Catcher Caleb Joseph, non-tendered Friday night by the Orioles and a free agent for the first time in his career, is drawing interest from a handful of teams. It didn't take long. Plenty of clubs are checking on available catchers, but the market is flooded, with MLBTradeRumors.com providing the latest update: Drew Butera Robinson Chirinos A.J. Ellis Yasmani Grandal Chris Herrmann Nick Hundley Caleb Joseph Jose Lobaton Jonathan Lucroy Martín Maldonado Devin Mesoraco James McCann ...

Each winter, Max Scherzer vows he can be better. Well, Nationals pitching coach Derek Lilliquist has something he thinks the three-time Cy Young Award winner can do to improve. "He can keep the ball in the ballpark a little better," Lilliquist said yesterday at Nationals Winterfest. "He got hurt with a lot of bad breaking balls in kill counts last year. So that's going to be an area we're going to really put a thumb on in spring training. We've got to execute (with two strikes). Scherzer...

Ryan Zimmerman was drafted by the Nationals in 2005. He made his major league debut that fall. He signed a five-year extension with them in 2009. He signed a $100 million extension with them in 2012. There's been no reason to question his contract status with the organization since. But that long-term deal was going to expire eventually, and that time is finally drawing near. Zimmerman is set to make $18 million in 2019. He has no guarantees after that, only an $18 million club option for 2020...

As he prepared for his first season as a big league manager, Davey Martinez scanned the Nationals roster and saw names of players with considerable experience and considerable success up and down the list. So Martinez's instinct was to stay hands off, to trust that these players knew how to prepare and didn't need a new staff to come in and reinvent the wheel. As he now prepares for his second season - on the heels of a disappointing first season, mind you - Martinez has come to a different...

What does Juan Soto do for an encore after a rookie season that obliterated records for offensive production by a teenager? The now 20-year-old has a simple plan for making sure he isn't bitten by a sophomore slump: Keep working hard and try not to change what brought him such instant success in the major leagues. "I think, do my routine, and no change," Soto said Saturday at Nationals Winterfest. "If that worked, I got to keep going until I (retire)." Soto tied teammate Bryce Harper for...

There's a good chance Victor Robles will be patrolling center field for the Nationals in 2019, and if that happens, Robles expects that the powerful stroke that was sapped by an early-season hyperextended left elbow will return. Manager Davey Martinez has hinted at that and hitting coach Kevin Long expects that offensive surge to occur, too. But hearing Robles talk at Nationals Winterfest about the return of his power stroke makes the possibility of losing Bryce Harper to free agency a little...

When he got a call Friday afternoon from Indians general manager Chris Antonetti saying a trade was in the works, Yan Gomes assumed it involved one of a couple teams. The Mets and Dodgers both had been linked to him in recent days, so he figured he was headed in one of those directions. So what did the 31-year-old catcher think when Antonetti told him he was heading to the Nationals? "To be honest, I got taken back a little bit," Gomes said today during a conference call with reporters...

The Washington Nationals acquired All-Star catcher Yan Gomes from the Cleveland Indians on Friday in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jefry Rodriguez, outfielder Daniel Johnson and a player to be named later. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Gomes, 31, is under team control through the 2021 season. He hit .266 with 26 doubles, 16 home runs, 48 RBI, 21 walks and 52 runs scored in 112 games for the Cleveland Indians in 2018. He led...

It's a couple weeks earlier than in previous years, and it's back on South Capitol Street for the first time in nearly a decade, but it's time again for Winterfest. The Nationals' annual offseason gathering will have a different look and feel this year, with the event being held the first weekend in December and at Nationals Park after a steady run later in the month at the Washington Convention Center. Among the new activities this year are opportunities for fans to hit in the Nationals'...

As new Orioles general manager Mike Elias said this week, he is looking to take the best player and not work to fill a need on his major league roster with top draft picks. You can't have a higher pick than No. 1 in round one, which the Orioles hold for the June 2019 First-Year Player Draft. That could be a pick, however, that sees the Orioles not only take the best player, but fill a need. The club is not overflowing with top catching prospects, and a backstop could be their selection when...