Officials from two Nationals affiliates, the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies and the low Single-A Hagerstown Suns, yesterday praised the creation of a task force organized by members of Congress to prevent Major League Baseball from eliminating 42 minor league franchises. U.S. Reps. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), Max Rose (D-N.Y.), and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) this week announced the formation of the Save Minor League Baseball Task Force. The four co-chairs said they will closely...

The National League East is a competitive division, if not always in the actual standings then at least in the mindset four of the five franchises take when trying to outdo each other. And that hasn't changed one bit since the Nationals won the World Series. If anything, the major participants in this division appear to be growing even more competitive with each other. The task facing the Braves, Phillies and Mets this winter is crystal clear: Overtake the Nationals. In the case of the...

Through it all - from his stunning pro start with the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds in 2012 to more than 100 starts for the Orioles - Dylan Bundy was a class act. I'm pretty sure he will continue to be that for his new team, the Los Angeles Angels. After nine pro seasons with the organization, Bundy is no longer a part of Birdland. The right-hander was traded to the Angels yesterday for four right-handed minor league pitchers. The O's got Isaac Mattson, Kyle Bradish, Kyle Brnovich and Zach...

If we're ranking the Orioles' roster needs heading into the Winter Meetings, middle infield and starting pitching reside at the top of the list. They can be 1 and 1A. You can stack one on top of the other and not necessarily be wrong. Too close to call. The bullpen could use some tweaking and there are depth moves on the horizon, including a fourth catcher to join Pedro Severino, Chance Sisco and Austin Wynns. But executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias placed special emphasis...

The Orioles aren't waiting until next week's Winter Meetings to get busy in the trade market. Two days after sending infielder Jonathan Villar to the Marlins rather than non-tendering him, executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias dealt starting pitcher Dylan Bundy to the Angels for four minor league pitchers. Who's next? Elias obtained right-handers Isaac Mattson, Kyle Bradish, Zach Peek and Kyle Brnovich in exchange for Bundy, the fourth overall pick in the 2011 First-Year Player...

The Orioles today announced that they have acquired RHP Kyle Bradish, RHP Kyle Brnovich (BRIN-oh-vich), RHP Isaac Mattson and RHP Zach Peek from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for RHP Dylan Bundy. The Orioles 40-man roster currently has 37 players. Bradish, 23, made 24 appearances (18 starts) for the Angels Class A-Advanced affiliate Inland Empire in 2019. He posted a record of 6-7 with a 4.28 ERA (48 ER/101.0 IP) and a 10.7 SO/9 IP ratio (120 K/101.0 IP). He was named a California League...

He was the Orioles' top draft pick, taken No. 4 overall in 2011, and made 103 starts in an Orioles uniform. But today right-hander Dylan Bundy's time with the club ended as he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels for four minor league pitchers. The deal was first reported by The Athletic, which said that right-hander Isaac Mattson would be one of the players coming to Baltimore. Mattson, 24, went 6-3 with a 2.33 ERA last season. Over 37 games - all in relief, with most coming at the Double-A...

Last offseason, the Nationals' Mike Rizzo went to work early on building his roster, getting catchers Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes and relief pitchers Trevor Rosenthal and Kyle Barraclough. This offseason, it is the Braves, defending National League East champions, that are roster-building early. The Braves signed free-agent lefty pitcher Cole Hamels to an $18 million contract, adding to a list of transactions. They spent $98 million this offseason by signing three relievers - Will Smith, Chris...

Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon are free agents. They've been free agents for a month now. One or both could still end up re-signing with the Nationals. But right now, they're free agents. Which means they're free to talk to any club that wants to talk to them. It all sounds so basic, but sometimes we tend to forget basic matters. As much as everyone in Washington wants to believe Strasburg and Rendon prefer to return to the only franchise they've ever played for, you just don't...

A few days after the end of the 2019 season, I wrote about the fan reaction to rebuilding and the Orioles season that had just ended. It was a season of a lot of interaction with fans here on this blog, on Twitter and on my postgame radio show. Around the area, anywhere and everywhere, fans seem to like to tell me their opinions and I really like that. My take then was basically that I was suprised that a large majority of fans I interacted with understood the club's rebuilding efforts and...