As our offseason coverage kicks into high gear, we're going to review each significant player on the Nationals roster. We continue today with Anthony Rendon, who yet again quietly put together an all-around season that merited consideration on the National League MVP ballot. PLAYER REVIEW: ANTHONY RENDON Age on opening day 2019: 28 How acquired: First-round pick, 2011 draft MLB service time: 5 years, 130 days 2018 salary: $12.3 million Contract status: Arbitration-eligible in 2019. Free agent...

RHP Wil Crowe 24 years old Sevierville, TN University of South Carolina The 2017 top selection for the Nats, right-hander Wil Crowe won his first 11 decisions in 16 games (15 starts) with high Single-A Potomac, recording a 2.69 ERA. But after his promotion to Double-A, Crowe ran into some tougher competition and went 0-5 with a 6.15 ERA. So, instructional league was extremely valuable to Crowe, according to Nats pitching coordinator Paul Menhart. Coaches focused on Crowe getting more...

In this baseball age of Statcast, analytics and the explosion of data everywhere, the hope would be that Orioles players have had access to anything that players from Boston, New York or any other team have had access to. But maybe they don't. This comes from the players themselves and it's not good. "It's been 20-fold (with increased analytics) since coming over here,'' Kevin Gausman told MASNsports.com's Mel Antonen for this article in early August. "We've talked about analytics,...

As the organization undergoes its makeover, decisions must be made regarding arbitration-eligible players and whether to extend contracts for 2019. The non-tender deadline is Nov. 30, giving the Orioles plenty of time to figure it out. A new high-ranking executive should be in place to handle it. Starter Dylan Bundy, reliever Mychal Givens and infielder Jonathan Villar are the no-brainers to receive contract offers. The Orioles aren't letting them hit free agency. The only questions pertaining...

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...