The matchup is now set. After a thrilling Game 6 victory over the Yankees late Saturday night, the Astros captured their second American League pennant in three years and thus advanced to the 2019 World Series to face the very well rested Nationals, who today will work out and meet with a throng of media members at Minute Maid Park, with Game 1 of the Fall Classic set for 8:08 p.m. Tuesday. This World Series may not appeal as much to casual observers and television executives as, say,...

The Orioles public relations staff sent out a package of extensive season-ending notes on the club and its players recently. Let's take a look at a few of those notes today. Miguel Castro: His 73 1/3 innings as a reliever ranked as the 10th-most in the American League. He posted a 0.89 ERA when pitching on three or more days of rest. Castro is durable and often available - he threw 86 1/3 innings the year before - but you can't afford to have a reliever who would need that much rest each...

The five questions that I posed about the Orioles last week were just a launching point. We can't stop at Chris Davis, the Rule 5 draft, protected players, non-tender candidates and the shortstop position. Let's move behind the plate. Without the risk of taking a foul ball off the groin. Do the Orioles bring in another veteran catcher? They signed Jesús Sucre as a free agent on Feb. 5, finally got him into camp after some work visa issues in Venezuela and brought him north. He didn't make...

Mike Rizzo has worked in professional baseball for 36 seasons, and until this current campaign he had worked for a team that reached the World Series only once. That was in 2001 with the Diamondbacks, for whom Rizzo served as scouting director. It's Rizzo's favorite team, from a professional standpoint, and for good reason. It provided him his lone World Series ring, which he wears in public only one day a year: Draft day, to remind him what the whole point of this crazy endeavor is. That...

There is a long hallway between the coaches' and manager's offices and the training area next to the Nationals clubhouse on field level at Nats Park. Along this wall is a collection of baseballs positioned on a long single shelf that runs down the hallway. Each ball represents a win the Nats enjoyed so far in 2019. Written on each baseball are the names of one or more players who, in the estimation of manager Davey Martinez, were the most valuable in each of those victories. What the skipper...

While the Orioles were learning about pitcher Asher Wojciechowski over the summer, the right-hander was busy learning more about himself. Wojciechowski admitted that he began to feel fatigued later in the season as it extended beyond the usual point when he's done. He had to push through it, with manager Brandon Hyde providing some extra rest along the way. After completing his final start in Boston, where he tossed six scoreless innings, Wojciechowski said he'd devote the offseason to...

Can a player with a career batting average of .192 coming into the 2019 season hit over .300? Can he do that if he was waived four times between the 2018 and 2019 seasons? If that player is Hanser Alberto, he can. Alberto stunned a lot of people this year when he became the first Oriole to hit .300 or better since 2008. His making the team was a mild surprise since the Orioles designated him for assignment on Feb. 19 and re-signed him on March 1. By the way, Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff both...

This extended break between the National League Championship Series and the World Series offers the Nationals a chance to rest their overworked pitchers and a chance to figure out how to make sure their hitters stay in a rhythm without facing live pitching in actual games for six days. It also offers ample opportunity for the Nats to consider all their roster, lineup, bullpen and bench options for either potential opponent. Maybe too much opportunity. "Do our homework," general manager Mike...

The Nationals are waiting until Tuesday to make their debut in World Series and they enjoy a rested starting rotation, almost assuredly beginning with Max Scherzer in Game 1 and Stephen Strasburg in Game 2 in Houston or New York. General manager Mike Rizzo all but confirmed that setup on 106.7 The Fan this week and then at Friday's workout open to the media. The 115th Fall Classic begins with Game 1 on Tuesday night at 8:08 p.m. Eastern time. Game 2 will be Wednesday night at 8:07 p.m. Eastern...

The look of affiliated Minor League Baseball could be in for major changes beginning in 2021. Baseball America's J.J. Cooper reported Friday that 42 teams could be eliminated, reducing the number of minor league clubs to 120 starting in 2021. This is a proposal from Major League Baseball in current negotiations with Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as part of a remodeled agreement from the one that ends with the 2020 season. It is a long story, but is filled with details and worth your...