The Orioles had players in 2020 who made obvious improvements. To miss it would require a blindfold and disabling of your Twitter account. They provided nice stories to get us through the summer. To offset the collapse that kept the Orioles away from the expanded playoff field. I'm wondering how many fans noticed that reliever Shawn Armstrong was very effective when healthy? I should have known because it's my job, but he was sneaky good. Only after reviewing the final bullpen numbers did I...

The Orioles are getting ready to open their fall instructional league down in Sarasota. The Ed Smith Stadium complex is operating again after being shut down for more than six months. One of the smartest moves made by the Orioles has been exercising caution instead of their players. A complete roster of participants will be available soon and figures to include the draft selections who were denied a minor league season. I'm working more on assumptions. For instance, why shut down top pick...

We can talk about injuries. We can look at offensive consistency. We can point to the bullpen or poor defensive fundamentals. All played a role in the Nationals' disappointing 2020 season. But there really is one reason above all others the Nats failed to make the playoffs this year. And it's the same reason they failed to make the playoffs in 2013, 2015 and 2018. To paraphrase a politician's simplified message from nearly three decades ago: It's the rotation, stupid. Of course, the biggest...

In judging the 2020 Orioles offense, a rating may be in the eye of the beholder. And it may heavily depend on when that person watched this team. If they saw them only play National League teams, they may rate the offense as one of the best in the game. If they saw only games against the American League, they will have a few questions about the bats. If they saw only the last few weeks, they will ponder if this group is just terrible. But more on the timing later. Let's first take a look at a...

Here are some more updates on pitchers who were working at the alternate camp site in Fredericksburg, Va., during the regular season. A few of them have moved over to the instructional league in West Palm Beach, Fla., for the next month. This is third installment on pitchers who were working out in Fredericksburg. Top-rated prospects Cade Cavalli and Jackson Rutledge also were at the alternate site and have moved on to West Palm Beach. Right-hander Joan Adon is in Florida at instructional...

The task of clearing room on the 40-man roster began as the Orioles worked through the final games on their schedule. No need to wait until the last out. Pitcher Carson Fulmer, the former first-round pick of the White Sox, didn't make it through waivers. Reliever Cody Carroll passed through and was outrighted. The 40-man roster was reduced to 37 players, but the Orioles activated pitcher Kohl Stewart from the 10-day injured list yesterday, per their transactions page, and he goes back on the...

The Nationals are going to undergo change this winter, of that there's no doubt. Nine prominent players (Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Eaton, Howie Kendrick, Asdrúbal Cabrera, Aníbal Sánchez, Sean Doolittle, Kurt Suzuki, Eric Thames and Josh Harrison) will either become free agents or could become free agents if their options aren't picked up. Several others (most notably Michael A. Taylor and Roenis Elías) could be in danger of being non-tendered. They aren't all coming back, that much...

Teams in a rebuild, and specifically the people behind it, wonder about the obsession over a defined closer for the bullpen Fans ask about it. The media tracks it. The first reliever to rise after the eighth with his club holding a slim lead is crowned. Five pitchers recorded saves for the Orioles this year and Hunter Harvey wasn't counted among them. He was supposed to handle the responsibility, according to everything written and reported over the winter and spring and during summer training...

The truncated 2020 regular season is over, and it was used this year to eliminate just 14 teams. Now 16 play on in search of the World Series championship. Bracket playoff baseball is about to begin later today with four American League playoff games. The National League series begin tomorrow. So on Wednesday, there will be eight playoff games. Yep, eight. They'll start at Noon, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 10 p.m. Should be a wild day and night of baseball. There will be at least four more games on...

MASNsports.com has obtained a copy of the Nationals' official fall instructional league 65-player roster for 2020. Players in attendance whom MLBPipeline.com lists as top Nats prospects include pitchers Jackson Rutledge, Cade Cavalli, Tim Cate, Mason Denaburg, Cole Henry, Andry Lara, Eddy Yean, Matt Cronin and Seth Romero, who is on a major league rehab assignment with a broken right hand. Top 20 rated Nats position players on hand: first baseman Drew Mendoza, shortstop/third baseman Yasel...