With a month remaining before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, there's still plenty of time for new storylines to develop and for me to rank them according to importance or interest. Kevin Gausman will be on my list, no matter how it's framed. Specifically, I wonder whether Gausman will make the rotation, be moved to a crowded bullpen or again pay the price for having a minor league option. Executive vice president Dan Duquette seemed to indicate at the Winter Meetings that...

Five years ago, pitcher Max Scherzer was a blue-chip prospect with an unpredictable delivery and even more unpredictable results. He's on his way to Washington after agreeing to a seven-year contract reportedly worth in excess of $180 million, giving the Nationals an unbelievable rotation that includes Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Doug Fister, Tanner Roark and Jordan Zimmermann. Media reports speculate that Zimmermann or Fister could be traded for prospects as general manager Mike Rizzo...

Good morning, Nationals fans. Your team just made the biggest move of the offseason. Max Scherzer is coming aboard, according to multiple reports, on a seven-year contract that will pay him upwards of $180 million. This is without a doubt the biggest move of the baseball offseason, a signing that would have brought a 100-loss team into the national conversation. The difference here is that it takes a team that won the most games in the National League last year and only ups its standing as we...

So much for another quiet offseason for the Nationals. Last week, the Nationals acquired shortstop Yunel Escobar to shore up their infield. They sent fan favorite and eighth-inning eraser Tyler Clippard to Oakland to complete the deal. Now there are reports that the Nationals have agreed to a seven-year deal with 2013 Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, who went 39-8 the past two seasons with 492 strikeouts for the Tigers. NJ.com, which covers the Mets, believes this makes it even more...

We've started a new week and the Orioles are dealing with the same old issues. They want a left-handed hitting outfielder. No, seriously, it's in all the blogs and papers. And the club is trying to conduct business while the Blue Jays pursue Dan Duquette like it's last call at a bar and Major League Baseball is serving as wing man. The Jays are ignoring the ring on Duquette's finger and the Orioles don't like it. This is tampering, right? They reached out to him without permission from the...

In early November, I took a shot at predicting the Orioles' payroll for the 2015 season and came up with a figure of $121 million. We can take another shot now that we have more information. We now know that the three key free agents - Nick Markakis, Andrew Miller and Nelson Cruz - are gone, and we now have more concrete salary arbitration figures. We know which players settled at which salaries and also the exchange of figures for those who might go to arbitration. For this exercise, I...

The Nationals are closing in on a deal with right-hander Max Scherzer, the top free agent available this offseason, according to multiple reports. Update: Reports have the Nats signing Scherzer to a seven-year contract, and FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says the deal is worth more than $180 million. A first-round pick of the Diamondbacks in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft when Nats general manager Mike Rizzo was Arizona's scouting director, Scherzer has emerged as one of the top right-handed...

From a developmental standpoint, 2014 was a massive year for Nationals outfielder Michael A. Taylor. Selected out of high school as a sixth-round pick back in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Taylor was viewed as a potential center fielder at the big league level early on because of his speed and defensive ability. He made his way through the low levels of the Nats minor league system delivering on that reputation, but also struggling somewhat with the bat. In 2010, his first taste of...

The Orioles continue to check the trade market for left-handed hitting outfielders in case they can't sign free agent Colby Rasmus. One potential match could be found in Colorado, where Charlie Blackmon has been made available, according to FOX Sports. From what I've gathered, the Orioles haven't engaged in talks with the Rockies concerning Blackmon, but they're doing their homework on him and could get involved. The Rockies apparently are seeking a starting pitcher in return for Blackmon,...

A lot of baseball fans think that free agency is to blame for the large guaranteed salaries in the majors. And while there is no doubt a lot of truth to that, salary arbitration may be the real culprit. During a player's first few seasons, the team holds the cards. Most players work for a salary at or near the major league minimum. Still a nice payday (a little over $500,000 now), but nowhere near what is to come if they continue to play well. That first year of salary arbitration is when...