SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles third baseman Manny Machado said he's been doing full baseball activities for a couple of weeks, with the exception of moving laterally to field ground balls, and today's minicamp provided a demonstration. Machado hit in the indoor cage and took batting practice outside, shagged fly balls and did agility drills with head athletic trainer Richie Bancells, sprinting up the first base line and simulating going from home plate to second on a double. The surgically...

Vouchers for autograph sessions at the Orioles' 2015 FanFest will go on sale Saturday, January 17, at 10:00 a.m. The list of autograph session times and participants will be posted online for preview at www.orioles.com/fanfest by 9:00 p.m. on Friday, January 16. Orioles FanFest will be held on Saturday, January 31 at the Baltimore Convention Center from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with early entry for Orioles Season Plan Members to begin at 10:00 a.m. At this year's FanFest, the Orioles will...

The Nationals continue their connection to Las Vegas with the selection of right-hander Erick Fedde in last June's draft. Bryce Harper (hometown) and Matt Williams (UNLV) have obvious connections to the entertainment capital of the world. (More on baseball and Las Vegas later). Fedde is a 21-year-old, 6-foot-4, 180-lb. starting pitcher out of the UNLV. He went 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 11 starts. He had two shutouts and 82 strikeouts in 76 2/3 innings. He had Tommy John surgery in June. Fedde has...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles third baseman Manny Machado arrived in the clubhouse at 9:15 a.m. this morning and currently is having his right knee checked. He's expected to meet with the media - it's a small contingent - before leaving the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Reliever Tommy Hunter called out Machado's name, walked across the room and gave him a big hug. Machado later made his way down the rows of lockers to embrace teammates, including Dylan Bundy, Parker Bridwell and Ryan Webb. Webb and...

The Washington Nationals acquired catcher Dan Butler from the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, in exchange for left-handed pitcher Danny Rosenbaum. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Butler, 28, joins the Nationals after six seasons in the Red Sox organization. The right-handed hitting catcher appeared in seven Major League games for Boston in 2014, starting five behind the plate and going 4-for-19 (.211) - with three doubles. Over the course of...

The Nationals lost one of the catchers at the high levels of their minor league system earlier this offseason when they released Jhonatan Solano, who was out of options entering the 2015 season. Over the last 24 hours, they've added two catchers who could help improve their organizational depth behind the plate. Yesterday morning, the Nats signed 30-year-old backstop Steven Lerud, a former third-round pick who has only 15 career plate appearances at the big league level but has 807 games of...

SARASOTA, Fla. - We've reached the final day of the Orioles' minicamp at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Players will bolt around noon. I'll try to find my way to the Tampa airport for a 7 p.m. flight home after filing more notes and meeting one last time with manager Buck Showalter. My daughter got engaged last night. My head's still spinning. Manny Machado's arrival figures to be the highlight of the morning. The Orioles want to check his right knee. The media wants to hound him about...

It is a fair question that some fans have been asking: If the Orioles have an outfielder like Dariel Alvarez that is almost ready for the majors, why not turn right field over to him come April rather than sign another outfielder? After all, Jonathan Schoop won the second base job at spring training last year. Could Alvarez do that in Sarasota this year? While that seems possible, it doesn't seem likely. Alvarez has just one full minor league season under his belt and has played just 44 games...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The most interesting nugget of news today involved South Korean pitcher Suk-min Yoon, who won't be invited to major league camp next month, according to manager Buck Showalter. Yoon was removed from the 40-man roster and outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk on Aug. 30 after going 4-8 with a 5.74 ERA in 23 games, including 18 starts, with the Tides. He's set to make $1.75 million this season as part of his three-year deal that's worth a guaranteed $5.575 million. "Maybe he'll...

SARASOTA, Fla. - New Orioles hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh was scheduled to fly back home this afternoon, but he's staying an extra day at the minicamp to meet third baseman Manny Machado. Coolbaugh didn't have much work to do today beyond getting acclimated to his new surroundings and checking out a few position players who took their cuts in the batting cage. "Get around some of the kids that are here for the minicamp, introduce myself and start building that rapport, relationships with...