If you've followed baseball closely over the years, you should have a basic understanding of a franchise's various rosters and how they differ. There's the 25-man roster, of course, the group of players actively in the major leagues at any given moment. Then there's the 40-man roster, which in addition to the 25 active big leaguers includes players on the short-term injured list (10-day IL) and the group of top-tier minor leaguers who are most likely to be promoted at some point. Players...

The new Major League Baseball schedule is not out yet and it may be a while before we see one. But for the Orioles, it is expected to include competition against only teams from the American League East and National League East. That will be a steady diet of good teams, 2019 playoff teams and 2020 contending teams. The Orioles are scheduled to play 40 games versus the AL East and 20 versus the NL East. Some reports indicated that would include playing each NL East team four times and other...

The Nationals this afternoon announced their 60-man player pool for the 2020 season and it includes 2019 first-round pick Jackson Rutledge and 2017 top draft selection Seth Romero. Of the 60 players in the pool, 22 are non-roster invitees. While some teams like the Astros (56) and Red Sox (47) have opted to not announced full 60-man player pools, the Nats have exactly 60 on their roster. Opening night is expected to be July 23 against the Yankees with spring training 2.0 presumably beginning...

The past two days have been productive for the Orioles and media covering the team. An announcement was made Saturday afternoon on the signings of draft picks Jordan Westburg, their Competitive Balance Round A selection and the 30th overall pick, and outfielder Hudson Haskin, their second-rounder and the 39th overall. And yesterday brought confirmation on 44 of the 60 players who will be tossed in the pool for spring training 2.0. More players will be announced later in the week. The Orioles...

The Orioles today announced the initial list of 44 players to their 60-man Major League Player Pool. Additional players will be added to the list in the coming days. The 44-man list includes 18 right-handed pitchers, eight left-handed pitchers, four catchers, 10 infielders, and four outfielders. A complete list of the Orioles initial Player Pool list is below: PITCHERS (26) RHP Shawn Armstrong LHP Ty Blach* LHP Richard Bleier RHP Cody Carroll RHP Miguel Castro RHP Alex Cobb RHP Thomas...

The Orioles are preparing for their second spring training, or first summer camp if that's the preferred description, by revealing the majority of their 60-player pool earlier today. Forty-four players have been announced and outfielder Trey Mancini goes on the 60-day injured list to leave the 40-man roster at 38 players. The injured list eventually will be reduced to 45 days, but Mancini won't play in 2020 while undergoing chemotherapy treatments following his colon cancer surgery in...

The Nationals will open defense of their 2019 World Series title on July 23 at Nats Park against the New York Yankees, according to broadcast sources. The likely first pitching matchup is tantalizing, with former Astros star Gerrit Cole taking on Nats ace Max Scherzer. This was supposed to be the World Series Game 5 matchup until Scherzer had to be scratched due to back and neck spasms. Cole was the top offseason free agent acquisition for the Yankees. He is a three-time All-Star whose 2.50 ERA...

The Orioles haven't forgotten about their 2020 draft picks while plotting the construction of their camp rosters for the second spring training. The club announced this afternoon that it's signed infielder Jordan Westburg, their Competitive Balance Round A selection and the 30th overall pick, and outfielder Hudson Haskin, their second-rounder and the 39th overall. Westburg signed for $2,365,500 and Haskin for $1,906,800 - both at full slot value, according to a source. Westburg, 21, batted...

Is it too soon to talk about the 2021 First-Year Player Draft? Probably so, but not at Baseball America. A day after the recent draft, Baseball America was already projecting the top picks (subscription required) for the next one. Never too soon, I guess. In fact, Baseball America has already put out a mock draft for June of next year and they have the Orioles picking first. Major League Baseball has not even announced how the draft order will work for that draft, but if they are going to crown...

With the announcement that Major League Baseball will schedule 60 games in a shortened 2020 campaign, the Nationals now must decide how they can best implement one big advantage they have had over other teams: their top four starting pitchers. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Aníbal Sánchez were so good last season that they ranked in the top 25 in ERA in the major leagues, top 24 in WAR, top 48 in K/9 and top 35 in WHIP. The Nats' top four starters combined for 65...