The qualifying offers the Nationals extended to right-hander Jordan Zimmermann and shortstop Ian Desmond last Friday expire at 5 p.m. today. Both players are expected to reject the one-year, $15.8 million deal and enter the free agent market for the first time in their careers. Reports from the general managers meetings had the Cubs beginning preliminary discussions with Zimmermann's camp. The Giants, Red Sox and Astros are a few of the other teams reportedly pursuing the 29-year-old. The...

Here are two pitching stats for a team in the 2015 regular season. This team had a starting rotation ERA of 4.34 to rank 12th in the American League. The same team got 912 2/3 innings from its starting pitchers this year to rank last in the AL. Was the team the Orioles? No, the team is the Kansas City Royals and they won the World Series. In ranking 12th in starting pitcher ERA in 2015, Kansas City was ahead of only Boston, Baltimore and Detroit in the AL. The Royals blew the doors off two...

The Orioles will find out later today whether catcher Matt Wieters has accepted or declined the $15.8 million qualifying offer. It's the only drama attached to the 5 p.m. deadline. First baseman Chris Davis and left-hander Wei-Yin Chen will turn it down. They're going to cash in big this winter and the Orioles are going to receive a compensatory draft pick if the duo signs with other clubs. Davis is more likely to re-sign than Chen despite the monstrous contract that will be attached to him....

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was named a National League outfield winner of the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award on Thursday night, the first such honor of his career. This is the fourth consecutive season in which the Nationals have had a Silver Slugger Award winner, and the first time the organization has had an outfield honoree since Alfonso Soriano in 2006. "We are proud to see Bryce earn his first Silver Slugger award," said Nationals President of Baseball...

Bryce Harper blitzed through his breakthrough season on a record-breaking assault of pitchers. Tonight, Harper was recognized for his offensive campaign with his first Silver Slugger Award as one of the National League's best-hitting outfielders. Harper was honored by his peers on Monday evening with a Players Choice Award for being the NL's Outstanding Player of 2015. As expected, Harper was named as a finalist for the NL's Most Valuable Player award the next night. The 23-year-old slugger...

This hasn't been a good week for first baseman Chris Davis. After being excluded as a finalist for the American League's Most Valuable Player award, Davis lost out tonight to the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera for the Silver Slugger Award at first base. The announcement came on MLB Network, with Davis and third baseman Manny Machado failing to garner enough votes from managers and coaches. The Silver Slugger is presented annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette is headed home after the general managers meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., with no additions to the roster, but lots of conversations that he hopes will lead to future transactions this winter. In other words, it was the GM meetings. That's usually how it works. "We met with several clubs to see where we might be compatible on the trade market," Duquette said this morning while heading to the airport. "And then we also met with several agency...

MASN, the region's leader in live sports entertainment, will broadcast more than 200 men's and women's Division I college basketball games during the 2015-16 season, offering its viewers a lineup featuring top-ranked programs, local rivalries and tournament action. The regional sports network's hoops schedule will air on both MASN and MASN2, and features games from 15 men's conferences and some of the top women's programs in the nation. Basketball action on MASN tips off on Friday, Nov....

Longtime Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond is expected to pass on the qualifying offer the team extended last Friday and fully jump into the free agent waters for the first time in his career. The one-year, $15.8 million offer expires at 5 p.m. tomorrow. If Desmond does decline and sign with another team, the Nationals will receive a first-round draft pick as compensation. Beloved by the fans in Washington, Desmond has played his entire career within the Nationals/Expos organization after...

In 2010, Dan Uggla was a Silver Slugger Award recipient with the Florida Marlins. He then spent four seasons with the Braves before coming to the Nationals in 2015. Although not an everyday starter with the Nats, Uggla started at second base against the Braves in a late April game. It was a slugfest from the beginning, including Uggla's two-run triple in the seventh, but the Nationals found themselves trailing 12-10 in the ninth. After Jose Lobaton's single and a Danny Espinosa walk, Uggla...