Taking stock today of a few topics that have recently been discussed in Birdland. * O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias pledges to sign some starting pitchers this winter (minor league and/or major league deals) to bolster rotation depth. Is this the right move for now? The club had two of its young pitchers emerge last season in the rotation and Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer flashed both talent and poise. They showed that work on their individual development was paying...

The beauty of becoming a minor league free agent is the freedom to go back to the organization if given an offer. It can be "see you later" rather than "goodbye." Or it can be "no thanks" and the player moves on to the next phase of his professional life. Baseball America published a complete list of free agents in baseball, including 16 in alphabetical order from the Orioles minor league system: Cristian Alvarado, Danny Barnes, Malquin Canelo, Martin Cervenka, Brian Gonzalez, Tyler Herb,...

A tip of the cap to Nationals scout Miguel Ruiz from Panama, who found and signed Steven Fuentes. The right-hander is the first player that Ruiz scouted to make the Nationals' 40-man roster. Fuentes was signed in July 2013 out of Puerto Armuelles, which is on the coast in western Panama, a few miles from the Costa Rican border. The 6-foot-2, 175-lb. hurler has worked his way up through the Nats system, culminating with 15 games for Double-A Harrisburg in 2019. This year has been difficult for...

He's been an Oriole since the team claimed him on waivers from the Texas Rangers on May 13, 2018. Renato Núñez has now played in 263 games as an Oriole, hitting 50 homers with 141 RBIs. In the last two seasons he has ranked among the top 24 in the American League in homers, and in the top 25 in RBIs each season. That is decent run production. But now, as Trey Mancini is returning to the club for next year and Ryan Mountcastle has now made his big league debut, will Núñez get...

The Nationals are in the market for bullpen help this winter. Just like every winter. Guess you have to admire their consistency, right? The good news is, they're in less of a bind this winter than they've usually been in the past. With Daniel Hudson, Will Harris, Tanner Rainey and Kyle Finnegan all returning, they've got a solid core group of right-handers already on the staff. What they don't have is a left-hander, now that Sean Doolittle is a free agent. So that's probably priority No....

The feel-good story that keeps developing with Trey Mancini - his recovery from Stage 3 colon cancer and resumption of a life that's more recognizable to him - has room for a few baseball-related chapters. Sports haven't been the main focus for obvious reasons. Playing for the Orioles again was secondary. Now it seems more imminent. More acceptable to discuss without coming across as insensitive or having priorities out of order. There's a business side to Mancini's return, including his...

The Nationals need a big bat, someone to hit behind Trea Turner and Juan Soto, and the most logical position for that person to play is a corner outfield position. But it doesn't have to work out quite like that. Just as, let's say, a presidential candidate has more than one path to 270 electoral votes, general manager Mike Rizzo has more than one path to try to boost his club's lineup. The state of the Nationals infield is very much in flux as the offseason begins. We know Turner is...

The addition of players to be named later keep rolling in for the Orioles. The players always had names, of course, but now we know them as Orioles. Yesterday, the Orioles completed the trade of lefty Tommy Milone to Atlanta on Aug. 31 when they got 23-year-old infielders AJ Graffanino and Greg Cullen from the Braves. The O's are owed one more PTNL for sending pitcher Hector Velázquez to Houston on July 29. Graffanino, the son of former big leaguer Tony Graffanino, was rated as Atlanta's...

Juan Soto's massive offensive numbers in a shortened season weren't enough to earn the Nationals star left fielder a top-three finish in the MVP race, but they were enough to earn him a Silver Slugger Award. Soto's victory was revealed tonight, the first of a career that figures to include plenty more of these awards and perhaps an MVP or two as well. He was one of three National League outfielders to win the honor, joining the Dodgers' Mookie Betts and the Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. atop...

Juan Soto was honored as a Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winner for National League outfielders on Thursday night. Louisville Slugger made the announcement on MLB Network. Soto, 22, paced all of Major League Baseball in on-base percentage (.490), slugging percentage (.695) and OPS (1.185). According to FanGraphs.com, he also led Major League Baseball in weighted runs created plus (200) and weighted on-base average (.478). Despite missing 13 games, Soto also ranked in the National...