Baseball America released its top 10 Nationals prospects list in its digital edition this week. Here is the Nationals top 10: 1. RHP Lucas Giolito 2. SS Trea Turner 3. CF Victor Robles 4. RHP Erick Fedde 5. RHP Reynaldo Lopez 6. SS Wilmer Difo 7. RHP A.J. Cole 8. CF Andrew Stevenson 9. RHP Austin Voth 10. 3B Anderson Franco Franco is 18 out of the Dominican Republic and hit a combined .269 for two teams in 2015. Voth has advanced well and has shown stuff that plays at higher levels; he can...

Many of the frustrations caused by former Nationals manager Matt Williams stemmed from his handling of the Nationals pitching staff - from top to bottom. Those concerns surfaced during controversial decisions in the 2014 National League Division Series, then carried over and lasted throughout the Nats' most recent disappointing campaign. From pulling starters too early to old-school matchup approaches to overworking his bullpen, Williams never seemed to push the right buttons. When he...

The Nationals have settled on Bud Black as their next manager, according to a report from the Washington Post. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo began his search for the team's next skipper after dismissing Matt Williams on Oct. 5. Of the seven candidates who Rizzo reportedly auditioned over the past few weeks, only Black and veteran manager Dusty Baker returned to D.C. for second interviews. Rizzo was looking for his new skipper to have previous managerial experience in the majors. Black...

The Orioles used eight starting pitchers this season, including rookies Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson, who made their major league debuts, and veteran Bud Norris, who eventually was sent to the bullpen and designated for assignment. Wei-Yin Chen was the lone left-hander of the group and he may leave as a free agent this winter. Should the Orioles replace him with another southpaw? Can they afford to be left with only righties next year? They still are reluctant to return Brian Matusz to the...

It seemed like a pretty minor trade at the time. On May 18 of this past season, the Orioles acquired minor league left-hander Chris Lee from the Houston Astros. They gave up two international bonus slots to Houston. Lee, a tall, lanky southpaw with a good fastball that touches the mid-90s, had never pitched above low Single-A ball with Houston. But the Orioles sent him to Single-A Frederick after the deal and he ended the season making seven starts at Double-A Bowie. He is likely now among the...

After an epic, five-hour-plus battle that went 14 innings last night, the Kansas City Royals host the New York Mets in Game 2 of the World Series tonight at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won the opener 5-4 in 14 innings Tuesday night. Alex Gordon homered in the ninth off Mets closer Jeurys Familia to tie the game and Kansas City won on Eric Hosmer's sac fly in the 14th. In the last 20 World Series, the team that won Game 1 won the series 17 times. In the last of the first, Alcides Escobar of...

Nationals infielder Anthony Rendon is among a group of 25 major leaguers who have qualified for Super Two arbitration status this year, according to MLBTradeRumors.com. The site reports that Rendon came in right at 2.130 service time cutoff, earning an extra year of arbitration-eligible status. Typically, a major league player becomes arbitration-eligible when he accrues three years playing in the big leagues. As MLBTR writes, "A full year of Major League service is defined as spending 172...

Grab a brownie, a glass of chocolate milk or a candy bar and take a seat. National Chocolate Day - one of the sweetest holidays for the Washington Nationals - is here and it's time to party. A tradition born earlier in the season thanks to ace Max Scherzer, the star of the game was doused in chocolate sauce after a walk-off or during his postgame interview. The results: a spike in sideline reporter Dan Kolko's dry cleaning bill, globs of sticky syrup in players' hair and pure...

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has been named to the Sporting News 2015 American League All-Star team. Davis and the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera were co-winners at the position. Executives voted for players in each league. Davis, who received the same honor in 2013, batted .262/.361/.562 with 31 doubles, 47 home runs and 117 RBIs in 160 games. He led the majors in homers and strikeouts (208). Davis, a pending free agent, is the lone Oriole on the team. Third baseman Manny Machado and closer Zach...

Of all the injuries the Nationals sustained this year, none were arguably as damaging as those Denard Span suffered. The veteran center fielder's season began on the disabled list after undergoing offseason hernia surgery last December followed by core muscle surgery early in spring training. Despite missing opening day and the first two weeks of the season, Span sped up his recovery to rejoin his teammates. He was playing All-Star-caliber baseball through his first 33 games, delivering his...