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The Nationals continue to clear space on their 40-man roster.
The club announced this afternoon that right-hander James Bourque and catcher Raudy Read have cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Fresno. The 40-man roster is at 34 players.
Bourque, 27, appeared in six games this season, finishing with a 1-0 record and a 6.75 ERA over four innings of relief. He appeared in one game in 2019, allowing four runs on three hits over two-thirds of an inning. Early on in the 2020 season,...
An initial scan of the Orioles' fall instructional league roster, which confirmed the absence of second overall draft pick Heston Kjerstad, highlighted the prospects invited to the Ed Smith Stadium complex and challenged the mind to remember a few of the names.
Included among the 24 pitchers were former first-round selections Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall, and top 30 prospects Zac Lowther, Drew Rom and Blaine Knight.
The easy ones to identify.
I had to do a little research to become acquainted...
The order for the 2021 First-Year Player Draft was unveiled Monday with the Nationals selecting at the No. 11 position in the first round.
The 2021 draft will take place on July 11-13, 2021, in conjunction with the 2021 All-Star Game in Atlanta.
The order repeats itself in the second round. So the Nats will pick No. 40 with their second selection. There are only 29 teams in the first two rounds because the Astros forfeited their picks as punishment for the sign-stealing scandal.
These...
Our offseason player review series continues today with Patrick Corbin, who like much of the Nationals rotation didn't live up to his typical standards this season.
PLAYER REVIEW: PATRICK CORBIN
Age on opening day 2021: 31
How acquired: Signed as free agent, December 2018
MLB service time: 8 years, 105 days
2020 salary: $19 million (prorated $7,453,703)
Contract status: Signed for $24 million in 2021, $23 million in 2022, $24 million in 2023, $35 million in 2024 ($10 million deferred)
2020...
It was just a four-start sample and that's not a lot of innings. But it was a stunning four starts. For the Orioles, it was a stretch of games where they realized their ace was back. And while an injury kept left-hander John Means from making the opening day start this year, if they had to pick that guy for 2021 today, it would be Means. An easy call.
A year that began with Means dealing with left shoulder fatigue later produced the emotions surrounding the passing of his father. On the field,...
Past searches for coaching replacements on the Orioles' major league staff involved the casting of a wide net.
Most recently, they found first base coach Anthony Sanders in the Rockies system, bullpen coach Darren Holmes after his stint in Colorado and major league coach Fredi González after his tenure in Miami.
Third base coach José Flores came from Philadelphia prior to the 2019 season. Tim Cossins, the major league field coordinator and catching instructor, worked for the Cubs....
Two more members of the Nationals' 2020 bullpen are now free agents after right-hander Javy Guerra and lefty Sam Freeman cleared outright waivers, the club announced today.
Guerra and Freeman, who both ended the season on the injured list, are the latest Nats players to formally come off the 40-man roster, which now stands at 36. Right-handers Aaron Barrett, Paolo Espino and Austen Williams, plus lefty Roenis ElÃas and infielder Adrián Sanchez cleared outright waivers last week; Barrett,...
"Bring it on!"
That's how left-handed pitcher Evan Lee greeted me as we started to talk about his baseball summer during Nationals fall instructional league workouts and games in West Palm Beach, Fla., this month. You can tell by that reaction that Lee brings that same attitude to the mound when handed the ball for the Nats.
Lee, 23, is currently pitching for the Nats in their scrimmages against the Marlins, continuing preparations for a hopefully uninterrupted 2021 season. The southpaw, who...
Our offseason player review series continues today with Max Scherzer, who wasn't his elite self but still managed to be effective.
PLAYER REVIEW: MAX SCHERZER
Age on opening day 2021: 36
How acquired: Signed as free agent, January 2015
MLB service time: 12 years, 79 days
2020 salary: $35 million (deferred), $15 million signing bonus
Contract status: Signed for $35 million in 2021 (deferred), $15 million signing bonus, free agent in 2022
2020 stats: 5-4, 3.74 ERA, 12 GS, 1 CG, 67 1/3 IP, 70 H,...
The catcher position is historically one that does not produce much offense. Of course, there are always exceptions, but generally speaking, teams are happy if they get modest offense from their catchers.
For a good portion of the shortened 2020 season, the Orioles had to be delighted with the offense coming from their catchers. They used three players at the position with Pedro Severino making 32 starts, Chance Sisco 22 and Bryan Holaday six.
In late August, the O's catching trio was...