A few random thoughts for today's blog. No asterisk for me: I can't imagine anyone will forget the year 2020 anytime soon. It has been strange in so many ways to include baseball, where the season lasted just 60 games, the World Series was played at a neutral site and there were no fans in the stands until the very end of the year. But I still count the Los Angeles Dodgers' championship - their first since 1988 - as very legit. No asterisk needed. Yes, the season was very different, but they...

They celebrated the anniversary of the Nationals' Game 7 World Series victory Friday night, commemorating the moment at 11:50 p.m. when Daniel Hudson struck out Michael Brantley on a down-and-in slider to set off a wild celebration at Minute Maid Park in Houston, at Nationals Park in Washington, and in homes and bars throughout the region. My god, has it really been a year? It has. And so much of what we're experiencing today bears so little resemblance to that glorious moment on Oct. 30,...

The Orioles' addition of infielder Yolmer Sánchez via waivers on Friday raised several questions for which we have no real answers at this point. Do they plan for him to replace one of their arbitration-eligible infielders? Do they plan for him to compete for a utility infield job? What will his salary be in arbitration? Will the club try to reach a deal with him in advance of that? As of late Friday, the team has yet to pick up the option for 2021 on shortstop José Iglesias. Is...

The Nationals this afternoon selected the contract of right-hander Steven Fuentes, adding him to the 40-man roster for the first time. Fuentes has been with the organization since 2013 when he signed as an undrafted free agent out of Panama. The 23-year-old went a combined 6-5 with a 2.23 ERA in 23 games (11 starts) in 2019 for high Single-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg. He struck out 89 batters in 80 2/3 innings and recorded one save. He made all 11 starts for the Senators. Fuentes spent...

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Steven Fuentes on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Fuentes, 23, joins the 40-man roster for the first time in his professional career. He was a member of Washington's Alternate Training Site (Fredericksburg) during the 2020 season. He is rated by MLBPipeline.com as the No. 26 prospect in Washington's Minor League system. In 2019, Fuentes went 6-5 with...

The Orioles have tossed an interesting name into their infield mix. Former Gold Glove recipient Yolmer Sánchez was claimed off waivers today from the White Sox, increasing the 40-man roster to 33 players and leading to speculation over the team's plans for a few incumbents. The Giants signed Sánchez, 28, as a free agent in January and granted his release on Aug. 21. The White Sox brought him back to the organization less than a week later and he went 5-for-16 with three doubles, a home...

Three months after leaving the Orioles due to health concerns related to COVID-19, pitcher Kohl Stewart has no regrets and is working out in preparation for the 2021 season. The reps are done now with Stewart coming off the 40-man roster, a move announced Thursday by the Orioles. He declined his outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk and became a free agent. This is the second time that Stewart has been outrighted, with the Twins removing him from their 40-man roster in November 2019, so he...

Our offseason player review series continues today with Asdrúbal Cabrera, who struggled to consistently produce this season. PLAYER REVIEW: ASDRÚBAL CABRERA Age on opening day 2021: 35 How acquired: Signed as free agent, August 2019 MLB service time: 13 years, 27 days 2020 salary: $2,685,000 (prorated $1,110,926) Contract status: Free agent 2020 stats: 52 G, 213 PA, 190 AB, 23 R, 46 H, 9 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 0 SB, 0 CS, 19 BB, 40 SO, .242 AVG, .305 OBP, .447 SLG, .753 OPS, 98 OPS+, 1...

They combined to make 10 starts for the 2020 Orioles, and rookies Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer made strong impressions. They showed talent, promise and poise and made strong major league debuts. A guy who knows both pitchers very well and worked closely with both this year was probably watching somewhere and nodding his approval. Kennie Steenstra was the pitching coach at Double-A Bowie in 2018, when Akin went 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA in 25 starts. He was the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year and...

Here are a couple of updates on a pair of former Nationals first-round selections in Jackson Rutledge and Mason Denaburg. Both attended instructional league for the last month. Rutledge, 21, was the Nats' top pick in 2019 and has appeared in 10 games. The right-hander loves to employ analytics to study his stuff, but Nats minor league pitching coordinator Brad Holman said he concentrated on command these past few weeks. "I think he made tremendous progress," Holman said. "Not that he did...