The Washington Nationals announced their Minor League managers, coaches and coordinators for the 2018 season on Friday. Nationals Vice President and Senior Advisor to the General Manager Bob Boone, Assistant General Manager and Vice President, Player Personnel Doug Harris and Director of Player Development Mark Scialabba made the joint announcement. * Randy Knorr returns to the dugout after spending the previous two seasons (2016-17) as a Senior Advisor to President of Baseball Operations and...

The Orioles may not have a new player to introduce next Saturday at FanFest, though it won't be from a lack of effort. Executive vice president Dan Duquette continues to work the phones. But manager Buck Showalter indicated that a decision on Manny Machado's position could be revealed over the weekend. Take the news where you can find it. Showalter has talked about knowing in his gut whether Machado will stay at third base or move over to shortstop, but he isn't ready to go public with it....

The Nationals have announced their minor league staff for 2018, highlighted by the return of Randy Knorr to the dugout as manager of the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, a post he last held in 2011. The past two seasons Knorr was the senior advisor to Mike Rizzo. Matt LeCroy remains as Double-A Harrisburg manager and Tripp Keister continues as skipper for high Single-A Potomac. Patrick Anderson holds down the fort again as manager of the low Single-A Hagerstown Suns. Former Syracuse manager Billy...

With depth moves included on the offseason docket, the Orioles are returning catcher Audry Perez and pitcher Eddie Gamboa to the organization. Perez and Gamboa have signed minor league deals, the news coming via the club's Twitter account. The Orioles also announced the signings of infielder Anderson Féliz and outfielder D'Arby Myers that were reported earlier this month. Perez, 29, has spent the past three years in the organization, appearing in 78 and 84 games with Triple-A Norfolk in...

Orioles pitchers and catchers are reporting to the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Fla., in just a few short weeks, meaning spring is right around the corner. Goodbye, winter's chill, hello spring's warmth. While the weather warms up and the Orioles get ready to start baseball activities, the organization is encouraging the youth of Sarasota County to do the same! Maybe not necessarily with baseball, but definitely in terms of getting active. (Especially since they essentially get...

Starting January 22, middle schoolers in Sarasota County will hit the gym to learn about healthy lifestyles through the Orioles Health & Fitness Challenge. Launched in 2016 in partnership with Sarasota County Schools, Health Fit Powered by Sarasota Memorial, and SWAT (Students Working Against Tobacco), the program teaches students about the importance of physical fitness, healthy eating, and tobacco-free living. During the five-week Challenge, more than 4,500 students in grades six through...

The primary purpose of any trip to spring training is to, you know, watch baseball players doing baseball things on baseball fields, all while soaking up the warm South Florida sun while all your friends back north are wearing parkas and shoveling snow. But there is more to a spring training trip than baseball. After all, you do have to eat. And baseball only takes up a portion of your day. So today we offer Part 2 of our Nats Fans' Guide to Spring Training, focusing on everything outside The...

Some days, many of them actually, one of the best things about having this baseball blog is reading the interesting opinions of the readers here. Yesterday was clearly one of those days. The topic was the Jeff Passan column about the economic system in Major League Baseball, whether it is broken and/or in need of a major overhaul. If you haven't read the column, it's long, but well done and worth your time. If you haven't read some of the 200 or so responses from readers yesterday, that is...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter spent about an hour yesterday meeting with executive vice president Dan Duquette and also talked to managing partner Peter Angelos before heading back to Dallas this weekend for his grandson's christening. The push continues to locate starting pitching, the primary need by a mile, along with a left-handed hitter, left-handed reliever, utility player and veteran catcher. Lots of teams are laying back and waiting for agents to lower their demands or rival...

Manager Buck Showalter, appearing tonight on the "Orioles Hot Stove Show" on 105.7 The Fan, said Double-A Bowie outfielder DJ Stewart will be in major league camp next month. Stewart will be included on the list of invites. It's a nice reward for Stewart, a first-round pick in 2015 out of Florida State University, after he batted .278/.378/481 with 26 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs and 79 RBIs in 126 games. He also stole 20 bases in 24 attempts. A left-handed hitting corner outfielder...