For 26 years, it was a place Washington, D.C., professional sports teams had only visited once. From Super Bowl XXVI in January 1992 until the Stanley Cup Finals in June 2018, the 1997-98 Capitals were the only Washington team among the four major North American sports to reach its league semifinals. Unfortunately, the Capitals’ run that season end

As we are now just a few weeks away from the start of spring training and the new season, today let’s take a look at the O’s roster in terms of four components. They are the offense and defense and the pitching – starting pitching and the bullpen. We don’t know the Opening Day roster yet, obviously, or the final roster that will start camp, but at

The weather is warming this week, which whets the appetite for spring training. Temperatures might touch 40 today. Be sure to lather on the sunscreen. There might be some deep burns in today’s mailbag. Only one way to find out. You ask, I answer, and we have the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original. And keep in mind that my mailbag catches tw

Shinnosuke Ogasawara isn’t the first Japanese player Mike Rizzo has scouted, or even attempted to sign. The Nationals have been trying to make inroads in Asia for years but, according to Rizzo, had been unsuccessful at building the kind of meaningful relationships needed to seal the deal. How did they finally break through and get Ogasawara to agre

Friday’s signing of Shinnosuke Ogasawara truly came out of left field. Not only because the Nationals had never signed a free agent out of Japan (or any other Asian country). But because they didn’t seem to be in the market for another starting pitcher, at least not one who wouldn’t instantly slot into the front of the rotation, as opposed to the b

Major League Baseball’s best shortstop, right now, is the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson. So says MLB Network during its Top Ten Right Now series that has been airing in recent days. Well not everyone at the network feels that way but the “shredder” does which is MLB Network’s model that I presume takes all the stats and data and provides a formula for

Orioles control owner David Rubenstein spoke to Yahoo Finance this week at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He mentioned twice how the Orioles are in “pretty good shape," endorsed a salary cap and went over some of the ballpark renovations. The club’s payroll has risen to 15th in the majors at $156 million, per Roster Resource

I was the first writer hired to work at MASNsports.com. It was, I think, late in 2007 or maybe early in 2008. It all runs together now. But there I was writing articles called blogs about the Orioles at a place that most people didn’t know even existed back then. But I put in the time and effort then and now, too, and here I am about 17 years later

For the first time in club history, the Nationals have signed a player directly from Asia, announcing today a two-year deal with Japanese left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara. Ogasawara was an All-Star for the Chunichi Dragons in 2023 and posted a 3.12 ERA over 144 1/3 innings last season, his ninth in Nippon Professional Baseball. The 27-year-old is n

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara on a two-year contract and designated left-handed pitcher Joe La Sorsa for assignment on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Ogasawara, 27, joins the Nationals after he pitched to a 3.12 ERA in