There are no holiday updates on the Orioles' search for starting pitching and a left-handed reliever with plus velocity and the splits to present the option as a specialist. The 40-man roster includes 24 pitchers, and the Orioles have announced 14 more on minor league deals since Nov. 28. Maybe there's strength in numbers. I've spent part of the offseason choosing Orioles who need to step up or have various questions circling over their heads. Let's toss out another handful. * Alec Asher is...

If I've learned nothing else in 13 years on this beat, it's this: The best way to ensure the Nationals make some offseason news is to go on vacation. It has happened before, and it happened again last week. While I was soaking up the sun (and watching the Capitals blow a sure-win over the wretched Coyotes) with my family in Arizona, the Nats went and signed two free agents: Matt Adams and Tommy Milone. These weren't major moves, not in the least. In Milone's case, it's actually a minor...

The Orioles will hold their annual three-day minicamp in Sarasota beginning on Jan. 8 and manager Buck Showalter has been compiling his list of invitees and awaiting the responses. Former outfielder Dariel Álvarez could be summoned to the Ed Smith Stadium complex while rehabbing from ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow back in April. The minicamp serves multiple purposes, including the opportunity for the Orioles to check on injured players or the ones who underwent a medical...

Well, I return from a few days off to find that the Orioles have not yet added any key starting pitchers and/or subtracted Manny Machado. One of the best talents in team history is still an Oriole, but will it stay that way? There are two main reasons that I feel Machado should be traded. First, paying him $300 million or more is probably not a good move for a team with a decent payroll, but not one of the largest in baseball. Second, the Orioles may not be able to win right now, even with...

A groin strain almost derailed a promising 2017 campaign for Nationals outfielder Brian Goodwin. His last game was Aug. 13, but was able to return to make the postseason roster. "It was just a battle," Goodwin said at Nationals Winterfest. "It was devastating the time that it happened. Clearly, I wasn't in the best mood, but I think it pushed me to do what I had to do to get back for my guys and my team and for myself, because I knew how important that postseason potentially was." And it...

If visions of sugarplums are dancing in your heads on this Christmas morning, you may want to dilute the eggnog. You also might want to skip the malls in the future and do your one-stop shopping on this blog with all of your Orioles questions. But they tend to repeat like garlic shrimp. Chestnuts are roasting on the hot stove as we stay in a festive mood. Santa has his bag of toys and I have my mailbag. I'm not much of a dancer, but I've gotten Blitzen on eggnog. And so much for a silent...

Perhaps Nationals slugger Bryce Harper has learned a thing or two about being politically correct from his time in the nation's capital. Tonight, before the Capitals played the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas native Harper was at center ice to drop the ceremonial first puck between Caps star Alex Ovechkin and Golden Knights left wing James Neal. Pay particular attention to the ensemble Harper wore for his pregame duties: a Golden Knights jersey (he's a regular at T-Mobile arena for the home...

Whatever happens to Zach Britton moving forward from his Achilles surgery, gentle steps on the road to recovery, he's expected to remain in the organization that drafted him and eventually found the ideal role. Talk of releasing him should be muted, from what I've been told. It's complicated, but Britton would receive his full salary despite no resolution for 2018 after the Orioles tendered him a contract. They remain encouraged by the possibility of his return before the All-Star break. The...

Catcher Matt Wieters' influence on the success of the Nationals pitching staff cannot be underestimated. From Gio Gonzalez increasing his tempo between pitches to Tanner Roark using all of his pitches in unique situations, Wieters has been able to bring out the best in each of his pitchers. Wieters said his philosophy has always been to measure and think out each pitch he suggests to the pitcher and not necessarily what the pitcher might have thought he should throw in a particular moment....

Dylan Bundy has reached the point of the offseason where he pays closer attention to the maneuverings, rumors and doses of news - both good and bad - coming from the Orioles. It's just done between hunting trips and workouts. Bundy found out about closer Zach Britton's ruptured Achilles and hoped that the reports were a mistake. "I think the first time I saw it was on Twitter or on TV and I didn't want to believe it at first. I thought it was just a typo," Bundy said this week on the...