The next order of baseball business is behind the Orioles. They tendered contracts yesterday to five of their seven arbitration-eligible players, signed reliever Richard Bleier and traded infielder Jonathan Villar to the Marlins. The 40-man roster holds 38 players, leaving room for multiple selections in the Dec. 12 Rule 5 draft in San Diego. Coming up are five days at the Winter Meetings if you count Sunday's travel. The race to catch return flights on Thursday begins late in the...

The Orioles were resigned to letting infielder Jonathan Villar walk away earlier today with nothing in return until trade interest picked up during the afternoon and led to a trade with the Marlins. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias stated on a conference call that conversations with other teams picked up three to four hours prior to the 8 p.m. deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players. The Marlins offered young left-hander Easton Lucas and a deal was...

The Nationals did not tender contracts to relievers Javy Guerra and Koda Glover before tonight's league-mandated deadline, essentially releasing both right-handers, though the oft-injured Glover had already announced his retirement earlier this afternoon. The club did tender contracts to four other arbitration-eligible players: Trea Turner, Michael A. Taylor, Joe Ross and Roenis Elías. None of those players have agreed to terms on 2020 contracts yet, as Wilmer Difo and Hunter Strickland did...

Nationals fans continued to celebrate the city's first baseball world title in 95 years with the premiere of a documentary about the 2019 World Series before a festive crowd Monday night at The Anthem in D.C. President of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman took part in the festivities. "It's definitely been fun," Zimmerman said during the red carpet walk-up prior to the screening. "The joy in the city,...

Unable to get himself healthy enough to pitch this year after missing much of the previous two seasons with various injuries, Nationals reliever Koda Glover surprisingly announced his retirement from professional baseball this afternoon. "I write to you all today with great despair, that I will be announcing my retirement from professional baseball," the 26-year-old wrote in a message posted to his Twitter account. "I have experienced a number of injuries the past three years and I believe...

Having seen the Nationals come up with clutch hits time and again througout their remarkable playoff run of 2019, are fans now jaded and blasé about them? Naaaaah! Watching Nats hitters past and present snatching victory away from stunned opponents never gets old. With that in mind, MASN this week brings you a couple of blasts from the past that offered a glimpse of things to come. You'll witness a National League East dogfight with the Fish (a fishfight?), and a bend-but-don't-break...

The Double-A Harrisburg Senators this morning announced the sudden passing of principal owner and managing partner Mark Butler. Butler, the co-founder and CEO of Ollie's Bargain Outlet, died Sunday with his family, according to a company release. He was 61. "We are just numb. This is a tragic loss for our community. Mark was such an important part of the culture of our organization," said Senators president Kevin Kulp. "We were extremely fortunate to have had him guiding us. We've lost a...

The Orioles are down to six unsigned arbitration-eligible players after agreeing to terms with reliever Richard Bleier. It's going to be a busy day in the warehouse. Bleier figured to be the first domino to fall, especially with significant progress made over the weekend. Still unresolved, however, are the statuses of infielders Jonathan Villar and Hanser Alberto, infielder/outfielder Trey Mancini, starter Dylan Bundy and relievers Mychal Givens and Miguel Castro. Bundy is a strong candidate...

It's non-tender day across Major League Baseball, a day when a handful of players from each club worry they might get dumped but in most cases survive to live another day. How's this all work? Well, players who are eligible for salary arbitration - those with more than three years but fewer than six years of big league service time - must be tendered a contract by 8 p.m. today. All that means is that teams must declare their intention to sign those players to 2020 contracts. They don't have...

Sometimes pro athletes do special things for kids and it's great. Sometimes those players may be in and out their lives quickly and that's fine too. They did something great and it usually has lasting impact. Sometimes it goes further for the player and the kid. Sometimes much further. To see evidence of that close to home, we need look no further than Trey Mancini and 13-year-old Orioles and Ravens superfan Mo Gaba. Their friendship is genuine and lasting. They're pretty good together, as...