While executive vice president Dan Duquette works toward putting together a roster for the 2015 season, he continues to be rewarded for his work this year. Baseball America has named Duquette as its Major League Executive of the Year. The Sporting News honored him last month during the general managers' meetings. One day after Nelson Cruz agreed to terms on a four-year, $57 million contract with the Mariners, Duquette is rewarded in part for signing the outfielder to a one-year, $8 million...

Outside of the money and four-year contract, Nelson Cruz's signing with the Seattle Mariners is puzzling from a baseball standpoint. As an Oriole, he would have been hitting in more a power-friendly ballpark in Camden Yards. And for a 35-year-old player, that's important. With guys like Adam Jones, J.J. Hardy, Chris Davis and possibly Nick Markakis, Cruz would have had a better chance to lead the American League in home runs for a second consecutive season. And the Orioles have a better...

The latest deadline in the offseason schedule comes at midnight, when all 30 major league teams must decide whether to tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players. That means throughout the day, we'll have plenty of news popping up on teams who have offered contracts to players, reached terms with others and cut some loose, allowing them to become free agents. The Nationals had 11 (and possibly 12 - more on that in a minute) players eligible for arbitration entering this...

Has everyone moved on from the Nelson Cruz news? Has the depression subsided? No more Cruz blues? This blog was on Cruz control yesterday, judging by the number of comments. I hadn't surrendered hope that Cruz would stay with the Orioles, but I kept warning that he'd need to come down to three years. I'm just surprised that he made the decision a week before the start of the Winter Meetings in San Diego. Did his agent read the market and determine that the Mariners' offer of $57 million...

You talk about something good happening to a guy who flew under the radar - well, it happened yesterday. Longtime Orioles minor league coach Butch Davis was hired by the Minnesota Twins as their first base coach. Seeing reaction on Twitter, it is clear that Davis had a lot of fans among O's minor league staff and players. They are thrilled he is returning to the show - his eight-year major league career, which included parts of the 1988 and 1989 seasons with the Orioles, ended in 1994 - after...

One and done. That is it for Nelson Cruz and the Orioles. Cruz repeatedly said he was very interested in re-signing and the team showed interest in retaining him. But in the end, the Orioles were apparently unwilling to offer the 34-year-old Cruz a fourth year and he agreed today to a new deal with Seattle. Cruz had a heckuva one season as an Oriole. He led the majors with 40 homers, posted his highest OPS (.859) since 2010 and could not have handled himself much better on and off the...

For the second consecutive draft, the Nationals' top selection underwent successful Tommy John surgery within a few weeks of being selected. This time, it was former UNLV right-hander Erick Fedde, who was so tough he pitched for Team USA while fighting through an injury. His college coach, Tim Chambers, said the right-hander "really sold out for (him)" while with the Runnin' Rebels. Now, as my colleague Dan Kolko reports, Fedde is back to beginning his throwing program. His schedule will...

Outfielder Nelson Cruz, who led the majors with 40 home runs this season, has agreed to terms on a four-year deal with the Mariners, according to multiple reports. The Dominican newspaper El Caribe was the first to report that Cruz will receive $57 million from the Mariners, who pursued him last winter before ownership intervened. Cruz settled for a one-year, $8 million deal with the Orioles, which executive vice president Dan Duquette described in October as a "platform" for the outfielder...

Back when Jayson Werth signed his seven-year, $126 million deal with the Nationals, many people weren't shy about criticizing the contract, saying the amount of money the Nats were giving Werth far exceeded the market and what could be expected of the veteran outfielder. You don't hear people banging that drum too hard these days, however. So far, Werth has played four seasons in D.C., putting him past the midway point of his contract. He's now 35. And while injuries have been a bit of a...

A week from today, I'll wake up in San Diego, head to the media workroom and be ready for the first official day of baseball's annual Winter Meetings. Unless, of course, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo gets a head start on the fun and announces something Sunday night, as was the case in 2010 when the Nats snagged outfielder Jayson Werth before the press conference dais had even been finished. But that's why I'm arriving in San Diego at midday Sunday. Just in case. In the ensuing three...