The Orioles announced today that they will host the annual FanFest event on Saturday, December 12 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Orioles FanFest, presented by Visit Sarasota County, will feature appearances by current and former Orioles players and coaches as part of a day-long celebration of baseball that will also include clinics, exhibits, and interactive games. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with early entry for Orioles Season Plan Members beginning at 10 a.m. as part...

Former Padres manager Bud Black will reportedly get his chance to impress Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo today. The Washington Post was first to report Black's interview after the ex-San Diego skipper called the opening in the nation's capital a "very attractive position" during an MLB Network Radio appearance last week. Black may be the early frontrunner to take over after Washington fired Matt Williams last week. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, "Black is the preferred...

Another Orioles instructional league season has come to a close. From Sept. 22 through Tuesday, more than 50 O's minor leaguers took part in workouts and games under the sun in Sarasota, Fla. Instructional league features mostly players who are early in their careers getting a lot of hands-on instruction to work on improving for the future. "Instructional league went great," Orioles director of player development Brian Graham said. "The most impressive thing about instructional league was...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette didn't bite yesterday when I asked whether he's attempted to re-sign any of his pending free agents before they hit the open market. "We're working on our offseason plans," he replied. That's a pretty broad brush. We'll find out whether Duquette can get the coaches under contract for 2016. There's a growing sense, as I wrote yesterday, that they may only go six for seven. It speaks volumes that the coaches are in demand. They're viewed...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette confirmed today that the club has extended contract offers to every coach on the staff for the 2016 season. Duquette added that he hopes to "get it resolved this week." Agreements need to be reached with bench coach John Russell, first base coach Wayne Kirby, third base coach Bobby Dickerson, pitching coach Dave Wallace, bullpen coach Dom Chiti, hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh and extra coach Einar Diaz. "We've been talking to the coaches and...

One game to decide the series. Both American League Division Series have reached that point, and today we will see a pair of Game 5s to decide which two teams advance to the American League Championship Series. Toronto hosts Texas this afternoon with right-hander Marcus Stroman (4-0, 1.67 ERA) facing left-hander Cole Hamels (13-8, 3.65 ERA). The Blue Jays' offense was held to seven runs and a .171 batting average in the first two games. But in Games 3 and 4 at Texas, Toronto scored 13 runs...

Salt River beat Scottsdale 5-3 in its Arizona Fall League opener Tuesday night. The Rafters pitching was the story here, allowing the Scorpions only five hits in their first game in AFL play. Chris Bostick went 0-for-4, but scored a run thanks in part to his two stolen bases. Dakota Bacus came on in relief and pitched a scoreless frame late in the game, striking out two. Former Nationals prospect Danny Rosenbaum went 1 1/3 innings for Scottsdale, allowing two hits, no runs, one walk and struck...

Orioles 18-year-old infield prospect Jomar Reyes will have surgery tomorrow to repair a broken hamate bone in his left hand. He got hurt in the next-to-last game of the instructional league workouts in Florida. Ranked as the organization's No. 10 prospect at the end of last year by Baseball America, the native of the Dominican Republic was signed to a $350,000 bonus in January 2014. Orioles director of player development Brian Graham said Reyes was injured while batting. "He hit a ball and...

Imagine the Cleveland Cavaliers without LeBron James for half the season or the New England Patriots with quarterback Tom Brady only available for eight games instead of the usual 16. And as the Capitals learned last night when they were blanked without leading scorer Alexander Ovechkin, not having your best player affects the entire team and its ability to score. These are dramatic examples, but the Nationals were without crucial parts of their offense for extended periods of time in 2015,...

It appears that Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo is focusing his attention on a few veteran managers in his next wave of interviews for the Nats' vacancy. "We feel that where we're at in our timetable of winning a championship, we certainly would lean toward someone that has some type of managerial experience, especially at the major league level," Rizzo said last week. "But, again, we're going to be open-minded and look for the best candidate that we can that allows us to win a...