Raudy Read, who made his major league debut last season and now stands as one of the higher-rated Nationals prospects, has been suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for Boldenone, making the young catcher the franchise's first big leaguer to face punishment for performance-enhancing drugs. Read, 24, confirmed he tested positive during "a routine drug test this winter," but said he was "shocked" by the result and insists he has never knowingly taken a...

Daniel Murphy, runner-up for the 2016 National League MVP, silenced critics early in the 2017 campaign when he hit safely in the first 10 games of the season with a .444/.457/.711 slash line. At the time, his 10 games were tied for the longest streak in the majors in 2017 and it was the longest such streak to start a season in his career. We turn to Bob Carpenter (@scorebook_bob) to give you a recap of one of Murphy's best games during his outstanding start to the season, the Nationals' April...

The Orioles are bringing back outfielder Craig Gentry and increasing the number of invites to major league camp. Gentry has agreed to a minor league deal, according to a source, and will report to the Ed Smith Stadium complex. He can earn $900,000 if he makes the club, as first reported by USA Today. Manager Buck Showalter expressed his interest in Gentry, 34, during last month's minicamp in Sarasota. Though the veteran doesn't solve the need for a left-handed hitting outfielder, he offers...

As the start of spring training fast approaches, we're breaking down the state of the Nationals roster, position by position. The series continues today with the infield ... The Nationals return their entire starting infield from last season, and why wouldn't they be excited about that? This quartet featured the first .300-30-100 hitter in club history, the runner-up for the league's batting title, the league's co-leader in WAR and a shortstop who stole 46 bases in 98 games while committing...

We're down to six days before pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to the Ed Smith Stadium complex for spring training, though it's expected that the place will be filled with early arrivals. Not a lot of feet drag into Sarasota. The time has come to offer my dark horse candidate to make the team. The challenge, of course, is doing it with so much uncertainty surrounding the roster. I could pick a left-handed hitting corner outfielder and he might be ousted by a future signing or...

The Orioles and one of their top players made news yesterday when the club signed him for the 2018 season. He was already under team control - that we knew - but now we know that second baseman Jonathan Schoop's 2018 salary will be $8.5 million. The two sides avoided arbitration and any ill will such a hearing could have caused. There was already the issue of Schoop missing FanFest and the fact that his absence clearly didn't sit well with fans or the team's management. But on the field, of...

The Washington Nationals officially announced today that they have signed a two-year player development contract extension to remain with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators through the 2020 season. The Nats and Senators had previously been signed up through the upcoming 2018 campaign, and this continues a 14-year relationship includes a total of 28 seasons that began with the Expos. "Dating back nearly 30 years - the Harrisburg Senators have been a valuable component of our player development...

Our first Throwback Thursday moment of this offseason came all they way back on Nov. 2, when we highlighted Manny Machado's three-homer night capped off by a walk-off grand slam against the Angels. Well, for this weeks' #TBT moment, we're going back to the end of that very same homestand. After Machado opened the six-game stand at Camden Yards with the walk-off slam, he closed it with another walk-off home run against the Athletics. After having lost three of their previous four games,...

The Orioles have avoided an arbitration hearing with second baseman Jonathan Schoop, with the sides agreeing to terms on an $8.5 million contract for 2018, according to an industry source. Schoop filed at $9 million and the Orioles countered at $7.5 million. He made $3.475 million last season. A hearing was scheduled for Thursday in Phoenix, Ariz. Despite the usual reports that the Orioles were file and trial, they maintained a dialogue with Schoop's representative, Steve Veltman from The...

The Washington Nationals announced the signing of a two-year Player Development Contract extension with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators on Tuesday. The extension, which begins in 2019, runs through the 2020 season. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Vice President and Senior Advisor to the General Manager Bob Boone, Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Harris and Director of Player Development Mark Scialabba...