent on conducting all of their offseason business by the end of the weekend. Except, of course, for the hiring of a manager. No sense rushing...

We've mentioned players who were added or subtracted from the Nationals' 40-man roster on several occasions so far this offseason, but it's probably worth mentioning everyone who currently resides on that roster, because some names tend to slip through the cracks and don't garner much attention. The 40-man roster, for those who don't know, serves multiple purposes. First and foremost, it represents the pool of players a club can call up to the major leagues at any point in time. In order...

The Thanksgiving leftovers are beginning to run out, due to my generosity in sending family home with plastic containers bursting at the lid and my stunning ability to fill a plate every hour as if opening the refrigerator door somehow adds a year to my life. Cold stuffing isn't just for dinner anymore. Meanwhile, I can't seem to reach the bottom of my mailbag. I also can't reach down and touch my toes, but these are unrelated issues. Perhaps responding to a few more questions this morning...

It was a tweet that no doubt was well seen and read throughout Birdland. That the Orioles were "dangling" John Means in trade talks. Not completely sure what that means, no pun intended, but dangling is defined as "hanging or swinging loosely." That last part could apply. No one can know for sure what the team is thinking on this, but a guess here is that Means is certainly not being shopped. I would see him as much more likely to be on the team than dealt between now and opening day 2022....

It's Black Friday, and that can only mean one thing: It's time to start crossing items off your holiday shopping list. Far be it from us to try to tell you what you should be buying your significant other, your child or your other loved ones this year. But around here, we do like to put together wish lists for roster needs. So let's think about what's on the Nationals' wish list this year. It's not the same kind of list they've put together in recent years. They don't have one or two...

He was the player ranked as the best prospect in baseball for quite a while. When he finally graduated and moved off the prospects lists, O's prospect Adley Rutschman moved up from No. 2 to No. 1. But Wander Franco was there first. And Franco got to the majors first, and this week comes another first. The longest and richest contract ever awarded a player with less than one year of big league service time. The Tampa Bay Rays, per several reports, have come to terms with their 20-year-old...

Are we really going to try to find something to be thankful about the 2021 Nationals? Yes, yes we are. That's what this day is all about. It may seem like a daunting task, looking for silver linings in a 97-loss season that included injuries, agonizing losses and emotional departures of some beloved players. But if you dig a little deeper, think a little more critically, you can indeed find reasons to be thankful. For starters, we all got to attend baseball games in person again this year. We...

With the Orioles still unsure about the status of the Winter Meetings in early December, including the Rule 5 draft that closes out the annual event, they occupied the final spot in their 40-man roster today by claiming left-hander Cionel Pérez off waivers from the Reds. Pérez was a highly touted pitcher out of Cuba who signed with the Astros as an international free agent on Dec. 9, 2016. Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias served as Houston's scouting...