Still waiting on baseball
Still waiting on baseball
Steve Melewski
Orioles
To play 60 games or 70 games. Decisions, decisions. Something this important should take days to resolve. Actually, this should have been resolved weeks ago. But on we go. Still not sure if there will be a baseball season, how many games it will consist of and how the schedule will look. While the sides haggle over this, there have been several players apparently on both minor league and major league rosters that have tested positive for the coronavirus. There are four members of the Yankees...
Remembering some sports disagreements with my dad
Remembering some sports disagreements with my dad
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Today marks the second Father's Day since my dad passed away in January 2019. It's supposed to get easier, I'm told. Except for the people who tell me that it never gets easier. Guess I'll find out. I've shared how he took me to my first baseball game in 1971 at Memorial Stadium. Game 2 of the World Series, with the Orioles winning 11-3 after a rainout the previous day. I got to miss school, hang out with my dad and watch baseball live. It could have been an exhibition game and I'd still...
Nats agree to terms with third-round pick Holden Powell
Nats agree to terms with third-round pick Holden Powell
Byron Kerr
Nationals
The Nationals agreed to terms with third-round pick Holden Powell late Friday afternoon, a team source confirmed to MASNSports.com. The right-hander was a Pac-12 Conference first-team selection in 2019 and had a career 2.26 ERA with 107 strikeouts through his junior season. He was also named the 2019 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year and was a first-team All-American. "Obviously, (I am) grateful for the opportunity from the Nationals," Powell said via Zoom...
Trying to remember what I love about baseball
Trying to remember what I love about baseball
Steve Melewski
Orioles
My feelings on the sport of baseball are a bit conflicted right now. There is disappointment that we still don't have an announcement about the start of the 2020 season. I still expect there to be a season, but the harsh words and mistrust between Major League Baseball owners and players are pretty strong right now. But, I'd like to take a moment away from that. I'd like to take a lot of moments away, really. I'm trying to remember today what makes baseball great for me. It is not as easy...
Nationals sign first-round pick Cavalli
Nationals sign first-round pick Cavalli
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
First-round pick Cade Cavalli signed with the Nationals today, only nine days after the Oklahoma right-hander was drafted 22nd overall in the country. Terms of Cavalli's deal weren't immediately available, but the Nats have room to go above Major League Baseball's designated $3.027 million slot value for the 22nd pick. The club created extra space to spend more on their top three picks by signing fourth- and fifth-round picks Brady Lindsly and Mitchell Parker to bonuses well below their...
Leftovers for breakfast
Leftovers for breakfast
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
One of the players signed by the Orioles as an undrafted player is a two-way talent. They already know how they're going to develop him in the minors, but it's nice to have options. Isaiah Kearns of Pittsburgh-Johnstown is listed as a right-handed pitcher and left fielder. He put up impressive numbers across the board in 2020 prior to the shutdown, slashing .400/.507/.764 with eight doubles, four home runs, 17 RBIs, nine walks and 15 runs scored in 17 games and going 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA,...
College coach on Parker: "He's going to be a good one"
College coach on Parker: "He's going to be a good one"
Byron Kerr
Nationals
The Nationals drafted left-hander Mitchell Parker out of San Jacinto College North in the fifth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft last week. San Jacinto College North, located about 18 minutes from Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, has built a reputation as a well-known and very successful junior college in the baseball world, churning out solid pitchers and position players for Division I scholarship offers and professional baseball potential for decades. Nationals assistant general...
Friday morning Nats Q&A
Friday morning Nats Q&A
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Well, it's Friday again. And we still don't know when (or if) the baseball season will begin. I'd claim to be surprised by this development, but at this point, nothing surprises me. Yet I'll admit I'm still optimistic a deal will get done soon. Maybe in the next 48 hours? I know the difference between the 60 games the owners are offering and the 70 games the players are asking for is larger than it appears at first glance. It reportedly works out to a total of $250 million in increased pay...
Taking a look at the undrafted free agents
Taking a look at the undrafted free agents
Steve Melewski
Orioles
There was one school of thought that amateur players that signed after the draft would get scooped up by the best teams. While a case could made for that based on what we've seen so far, it is the Kansas City Royals that have signed the most players off the pre-draft Baseball America top 500 list of ranked players. We should point out that some of the "signings" may really be agreements and have not yet been announced and become official. But some teams may have officially announced some of...
Is the DH destined to be done in both leagues?
Is the DH destined to be done in both leagues?
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
I'm going to be accused of American League bias. I don't care. A universal designated hitter is coming to Major League Baseball in 2020 and 2021. If owners get their way, of course. It's in the proposal - or the agreement, depending on which term you've adopted. There's a sense that the new rule will carry beyond 2021. That pitchers will keep their bats in the rack except for extreme circumstances. Who's shedding tears? The purists who will miss a .050 hitter bunting the ball foul? I'm...