Three days after releasing Matt Purke, the Nationals announced that they have re-signed the left-hander to a minor league deal and invited him to major league spring training. Releasing Purke allowed the Nats to remove him from their 40-man roster. This is good news that the Nationals can still have Purke in the organization as he completes his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery. The 24-year-old Purke was limited to eight starts in 2014, going 1-6 with an 8.04 ERA. His career has been...

For anyone who watched the Redskins game yesterday, I'm sorry. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I flipped the game on for about 45 seconds, watched the Redskins offense turn a first-and-goal into a missed 47-yard field goal and that was about all I needed to see. This was the team's effort coming out of a bye against a previously one-win Buccaneers squad. In their last 10 seasons, the Skins have had six sub-.500 campaigns and have gone 63-91. Let's compare that to what the Nationals have...

Searching for middle infield depth, the Orioles have signed Ozzie Martinez to a minor league contract. A team official confirmed the transaction. Martinez, 26, batted .288/.340/.350 with 11 doubles and two triples in 78 games with Triple-A Gwinnett in the Braves organization. He also played in 33 games at Double-A Chattanooga in the Dodgers system. Martinez, an 11th-round pick by the Marlins in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, has played shortstop, second base, third base and the outfield in...

The weekend passed without the Orioles reaching agreement with right fielder Nick Markakis on a four-year contract. It doesn't appear that the two sides have additional talks scheduled at the moment. Of course, that can change in a hurry, but it's pretty quiet. Nothing was arranged heading into last week's general managers' meetings in Phoenix, but Markakis' agent, Jamie Murphy, and Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette spoke on Wednesday. The lines of communication can open up...

In sports, we see copycats all the time. A strategy that leads one team to a big season or championship is then copied by others in an attempt to repeat the success. The Kansas City Royals are a team that others may look to copy in 2015. If a team can build a bullpen as good, they can shorten the game to six innings. The trick is adding three relievers as good as Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland to pitch innings seven through nine. The Orioles have a good back end of the bullpen,...

The Nationals prospect list took a mild hit this week with the announcement that left-hander Matt Purke has been released by the team. Purke had been a part of the organization's top 10 in prospects since his arrival from the 2011 draft, but shoulder and elbow injuries derailed his opportunity to excel with the Nationals. But the Nationals' top 10 prospects are still chocked full of potential, especially with the addition of a few new names that had just arrived from last year's draft. So we...

As it stands right now, the Nationals appear to have at least three, and possibly four, of their bench spots for 2015 accounted for. Kevin Frandsen avoided arbitration the other day, signing a $1 million contract for next season, with another $300,000 in incentives possible. He'll be back as the team's versatile, do-everything right-handed bat. Frandsen can play first, second, third or left field, and is always eager to put on the catching gear and catch a bullpen session when needed. Jose...

Will Giancarlo Stanton become baseball's first $300 million player? That was certainly stunning news this week when reports of this megacontract surfaced. By the way, the team making the reported offer of a 13-year, $325 million deal, the Miami Marlins, once cast off players in a fire sale. This is coming from a Marlins team that had an opening day payroll of $50.5 million in 2013 and $45.8 million last year. This from a Marlins team that ranked last in the National League in attendance at...

While I fully expect Nick Markakis to be playing right field for the Orioles on opening day, I don't mind revisting the Dariel Alvarez question. Again, no. He isn't going to break camp with the Orioles in 2015. He wouldn't be Markakis' replacement if negotiations fell apart. Will Alvarez be in the majors at some point next season? I really like his chances. So does Brian Graham, the Orioles' director of player development, and his opinion carries a lot more weight. Alvarez, signed to an...

Yesterday's decision by the Nationals to release oft-injured left-hander Matt Purke took some fans by surprise. Purke was a third-round pick out of TCU in 2011. He was given a big league deal out of college. He was handed a $4.2 million contract. I get it; it's news when a player like that is released. The Nationals took a chance on Purke in the draft, selecting a player who had battled a shoulder injury while in college, and it didn't pan out. This is a team that has made similar draft...