The 2018 Nationals are going to look a lot like the 2017 Nationals. With only a handful of exceptions, the same group of players that won 97 games last season is going to be back and making another run at it this season. So while many other clubs' fortunes will be predicated in large part on how much they improved their roster during the offseason, the Nats' fortunes probably boil down more to this question: How much better (or worse) will their returning players be? We won't know the...

He is the only player on the Orioles roster signed beyond the 2019 season. His contract runs through 2022. When first baseman Chris Davis signed a seven-year deal worth $161 million in January 2016, a lot changed for him. He had incredible financial security for his family's future, but also the expectations for him would now be higher than ever. Davis produced 47 homers and a .923 OPS in 2015 that helped get him that contract. But in 2016, he hit 38 homers with an OPS of .792, and last year...

While the extended forecast calls for snow possible later this week and temperatures so low that they can turn your thoughts to ice, the highs in Sarasota are stuck in the 50s until Sunday. Until the Orioles begin trickling into the Ed Smith Stadium complex for their annual three-day minicamp. Temperatures are supposed to climb back into the 70s by Monday's first workout with only a 10 percent chance of rain before everyone returns home. The guys living up north may leave kicking and...

With one homegrown star possibly leaving the team in the next year via a trade or free agency, can the Orioles keep another? If third baseman Manny Machado leaves the Orioles via free agency after the 2018 season, second baseman Jonathan Schoop could do the same at the end of 2019. With Machado likely to command a contract the team is not prepared and/or willing to match, Schoop should be a different story. He has two years of team control left and his next deal will come well under the...

The new year has arrived. But does that mean all those free agents who are still out there will start picking their employers for 2018? It's been a really slow hot stove league so far. Aside from the usual excitement right before, during and right after the Winter Meetings, there has been precious little action across baseball. And that was especially true over the holiday break, which saw Wade Davis sign with the Rockies, a couple of third-tier relievers sign deals and nothing else. It's not...

We're in the midst of a new week in a new year with the same old questions hovering around the Orioles. Dogging them like a pack of Dobermans. How will executive vice president Dan Duquette fill out the rotation with three spots open and the club showing no inclination to spend the necessary amount to land an ace-like arm? Which left-handed hitters will be obtained, whether via trade or free agency, in an attempt to provide a little more balance to the lineup? Which left-handed reliever will...

As the new year arrives, the Orioles have some of the old problems. The calendar may have changed, but it is the same offseason from one day to the next. So today I wish everyone a happy new year along with a wish that in 2018 the discourse could always be nice and pleasant here. That is the wish anyway. I also wish for a resolution soon of the situation with Manny Machado. Until the Orioles make a public statement saying otherwise, they certainly appear still open to dealing the third baseman....

Some good things happened in 2017. Some bad things happened, too. No matter how you felt about the previous year, everyone can agree we all want to strive to be better in the new year. That applies to the Nationals, as well. And so without further ado, here are the Nats' resolutions for 2018, which every member of the club was nice enough to share with me for publication (as far as you know) ... BRYCE HARPER: No injuries of consequence in a contract year. MICHAEL A. TAYLOR: Take nothing for...

While wondering how many fans woke up this morning with their faces pressed against the cold bathroom floor tiles ... I've never been one to compose a list of New Year's resolutions, mainly because there's little chance that I'd see them through. And they're terribly clichéd as sports-related stories on Jan. 1. But who am I to judge? Or Aaron Judge? If the Orioles are going to create team-wide resolutions, they should make certain to include the following: Avoid breaking the club record...

The 2018 campaign is obviously a big season for the Nationals, a team built for the postseason, with outstanding starting pitching, timely hitting and stout defense. But 2018 is also the final season Bryce Harper is under contract with the Nats. The club has been working to secure a long-term deal with one of the elite offensive stars in baseball. One part of the scenario that might help in getting Harper to consider D.C. as his permanent baseball home is the status of his older brother, Bryan...