This is the most jaw-dropping story of the offseason: After months of speculation that the Miami Marlins would trade Giancarlo Stanton, the team wound up signing him to the richest contract in sports history, $325 million for 13 years. They will announce the deal Wednesday. The Marlins are playing in a new ballpark and need a signing like this to prove their relevance. They know more about splitting up a team than holding it together. At least, that's the Marlins' reputation. But is that a...

The temperature soared on baseball's hot stove yesterday with news that the Marlins signed Giancarlo Stanton to a 13-year extension worth $325 million, the largest contract in the history of sports, the Blue Jays signed free agent catcher Russell Martin and the Braves traded outfielder Jason Heyward to the Cardinals for pitcher Shelby Miller. Pitchers Jordan Walden and Tyrell Jenkins also were involved in the deal, but Heyward-for-Miller was enough to grab the attention of the baseball...

The Rule 5 draft is the last event of the Winter Meetings and will take place on Dec. 11. Any player selected in this draft must remain on the selecting team's 25-man roster for the entire 2015 season or be offered back to his original club. This is the draft where the Orioles got Ryan Flaherty three years ago and pitcher T.J. McFarland two years ago. The Orioles selected Michael Almanzar from Boston last year, sent him back and reacquired him, but he is now a minor league free agent. Players...

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...