At the end of a week that included the latest over-the-top session between agent Scott Boras and reporters at the general managers' meetings in California, a response from Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, another Silver Slugger Award, the prospect of an MVP award coming in a few more days and previously unfathomable dollar figures being thrown out there to suggest what a Juan Soto contract extension might look like, you can't help but be left with one prevailing thought. Ugh, are we really about to...

Numerous Orioles have won Silver Sluggers since the award debuted in 1980. But before Cedric Mullins, not many - maybe any - came as far with their game as he did to go from the depths to such heights. In his first three seasons in the majors - from 2018 through 2020 - Mullins had a .632 OPS with seven homers in 418 career plate appearances. His OPS+ went from 72 in his career entering this year to 135 during a 2021 season when he became the first Oriole ever with 30 or more homers and steals...

For the second consecutive season, Juan Soto was honored as a Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winner for National League outfielders. Louisville Slugger made the announcement Thursday on MLB Network. Soto joins Ian Desmond (2012-14), Anthony Rendon (2014, 2019), Daniel Murphy (2016-17) and Ryan Zimmerman (2009-10) as the only players in Nationals history (2005-pres.) to win more than one Silver Slugger Award. Soto, 23, led all National League outfielders in batting average (.313),...

After producing a .878 OPS and the first 30-30 season in Orioles history, center fielder Cedric Mullins tonight has become the team's first Silver Slugger Award winner since 2016. Mullins began the night among eight finalists for three American League outfield Silver Slugger Awards and Mullins has been named a winner in the AL outfield along with Toronto's Teoscar Hernández and Aaron Judge of New York. The winners were announced in a live broadcast on MLB Network. Mark Trumbo, as a...

Juan Soto's monster second half was enough to earn the young Nationals star his second straight Silver Slugger Award. We'll find out in one week if it was enough to earn him his first MVP award. Soto was honored tonight as one of the recipients of the 2021 Silver Slugger Award, handed out annually to the best offensive player at each position in his league, as voted on by managers and coaches late in the regular season. He joined former teammate and fellow MVP candidate Bryce Harper along...

The Nationals' lengthy run as one of baseball's most consistently successful franchises coincided with ownership's willingness to spend like one of the sport's richest franchises. In each of the last nine seasons, dating back to 2013, the Nats had one of the majors' 10 highest payrolls. They peaked, appropriately, in 2019, spending more than $205 million on players' salaries en route to their first World Series championship. And while the final tally has fluctuated a bit year to year, it...

If predictions prove to be mostly accurate, this winter's baseball free agent class will bring in some huge collective dollars in salary. Some big contracts could be signed. How this all plays out is pending the collective bargaining talks on a new labor contract, but there will come a time when the deals get done, and the contracts could be something. Last year via free agency, just three players signed total deals of $100 million or more. They were George Springer (six years, $150 million)...

The desire for more pitching depth has led the Orioles to right-hander Rico Garcia. The Orioles have agreed to terms with Garcia, 27, on a minor league deal pending a physical, according to a source. He didn't pitch this summer and went on the 60-day injured list with Double-A Richmond on May 17 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March. Garcia became a minor league free agent this month. The Rockies selected Garcia in the 30th round of the 2016 draft out of Hawaii Pacific University. The...

The World Series ended last week. They held a parade in Atlanta. More than 180 players officially became free agents. The general managers' meetings are currently taking place in Carlsbad, Calif. Suffice it to say, the offseason has begun. And for the Nationals, it's an offseason loaded with more questions and less certainty than anyone around here has experienced in a long time. Some winters, the storylines and the objectives are crystal clear. This winter? It's anybody's guess, with the...

The recent news that young outfielder Heston Kjerstad is a full go at the Orioles' instructional league camp in Florida was encouraging and a nice move forward for the player selected No. 2 overall from the University of Arkansas in the 2020 draft. He was the third-highest player ever taken by the organization. But dealing with the effects of myocarditis has kept him off the field and created some uncertainty about his future. And while there are no guarantees going forward, the Orioles now...