The baseball world was hit with some awful news yesterday, as Cardinals prospect Oscar Tavares and his girlfriend were killed in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic. Tavares was just 22, and only two weeks ago, he hit a game-tying home run late in Game 2 of the Cardinals' National League Championship Series against the Giants, leading to an eventual St. Louis win. It was Tavares' first career postseason homer, and if not for this tragic accident, quite a few more were likely on the...

The Giants had must-win games in the World Series the past two nights, and they won. Going back to Kansas City doesn't seem quite as daunting when you're up 3-2. And imagine if they could squeeze another start out of Madison Bumgarner. I'd find a way. Bumgarner is an absolute stud, one who's truly worthy of the "Big Game" moniker. He certainly was worth the 10th overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. The nine players chosen before him? David Price (Rays), Mike Moustakas...

Later today, Baseball America will release a new Orioles top 10 prospects list and we'll find out who's in and who's out. We know for certain that three members of last year's top 10 will not be on the list today. Kevin Gausman, who was No. 2, and Jonathan Schoop, who was No. 5, now have too much major league time to qualify for the list. Pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, No. 3 last winter, was traded to Boston for Andrew Miller. Last year, the top four on the list and six of the first eight were...

Yesterday, I discussed the Nationals bullpen, and how they could look to add to that already strong group this offseason, either via free agency or a trade. The Nats have plenty of talented arms in their system, but that's certainly an area where you can never have enough talent. And don't be shocked if the Nats do choose to bolster their relief corps this offseason. As I mentioned yesterday, the Nats will have Rafael Soriano's contract coming off the books this offseason, as they almost...

If you're still hurting over the Orioles being swept by the Royals in the American League Championship Series, manager Buck Showalter feels your pain. It's fine to appreciate what the Orioles accomplished in 2014 - the American League East title, the sweep in the Division Series - but the bar finally has been raised in Baltimore. "I don't want anybody to be satisfied," Showalter said yesterday after calling into "Wall to Wall Baseball" on MASN. "I want everybody to hold us to a high...

The Orioles are going into the 2015 season in a position unfamiliar to them. They will be the chasee and not the chaser for the American League East title. The Orioles won 96 games this season and took the AL East for the first time since 1997. It was their ninth division championship. The Orioles clinched the division on Sept. 16, the second-earliest date in team history. They won the AL East by 12 games, the first division team to win by 10 or more games since the 2006 Yankees. Now the...

One thing that I've really taken note of this postseason is how a couple of teams with dominant back ends of their bullpen have really been able to shorten games in their favor and turn a one-run lead after six innings into a fairly comfortable victory. We've seen it time after time with the Royals, who have relied on Kelvin Herrera in the seventh inning, Wade Davis in the eighth and Greg Holland in the ninth. All three bring heat and all three are nearly untouchable, both over the course of...

The Potomac Nationals defeated Myrtle Beach to win the Mills Cup and the Carolina League title in 2014. It was a sweet victory for the P-Nats prospects, according to manager Tripp Keister, because he believes they kind of flew under the radar despite steadily staying at the top of the standings the entire season. In Part 3 of our series on the Potomac Nationals championship season, we will examine how this team won the title despite not having as much fire power as Myrtle Beach displayed...

The Orioles began the process of clearing room on their 40-man roster yesterday by outrighting pitcher Steve Johnson to Triple-A Norfolk. Johnson will become a free agent after the World Series and must decide whether to sign a minor league deal or change organizations. Don't jump to the conclusion that the Orioles are about to make a bold move to fill the spot. This is routine roster maintenance in the offseason. The Orioles need to protect some minor leaguers in the Rule 5 draft,...

When Baseball America and other publications that rank minor league prospects comes out with a new list of organizational rankings, the Orioles are likely to take a bit of a fall. These rankings take a look at the minor league systems around baseball and rate the current overall talent. ESPN rated the O's No. 10 before last season while Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus rated the O's No. 12. But the Orioles will likely fall into the 15-20 ranking, possibly a bit lower, when new...