SAN DIEGO - As he settles in and fires up his computer on the flight to San Diego for the Winter Meetings, Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty was asked by a reporter if he'd ever traded a player from 30,000 feet up. The reporter was asking in jest, but Jocketty said yes. "Actually, when I was with St. Louis, that's when I got Mark Mulder from Oakland." That would have been December 2004, when Jocketty traded three players - Daric Barton, Kiko Calero and Dan Haren - to Oakland...

SAN DIEGO - MASNsports.com has touched down in San Diego, and we're gearing up to bring you four days full of rumors, trade talks and free agent signings from this year's edition of baseball's Winter Meetings. While MASN's Dan Kolko and Pete Kerzel will have you covered on the latest Nationals news and Manchester Grand Hyatt lobby happenings, you can check back here all week long for behind-the-scenes looks, insiders' action and major headlines around the league each day. Headlines *...

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals are in need of a second baseman, and you can expect them to be linked to just about every available player at the position during the Winter Meetings. That's how baseball's mid-winter gathering works: need plus availability equals instant rumor. So you're going to hear a lot over the next few days about guys who Nats general manager Mike Rizzo might be interested in acquiring. We won't dignify every rumor by reporting it; a lot of media types throw names out en...

SAN DIEGO - The Orioles are in the market for at least one outfielder and have been approached by the Rockies to gauge their interest in Drew Stubbs, according to a source. The Rockies would want pitching in return. Stubbs, 30, batted .289/.339/.482 with 22 doubles, four triples, 15 home runs and 43 RBIs in 132 games. He made $4.1 million this season and is entering his final year of arbitration-eligibility before becoming a free agent. Stubbs is a career .246/.315/.396 hitter in six major...

SAN DIEGO - Good afternoon from sunny California. We're all settled in here in the front row of the media workroom and ready to go. While you can expect top-notch coverage of this year's Winter Meetings from Roch Kubatko and Steve Melewski - we, Olivia and Lindsay - will be using this blog to give you behind-the-scenes looks, social media updates and the latest headlines from around Major League Baseball all week long. Headlines * Dan Duquette candidate in Jays' president search - Ken...

SAN DIEGO - The Toronto Blue Jays are interested in Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette. The Orioles have him under contract through 2018. This could get interesting. For now, he is an Oriole. Dan Duquette just repeated that very comment a few moments ago on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM Radio in an interview at the Winter Meetings with Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden. ESPN first reported today that Duquette was among the Blue Jays' top candidates to replace longtime CEO Paul Beeston. In...

SAN DIEGO - Orioles managing partner Peter G. Angelos said he fully expects executive vice president Dan Duquette to remain in the organization in his present capacity and has no intention of losing him to the Blue Jays. ESPN first reported today that Duquette was among the Blue Jays' top candidates to replace longtime CEO Paul Beeston, which caused a stir before the Winter Meetings officially began here. Duquette politely declined to be interviewed when I approached him after our flight...

The Blue Jays are in the market for a new CEO/team president, and ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette is a candidate. Duquette has been with the Orioles since November 2011, helping to guide the club to three straight winning seasons, its first seasons above .500 since 1996-97. Duquette is under contract through 2018, but the Blue Jays' opening would mark a promotion, and thus the Orioles would have a hard time preventing him from going if he...

SAN DIEGO - We've arrived at San Diego International Airport and are headed to the Manchester Grand Hyatt, headquarters for baseball's Winter Meetings. Get ready for four days of rumors and trade talk, free agent posturing and signings, and more diamond banter than you can shake a Louisville Slugger at. Since this winter has already seen its share of trades, and since the Winter Meetings are a wheeler dealer's paradise, it's probably a good time to recount one of the best swaps in Nationals...

The Orioles pitching staff finished with a 3.43 ERA in 2014 - which was the best by an O's staff over a full season since 1979. It also ranked as third best in the American League. The pitching was a big reason the Orioles won 96 games. It was a heckuva first year for new pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti. So how do the Orioles stay at that level next year or get even better? In a recent interview with Wallace he mentioned that the club will strive to get more innings...