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...

Happy Thanksgiving to our readers here. I appreciate you today and every day. And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone throughout Birdland. Just a short entry today, and if you have time to push yourself away from the table and talk some baseball, here is an article worth checking out. It's from the team's Birdland Insider Twitter account and is a nice wrap-up of the Orioles instructional league. This year, the Orioles did not play games against other teams, instead focusing on more individually...

Orioles fans can enjoy major savings with the Black Friday Holiday sale taking place this weekend on Friday, November 26, and Saturday, November 27, at the Orioles Team Store. From 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day, fans will receive a 30 percent discount on Nike jerseys and 50 percent off all other merchandise in the store. Discounts are available in-store only. Fans can also purchase Mystery Boxes, available for $29, which include a t-shirt, hat, and novelty item, as well as a chance to win a...

It's been a quiet start to the offseason, not only for the Nationals but for the entire sport, which unfortunately appears to be reluctant to sign too many free agents before the collective bargaining agreement expires one week from today, at which point the league may lock out the players. There have been a handful of intriguing signings, though, and there certainly was one Tuesday, when the Rays agreed to a reported 11-year extension with phenom shortstop Wander Franco worth a guaranteed...

When the Orioles made their 40-man roster additions last week, ahead of the scheduled Rule 5 draft next month, they added two hard-throwing relievers. Both flew under the radar during the 2021 season, but the team was clearly watching. And the team was seeing the potential in right-handers Félix Bautista, 26, and Logan Gillaspie, 24. Both may not yet be well-known to Orioles fans, but that could change over the next few seasons. Both could play roles in future O's bullpens. During an...

In those sporadic moments when I envision Trey Mancini helping to prepare Thanksgiving dinner, which I'm only assuming is an actual thing, I imagine him reaching inside the turkey for the giblets and pulling out another Comeback Player of the Year Award. There's always room for fourths. The Sporting News, Major League Baseball Players Association and beat writers at MLB.com chose Mancini in separate balloting, and it couldn't have been close. It shouldn't have been close. "I know he had my...

The date on the calendar, the 15-pound thawed turkey in the refrigerator and the forced viewing of a Lions game indicate that it's time again to give thanks, something that should be done on a daily basis, but tends to slip through life's cracks. There's the most obvious starting point - canned cranberry sauce. OK, seriously, it's family. Including my new wife and 14-month-old granddaughter who makes it impossible to remember what life was like before her arrival. She's such a blessing. I...