In choosing to let go several members of a staff that helped him win a World Series, Davey Martinez suggested he preferred to bring in coaches with whom he already had well-established relationships. Sure enough, Martinez's first hire of the offseason is someone he already knows very well: Jim Hickey. The Nationals named Hickey their new pitching coach today, hiring the 58-year-old who spent seven seasons working on the same Rays staff with Martinez last decade. "I am very excited to add Jim...

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms with Pitching Coach Jim Hickey on Monday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo and Manager Dave Martinez made the joint announcement. Hickey, 58, joins Washington as the pitching coach after spending the last two seasons (2019-20) as a special assistant for player development with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 2021 season will be Hickey's 38th season in professional baseball and his 16th as a Major League pitching...

Our offseason player review series continues today with Daniel Hudson, who struggled to consistently close out games this season. PLAYER REVIEW: DANIEL HUDSON Age on opening day 2021: 34 How acquired: Traded from Blue Jays for Kyle Johnston, July 2019 MLB service time: 11 years, 106 days 2020 salary: $5,148,148 (prorated $2 million) Contract status: Signed for $6 million in 2021, free agent in 2022 2020 stats: 3-2, 6.10 ERA, 21 G, 10 SV, 20 2/3 IP, 15 H, 15 R, 14 ER, 6 HR, 11 BB, 28 SO, 3 HBP,...

They are both infielders the Orioles claimed off waivers. They've gotten a golden chance to show they can play at the big league level with the Orioles since the start of the 2019 season. But after the performance of both fell off in the second half of the shortened 2020 season, their futures are maybe more uncertain today than they were heading into last year. I am talking about 26-year-old Rio Ruiz and 28-year-old Hanser Alberto. Both have been regulars in the lineup for most of the last two...

Nationals 2020 fifth-round draft selection Mitchell Parker got into to his first professional instructional league intrasquad game this week against the Marlins. The left-hander threw two scoreless innings for the Nats. Instructional league workouts continue until Oct. 28 in West Palm Beach, Fla., at the Nats spring training facility. "I had my first game against another jersey," Parker said. "It was fun. It was enjoyable. Obviously, the nerves were a little bit there, but now that it is...

The American League East champion Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the World Series. They won the first three games of the AL Championship Series against Houston, but then lost the next three. But behind right-hander Charlie Morton, they won 4-2 in Game 7 last night to head to the World Series for the second time in team history. In 2008, they lost, four games to one, to Philadelphia. Now they will chase their first title against the winner of tonight's National League Championship Series Game 7...

Our offseason player review series continues today with Kurt Suzuki, who continued to hit for average, but struggled to hit for power while continuing to struggle throwing out runners. PLAYER REVIEW: KURT SUZUKI Age on opening day 2021: 37 How acquired: Signed as free agent, November 2018 MLB service time: 13 years, 113 days 2020 salary: $6 million (prorated $2,222,222) Contract status: Free agent 2020 stats: 33 G, 129 PA, 111 AB, 15 R, 30 H, 8 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 1 SB, 0 CS, 11 BB, 19 SO,...

Our offseason player review series continues today with Yan Gomes, who quietly put together a strong offensive season. PLAYER REVIEW: YAN GOMES Age on opening day 2021: 33 How acquired: Traded from Indians for Jefry Rodríguez, Daniel Johnson and Andruw Monasterio, November 2018 MLB service time: 8 years, 83 days 2020 salary: $4 million (prorated $1,481,481) Contract status: Signed for $6 million in 2021, free agent in 2022 2020 stats: 30 G, 119 PA, 109 AB, 14 R, 31 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 13...

Last November, the Orioles added four players to their 40-man roster to protect those players from being selected in the December Rule 5 draft. They added Ryan Mountcastle, Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer and Ryan McKenna. How many players will the Orioles add next month? They've got a list of quality players eligible for this year's Rule 5. But even with a lengthy list of players who they clearly like, it is still hard for a player to make the 40-man roster. Every year, it seems there is much angst...

Our offseason player review series continues today with Erick Fedde, who showed improvement after getting a chance to stick in the rotation. PLAYER REVIEW: ERICK FEDDE Age on opening day 2021: 28 How acquired: First-round pick, 2014 draft MLB service time: 2 years, 99 days 2020 salary: $563,500 (prorated $208,704) Contract status: Possibly arbitration-eligible in 2021, free agent in 2025 2020 stats: 2-4, 4.29 ERA, 11 G, 8 GS, 0 CG, 50 1/3 IP, 47 H, 25 R, 24 ER, 10 HR, 22 BB, 28 SO, 3 HBP, 1.371...