It all seems so trivial right now, doesn't it, the bickering between Major League Baseball and its players over how to fairly set salaries for the 2020 season? Our country is coming apart at the seams, protests and riots consuming cities across America over an issue that has plagued this land of ours for centuries and has now reached a boiling point. All of this, mind you, against the backdrop of a global pandemic and collapsed economy. We're supposed to care about baseball right now? But...

On the Orioles Twitter account yesterday, they showed a video of Hanser Alberto doing some hitting drills. Drills designed to help others make better and more consistent contact hitting a baseball. I'll post the tweet at the end of this entry and, of course, there is never a bad time to hear from happy Hanser. Alberto has certainly made putting the ball in play a big part of his game. His strikeouts are low and his contact rate is high. That helped him last year post a batting average that...

A few years back, Dominican scout Modesto Ulloa was the first to alert the Nationals to a left-handed pitcher/outfielder he wanted them to take a look at. Ulloa brought in Nationals vice president and assistant general manager of international operations Johnny DiPuglia to a workout in the Dominican Republic to see a teenager named Juan Soto. Ulloa has been a Dominican scout for the Indians, Padres and Nationals for many seasons. He signed the likes of Osvaldo Abreu, Freddy Guzmán and...

Well, we know there will be 160 amateur players taken in the five rounds of the First-Year Player Draft that begins June 10. But what happens after that? What about undrafted players? This year is going to be unlike any before it in the history of the draft. There were few, if any at all, top unsigned players after a 40-round draft that last year saw 1,217 players selected. There was no mad scramble for undrafted players after all those selections. But this year the draft will include just 13...

Over the last five First-Year Player Drafts, the Nationals have focused on stockpiling pitchers. Thirty of their first 49 selections since 2015 have been pitchers. The Nats have built up their minor leagues with these hurlers and used some of them in big trades that brought players that helped to bring a world championship to D.C. In the 2019 draft, the Nationals selected five pitchers in their first 10 rounds, along with one catcher, one shortstop, one third baseman and one outfielder. The...

It's been a particularly tough week, with far too much negative news in both the baseball and larger world. So let's try to end it on a lighter note, with a personal anecdote. About the time I ran in the Presidents Race. It's Aug. 17, 2006, and the fourth-inning Presidents Race is still a new event during Nationals games. First conceived as an animated race on the scoreboard, it became live action in July of that summer, after the Lerner family officially gained control of the organization...

Over the last few days, some fans may be losing confidence that we will have a baseball season in 2020. The Major League Baseball Players Association rejected the latest ownership proposal with the sliding scale of salary reductions. The sides seem dug in on their positions and there is not a lot of reason for positivity right now. But this USA Today article indicates to not worry and that they'll get this done. There is too much to lose and no doubt that is true. But time is short. Baseball...

Because I've become quite adept at disappointing fans who seek answers from me during the coronavirus pandemic, I'm comfortable opening my latest "mailbag" and also putting the word in quotation marks. With all of the binge-watching that's taking place in households around the world, I'm hoping that you'll happily accept my latest sequel. Try to fit it in between episodes of "Ozark" and "Tiger King." In a related story, I haven't seen either one. I actually thought the latter was a...

Current short-season Single-A Auburn manager Patrick Anderson says the Nationals need a lot of catchers at their lower levels so they can build stamina at that spot in the lineup. Catching is a position that can administer wear and tear on bodies over the course of a season, especially for teenagers just getting their first taste of playing pro ball. "That position beats them up," Anderson said. "They are not used to 140 games at the low Single-A level. Those guys can get hurt sometimes....

If you didn't realize how far apart Major League Baseball owners and players were in their negotiations over pay cuts for the proposed 2020 season, Max Scherzer served up a harsh reminder late Wednesday night that the chasm right now is vast. The Nationals ace and member of the MLB Players Association's eight-person executive subcommittee said the union has no intention of accepting any more salary reductions beyond what was already agreed to in late March. And he put the onus on owners to...