NORFOLK, Va. - With a 25-man roster that is pretty much finalized, barring a last-minute injury or acquisition, the Orioles are set to play one more game that doesn't count today. Then it's back to Baltimore to open the 2018 season on Thursday against Minnesota. This afternoon, the Orioles play the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, their top minor league affiliate, in an exhibition game to wrap up a run of spring games that started Feb. 23 when Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 6-3. The Orioles' season...

Minor league signings in November tend to be forgotten as spring training nears its conclusion. They provide copy during the offseason's dead zone. Players given generous amounts of space on websites and in newspapers are footnotes later as camp cuts are announced. There are exceptions, of course, which brings us to left-handed relievers Joely Rodriguez and Josh Edgin. I've covered past spring trainings when the decision to take guys of this caliber north would be a no-brainer. The Orioles...

The first flakes fluttered from the sky late in the sixth inning of the opening game of Sunday's doubleheader between Army West Point and Navy at Camden Yards. They floated and danced from the clouds, but barely had any effect on what was happening on the field between two rival service academies. Within minutes, however, the ballpark was engulfed in a full-fledged snow squall. And as Navy took the field for the top of the seventh, the umpires huddled as fans strained to see warm-up pitches...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals will open the season with an eight-man bullpen and a four-man bench, a decision that may have as much to do with ensuring they didn't lose anyone from their organization who was out of options as it was about in-game strategy. As the club's flight home to Washington was departing this evening, the Nats announced they had optioned infielders Matt Reynolds and Adrian Sanchez to Triple-A Syracuse. The domino effect of that: All the relievers remaining in big...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - If the goal was to end the spring on a high note, to break camp under the warm Florida sunshine feeling good about things before heading north into the still-thawing-out D.C. area, the Nationals sent the right guy to the mound today. Stephen Strasburg, facing the Cardinals' regular lineup, was dominant for 5 2/3 innings, striking out 10 and building up his pitch count to 96 during the Nats' 4-2 victory in their Grapefruit League finale. "He was good, really good,"...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Orioles are going to make a few more cuts later tonight following a 6-5 win over the Phillies. Two of the more vulnerable players are outfielder Cedric Mullins and infielder Luis Sardiñas, who can be reassigned to minor league camp while the team inches closer to a set opening day roster. The camp roster will be down to 30 players and only one more cut is required with Zach Britton on the 60-day disabled list, Gabriel Ynoa and Mark Trumbo headed to the 10-day DL, and...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The two roster cuts that are coming following today's game involve players in the Orioles lineup and it's probably safe to assume that outfielder Cedric Mullins and infielder Luis Sardiñas will be reassigned to minor league camp. Outfielder Alex Presley is exploring opportunities via the opt-out clause in his contract, which explains why he isn't on today's lineup card. He could double back to the organization and begin the season at Triple-A Norfolk. Presley is...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - When they board their flight to Washington this evening, the Nationals will have played 31 Grapefruit League games over the last month. And they almost certainly will not have tried out the starting lineup they'll be using on opening day. With Ryan Zimmerman having spent all but one day this spring playing in minor league games, and with others having shuffled in and out of the lineup, manager Davey Martinez won't get a chance to try out his ideal batting order, the...

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Orioles made two more roster cuts before today's game against the Phillies while providing clarity to their rotation and bullpen Left-handed relievers Joely Rodriguez and Josh Edgin were reassigned to minor league camp despite outstanding work in spring training, which appears to signal that Rule 5 pick Nestor Cortes Jr. has made the team. Cortes is starting today, but he seems ticketed for a long relief role behind five right-handed starters. Mike Wright Jr. and Miguel...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - And so the day has come. The clubhouse is full of suitcases and boxes, players are making sure they're not leaving anything behind and there's a different energy than any other day this spring. It's time to go home, and there isn't a person here who isn't thrilled about that fact. But first, one final game to wrap up the Grapefruit League season. The Nationals - who have a 12-16-2 record this spring, if you care about such things - face the Cardinals in one final...