The Nationals wrapped up their fall instructional league camp last week in West Palm Beach, Fla. Sixty-five players and more than 30 coaches, coordinators and training staff took part in the five-week workout. Assistant general manager of player development Mark Scialabba spoke about how the camp worked: "It was a great camp. Obviously, very thankful that we had support from ownership to allow us to have this camp. It was really crucial for all these players to get on the field. We brought...

We raised the question Sunday of the Nationals' approach to this winter, whether they might be willing to go against the expected grain of most of the league and aggressively pursue free agents while everyone else attempts to drag the process out and save money. We have no idea at this point if it's even within the realm of possibility, mostly because we haven't heard a word from the front office about the financial state of the organization at the end of a year in which there were no fans...

Maybe Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias looked at this only from an on-the-field standpoint. It made perfect sense to pick up the $3.5 million option and bring shortstop José Iglesias back in 2021. Yes, he missed time injured, but when he played, he played great and was almost indispensable. He hit, he defended and he provided leadership. But beyond the value he provides on the field, the move to bring him back will have other impact, too. It will calm a segment...

With the World Series over and teams firing up the hot stove, it shouldn't be much longer before the Orioles identify the return on the trades of pitchers Tommy Milone and Hector Velázquez. When is it considered late to be announcing players to be named later? The Orioles sent Velázquez to the Astros on July 29 for a PTBNL. He never threw a pitch in 2020 outside of summer training camp and alternate camp sites. Milone was traded to the Braves the following day for two PTBNL, an...

The Orioles made their one option decision for the 2021 season. Shortstop José Iglesias is returning to the Orioles. They're picking up his $3.5 million option, according to a source. The alternative was Iglesias accepting a $500,000 buyout and re-entering the free agent market this winter. The deadline arrived this afternoon. A coronavirus pandemic complicated the process with revenue lost this season and teams seeking ways to save money, including a slew of furloughs and layouts...

With the strangest baseball season on record now in the books (congrats to the Dodgers), the offseason is now upon us. The Orioles have already made some roster moves, and more are almost certainly on the way. And with COVID cases climbing again, the O's and the rest of Major League Baseball also will likely be figuring out contingencies in case spring training and/or the 2021 season have to be delayed. So even though there won't be any live games to see, baseball people will still be plenty...

The start of free agency in baseball has long failed to live up to whatever advance hype comes along with it. If the first day of free agency in the NFL, NBA and NHL resembles Walmart on Black Friday, in Major League Baseball it looks more like a group of seniors strolling through the mall concourse at 9 a.m. on a random Tuesday. Owners don't send their private jets out at the stroke of midnight to pick up potential big-name targets. Agents prefer to drag the whole process out and wait for the...

David Hess understood that the only team he'd known since the 2014 First-Year Player Draft was moving closer to removing him from the 40-man roster. A handful of pitching prospects had been promoted to the major league roster over the summer. He was limited to three relief appearances and vulnerable to an offseason transaction. The Orioles outrighted Hess, 27, on Thursday after he cleared waivers, but he's able to become a free agent for the first time and explore his other options. He...

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,...