The general managers meetings start today in Boca Raton, Fla., and executive vice president Dan Duquette will try to lay the groundwork for future deals at next month's Winter Meetings in Nashville. An acquisition this week would come as a surprise. Heck, it's usually pretty quiet at the Winter Meetings except for the Rule 5 draft. As the Orioles search for an outfielder in the early stages of free agency, they also continue to check the trade market and monitor possible non-tenders. Josh...

The Rule 5 draft is the last event of the Winter Meetings and it is now about a month away. This year it takes place on Dec. 10 in Nashville. Any player selected in this draft must remain on the selecting team's 25-man roster for the entire 2016 season or be offered back to his original club. Players are eligible for selection in the Rule 5 draft when they are not on their organization's 40-man roster and: * were signed at 19 or older and have been in the organization for four years; or *...

The Nationals decided against extending a qualifying offer to Denard Span on Friday afternoon, allowing the center fielder to hit the open market. While Span still could re-sign with the Nats, it's likely the ballclub plans to move on with Michael A. Taylor in center. The 24-year-old was impressive filling in for Span in his first full season in the majors. But the Nationals could look for depth in the outfield via free agency this offseason. Injuries to Jayson Werth and Span last year forced...

By my count, the Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers led the majors by making three qualifying offers each. The Nationals, Cardinals and Padres made two QOs each and eight different teams made one offer each. Again, if I have figured correctly, only three teams (San Diego, Seattle, Chicago White Sox) that made qualifying offers won fewer than 81 games last year. Those three teams (with four total picks) would get compensation picks ahead of the Orioles if the players they made QOs to turn them down...

We hit on a variety of topics yesterday on "Wall to Wall Baseball" on MASN, including the Orioles' qualifying offers to three of their free agents and speculation on the types of contracts they could receive. First baseman Chris Davis is lined up to get one of the most bloated deals this winter. CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman predicted that Davis will receive $182 million over seven years. MLBTradeRumors.com predicted that Davis will net $144 million over six years. His price already is...

A few hours after attending a press conference introducing his ballclub's new manager, Nationals managing principal owner Theodore Lerner offered some rare public comments. Lerner, 90, was honored with the Urban Land Institute's lifetime achievement award at the National Building Museum on Thursday night. "When they originally told me I would be receiving this honor, they were kind enough to schedule the dinner for November, thinking that I and the Nationals would be busy in late October,"...

Major League Baseball still hasn't learned the identity of the mystery team that posted the winning bid on Korean slugger Byung-ho Park. We just know that, as expected, the Orioles fell short. The Nexen Heroes announced yesterday that it accepted a $12.85 million bid. I heard this morning that the Orioles didn't win the rights to negotiate exclusively with Park, which came as no surprise. The $12.85 million only ensures a 30-day window to negotiate with Park. MLBTradeRumors.com projected that...

The free agent season has arrived and the two local nines will look different in 2016 given their free agent list and the value of those players on the open market. The Nationals and Orioles won't be able to keep everyone. Every team needs pitching and the list for free agent starting pitchers is long, so how will that affect the market? The Orioles need rotation help and stability in their outfield corners. The Nationals, with new manager Dusty Baker, have to fix their bullpen and decide how...

New Nationals manager Dusty Baker gave us a clue about his possible managing style at Thursday's news conference when he talked about being aggressive on the base paths. "We're going to run the bases," Baker said. "I think that's something that's probably last on the list on a lot of teams. Baserunning is probably the most overlooked part of baseball." It might be a welcome change from the Nationals' recent offensive style, where they waited for the three-run homer more times than they...

There were no surprises yesterday in the Orioles' qualifying offers unless you took a really deep nap and missed the reports. And by deep, I mean waking up with a full beard and two upgrades on your iPhone. Chris Davis and Wei-Yin Chen were slam dunks to receive the offers, and Matt Wieters joined them in the days leading up to the deadline. Yesterday's announcement was a mere formality. At the very least, the Orioles will be able to stockpile draft picks. But they haven't abandoned hope of...