If you want to criticize Steve Pearce for his 2015 season, you will have to get in line behind at least one person - and that is Pearce himself. Pearce is a player quick to point the finger at himself if he doesn't do well. When Pearce got off to a slow start last season, at one point he called himself "a one-man rally killer." A player who hit at times in the middle of the Orioles order in 2014, Pearce's offense fell off big in the 2015 season: Pearce in 2014: .293 average, 21 homers, 49...

The Kansas City Royals are one win from heading to the World Series for a second straight year. The Toronto Blue Jays are two wins from a 3-1 comeback in the American League Championship Series. The teams meet tonight at K.C.'s Kauffman Stadium with the Royals looking to end the series and Toronto, down 3-2 in games, looking to extend it to a seventh and final game. The Blue Jays won 7-1 on Wednesday to stay alive in the ALCS. Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer and Marco Estrada gave up...

I have been told the Nationals are interviewing a lot more candidates this time around for their vacant managerial position. Many have thought the announcement would be made after the World Series, but the Mariners did not waste any time or follow that protocol with the hiring of Angels assistant general manager Scott Servais to replace Lloyd McClendon. Will the vacancy in Los Angeles make Dusty Baker a hotter commodity? His name has been mentioned around Chavez Ravine. Would that make the...

The news early Thursday of the Dodgers and manager Don Mattingly parting ways immediately led to the potential of adding a new, attractive candidate to the race for the Nationals' opening. Meanwhile, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was reportedly interviewing Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach for the managerial job, according to Yahoo Sports. If Wallach somehow ended up as skipper of the Nats, he would see his career come full circle. Wallach was drafted in the first round by the Expos in...

I was chatting up a couple of Royals fans Wednesday who shared their roster concerns while also averting their eyes from the television that showed their team losing Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. The current roster is fine. More than fine, actually, but it's never too early to fret over free agency. I found it interesting that these guys deemed Ben Zobrist a higher priority than Alex Gordon, the four-time Gold Glove left fielder who's played in the last three All-Star...

It is certainly reasonable to assume that a bigger payroll for a Major League Baseball team provides them a better chance to win. After all, you get what you pay for, right? For many years in the American League East, this held true. The big spending New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox controlled the division. They threw money at their problems and, in a sport without a salary cap, they won. But that has not held true for some time now. The Tampa Bay Rays won the AL East in 2008 with an opening...

Double-A Harrisburg center fielder Brian Goodwin will play winter ball for Margarita in the Venezuelan Winter League, according to a club source. Goodwin played in 114 games last season for the Senators. The 24-year-old has five tools and is looking to become more consistent at the plate. Goodwin hit .226 in 472 plate appearances this season with 17 doubles, four triples, eight homers, 15 stolen bases and 46 RBIs. He walked 38 times, but had 93 strikeouts. He hit .219 with Triple-A Syracuse in...

If you were hoping against hope that the Cubs would pull off a miraculous comeback, you awoke this morning a disappointed baseball fan. Me, I'm always happy when there are different teams in the postseason, and this year's final four guaranteed at least one new team in the World Series. But it'll be at least another season full of references to the billy goat, black cat, Bartman and the Cubs' long World Series drought. At the Cubby Bear, they're probably still drowning their sorrows. You...

The Orioles confirmed today that right-hander Dylan Bundy will pitch in the Arizona Fall League. He's going to join Peoria's roster "soon," according to a team official. Bundy is taking pitcher Jon Keller's spot on Peoria's roster. Keller has a sore oblique muscle. Bundy is throwing all of his pitches in bullpen sessions down in Sarasota and has been deemed ready to face hitters. The Orioles also discussed whether he should pitch winter ball. Dr. James Andrews cleared Bundy last month to...

It was one of the most controversial moments - not just in the Nationals' 2015 season, but in the team's history - and MASN's Bob Carpenter has been recognized for his efforts in bringing it to you. Carpenter has been nominated for the Esurance MLB Award for his call of when Pirates pinch-hitter Jose Tabata was hit in the elbow with a two-out, two-strike pitch in the ninth inning of Max Scherzer's near-perfect game. Scherzer was coming off a one-hitter in Milwaukee on June 16, when he...