In a few hours, the MASNsports.com contingent will be boarding a Southwest Airlines flight out of Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport, bound for Nashville and baseball's Winter Meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. While the Winter Meetings get lots of attention for being the place major league executives and player agents meet and mingle to discuss possible trades and free agent signings, you might be interested to know that the real purpose...

The Nationals officially released their minor league coaching staffs and coordinators for 2016 this afternoon, with former bench coach Randy Knorr named senior adviser to general manager Mike Rizzo. Knorr had been the bench coach the past four seasons and is highly regarded in the organization, since he also managed in the system from 2005-2011. Remaining on staff was Brian Daubach, who moves to hitting coach at Triple-A Syracuse. He was the Double-A Harrisburg manager last season. Matt LeCroy,...

The Washington Nationals named their Minor League managers, coaches and coordinators for the 2016 season on Thursday. 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. The Nationals named Randy Knorr Senior Advisor to the General Manager, Player Development. Knorr moves to this role after spending the previous...

The Orioles had a very busy day Wednesday, from officially announcing they traded for Mark Trumbo and C.J. Riefenhauser to acquiring catcher Francisco Pena from Kansas City to tendering contracts to eight arbitration-eligible players. However, the team did not tender contracts to three arbitration-eligible players: Steve Johnson, Paul Janish and David Lough. All three are now free agents. Reflecting on last season, one of the most exciting moments of the first half was thanks to Lough. The...

Judging from the responses in our comments section and on Twitter, there's a significant portion of NatsTown that wants general manager Mike Rizzo to come back from next week's Winter Meetings in Nashville with an outfielder, preferably one who hits left-handed to break up the spate of righty sticks in the Nationals lineup. I'm not sure one will fit into his carry-on, and you know how those bag fees can add up. Just a guess here, but I don't think Rizzo is flying Southwest and paying the...

As the Winter Meetings approach, here are some questions and answers to ponder: Q: Are the Red Sox crazy for signing lefty David Price for $217 million, which averages $31 million a year and basically $1 million a start, complete game or not? A: They aren't crazy, but they are tired of losing. They won the World Series in 2013, but they have finished last in the American League East in three of the last four seasons. The fan base is restless, and given they have a huge local TV market,...

The non-tender deadline has come and gone, and seven of eight arbitration-eligible players were tendered contracts. The first to reach an agreement? First baseman/outfielder Tyler Moore. While the 28-year-old saw much of his playing time cut this season, he was part of one of my favorite things in baseball: a position player pitching. As you can probably imagine, I watch a lot of baseball games, which means I see a lot of odd things throughout the course of a season. However, a position player...

My head stopped spinning long enough this morning for me to catch a couple of hours of sleep. So much for a lull in the offseason. It was more like lull-a bye. (See what I did there?) The Orioles announced their trade with the Mariners and set up a conference call with executive vice president Dan Duquette and first baseman/outfielder Mark Trumbo. They traded for catcher Francisco Pena, the son of former major league catcher and current Yankees coach Tony Pena. They confirmed that the Mariners...

The Orioles non-tendered outfielder David Lough tonight, allowing the outfielder to become a free agent. They settled with outfielder Nolan Reimold on a contract for the 2016 season. Reimold will receive $1.3 million if he makes the opening day roster, according to sources. He joined pitcher Vance Worley as the two arbitration-eligible players who settled tonight. Reimold, 32, batted .247/.344/.394 with five doubles, a triple, six home runs and 20 RBIs in 61 games. The former second-round pick...

The Orioles today announced that they have tendered contracts to eight arbitration-eligible players: infielders Ryan Flaherty and Manny Machado, first baseman/outfielder Mark Trumbo, right-handers Brad Brach, Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman, and left-handers Zach Britton and Brian Matusz. Additionally, outfielder Nolan Reimold and right-hander Vance Worley have agreed to terms on contracts for 2016, avoiding arbitration. Infielder Paul Janish, outfielder David Lough and right-hander Steve...