As our offseason coverage kicks into high gear, we're going to review each significant player on the Nationals roster. We continue today with Trea Turner, whose first fully healthy big league season featured more home runs but fewer stolen bases. PLAYER REVIEW: TREA TURNER Age on opening day 2019: 25 How acquired: Traded with Joe Ross from Padres for Steven Souza Jr. and Travis Ott, who went to the Rays in three-team deal, December 2014 MLB service time: 2 years, 135 days 2018 salary:...

The dictionary defines accountability as "the fact or condition of being accountable." That probably doesn't help us much. For baseball purposes, I define it as a player taking blame/responsibility and pointing the finger at himself when he messes up. In the Orioles clubhouse in 2018, we saw many examples of players who were accountable. Trey Mancini led the league, probably. Alex Cobb always fell on the sword if he didn't pitch well. There were plenty of examples of others doing so. Over...

Instructional league workouts and games for Nationals prospects have wrapped up. The camp closed for the fall on Friday. So on the day the coaching staff was heading home and preparing for their next assignments, I checked in with Nationals pitching coordinator Paul Menhart and asked him about several of the organization's pitching prospects and how they fared in instructionals. RHP Mason DenaburgAge: 19Merritt Island, Fla. Denaburg was the Nationals' first-round selection in 2018 out of high...

The Orioles wouldn't consider trading reliever Mychal Givens at the Winter Meetings, valuing his potential as a future closer and contract status that kept him under team control through 2021. They steered rival executives toward pending free agents Zach Britton and Brad Brach and came as close to hanging an untouchable tag on Givens as they could have without actually tying the string behind his neck. Givens followed the two previous seasons that netted a combined 16-3 record by going 0-7 in...

Today's let's take a look at some of the Orioles minor leaguers that had the most productive seasons in 2018. Presenting one man's version of the Orioles' minor league All-Stars for this year. This is not a listing simply of the best prospects, but the players who produced the best at each position. In some cases it's clear cut and in some it's not. 1B Aderlin Rodriguez: Rodriguez hit two homers and drove in seven runs on the final day of the season for Double-A Bowie to cap off a third...

As our offseason coverage kicks into high gear, we're going to review each significant player on the Nationals roster. We begin today with Ryan Zimmerman, who once again produced when he was healthy but once again wasn't healthy as much as the Nats needed him to be. PLAYER REVIEW: RYAN ZIMMERMAN Age on opening day 2019: 34 How acquired: First-round pick, 2005 draft MLB service time: 13 years, 32 days 2018 salary: $14 million Contract status: Signed for $18 million in 2019. Club holds $18...

When Koda Glover reported to spring training and immediately had a recurrence of the shoulder pain that ended his 2017 season, the Nationals wasted no time acquiring a replacement right-hander for their bullpen. On Feb. 19, they signed Joaquin Benoit to a one-year major league contract that guaranteed the veteran reliever $1 million. The insinuation was clear: They weren't confident in Glover's health, and they were confident Benoit would instantly take over a significant role in their...

If you happen to be craving incremental updates on the showcase in Miami, you've again come to the right place. The Orioles' five-man contingent met yesterday with Victor Victor Mesa, Victor Mesa Jr. and pitcher Sandy Gastón, their families and representatives from Magnus Sports, which arranged for the workouts to be closed to the media. Bits and pieces have flowed out of them - the workouts, not the agents. Gastón flashed a fastball clocked at 96-97 mph. I've heard that Victor Victor...

When the American League playoffs began Wednesday night with the wild card game, a team that won 100 games hosted a team that won 97. While that was going on, a team that won 91 games was home resting, waiting to play in a best-of-five series while avoiding the pressure of a one-game season. So, is that fair? For me, it isn't. Boston led all AL playoff teams, winning 108 games, followed by Houston with 103, the Yankees with 100, Oakland with 97 and Cleveland with 91. The Indians won the...

We already know that the Orioles will undergo significant changes beyond their roster after moving away from executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter. There will be ripple effects, the only question how far-reaching. The press release noted how vice president of baseball operations Brady Anderson, director of player development Brian Graham and director of scouting Gary Rajsich are "currently" under contract, and the wording jumped off the page and rolled under the...