What if a baseball game were played, but players in the field were not allowed to roam anywhere they want? What if defensive shifts were limited or eliminated completely? Would officials in Major League Baseball really take such action? This week, Jayson Stark of The Athletic wrote an excellent article examining this topic. "At last month's owners meetings, baseball's competition committee gave the commissioner 'strong' backing to try to 'put something in place' to limit shifts,...

The odds of Bryce Harper re-signing with the Nationals once he became a free agent always felt long, not with some of baseball's most iconic and cash-infused franchises certain to be involved in a bidding war for a 26-year-old seeking the biggest contract in American sports history. But it wasn't until today that a prominent member of the Nationals front office explicitly put into words the expectation that Harper will be playing elsewhere in 2019. Mark Lerner, the Nationals' managing...

Without a manager in place to offer an opinion, it really falls upon executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias to decide whether the Orioles should concentrate on finding a veteran catcher as the Winter Meetings commence in Las Vegas. They can continue negotiations with Caleb Joseph, who's attracting plenty of interest in free agency. Elias also can sit down with other executives to discuss trade proposals and representatives who are pitching their catching clients. Rookies...

Patrick Corbin could have waited until the Winter Meetings. He could have waited out the market like most free agents do, made prospective teams come to him to make their case for his services and then finally make his selection in January. Such is the luxury afforded the top free agent pitcher of the offseason, but Corbin didn't feel the need to do any of that. He had his agent, John Courtright, contact the clubs interested in him - three that we know of for sure: the Nationals, Phillies and...

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms on a six-year contract with All-Star left-handed pitcher Patrick Corbin on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Corbin, 29, joins the Nationals after going 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA and 246 strikeouts in 33 starts for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018. He set career marks in nearly every category in his sixth professional season, including ERA, strikeouts, games started, innings pitched...

Dylan Bundy already knows the numbers. He's seen them or had them recited to him. I wasn't breaking news. Bundy, a call-in guest last night on the "Orioles Hot Stove" show on 105.7 The Fan, managed a chuckle as I cited his issues with the longball. The career-high 41 home runs allowed that led the majors. Let's start there and slowly work our way toward the positive. When I said that Bundy is likely to reflect on the home runs while examining areas that need improving, he replied,...

When Orioles outfield prospect Ryan McKenna went to the Arizona Fall League in October, he had a chance to add to his batting average again. And he did that, batting well over .300 for Glendale as he faced some of the sport's top pitching prospects. It was a return to success for McKenna, who began this year by tearing it up in the Carolina League. But that was followed by some struggles when he moved up to the Eastern League. And that was followed by an outstanding AFL performance. McKenna...

Right-hander James Bourque spent his first few seasons in the system as a starter. But last season, he was moved to the bullpen. Bourque, 25, pitched well at the University of Michigan and caught the eye of the Nationals' area scout. In the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, the Nats selected the right-hander in the 14th round. But early on as a starter, he recorded a 5.05 ERA in 40 starts over two seasons for low Single-A Hagerstown. The Nats then decided to move Bourque from starter to reliever...

The Orioles and OriolesREACH will host 80 third, fourth, and fifth grade students from The Commodore John Rodgers School for the 40th annual OriolesREACH Holiday Party at Dave & Busters in the Arundel Mills Mall on Tuesday, December 11, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET. Located in Southeast Baltimore, the school was formerly identified as a 'Turnaround School' based on struggling climate, declining enrollment, poor parent satisfaction, and low achievement. Commodore has worked to change...

It's been a while since the Nationals held an offseason press conference on South Capitol Street. The last one came more than a year ago, when Davey Martinez was introduced as the club's seventh manager in 14 seasons. None of last year's player acquisitions warranted a full-scale press conference at the ballpark. So today represents a significant moment for the Nats, who have announced a 12:30 p.m. press conference at Nationals Park for what at this point the club is only saying is "a major...