Most teams lay low during the World Series. They're not really supposed to make news and distract from the big event. I'm not sure that there's an actual law against it. I don't believe that executive vice president Dan Duquette would be led out in handcuffs. Duquette and manager Buck Showalter already met since the Game 4 loss in Kansas City and will huddle again on Monday and Tuesday. It's never too soon to check on potential minor league free agents and non-tenders. This is right up...

Looking ahead to the 2015 season, I think the time has come for us to stop asking one question: When is Dylan Bundy going to be in this rotation? Even though he pitched just 41 1/3 innings this season, it was a success for Bundy. He came back from Tommy John surgery, made it into a minor league game less than a year removed from the procedure and had zero setbacks with his elbow. The arm is good to go. Bundy ended the year with a lat strain, but that has also healed at this point. Now he needs...

The Nationals have a busy offseason ahead of them on a number of fronts. They'll need to decide what they want to do with their starting second base job, assuming that Ryan Zimmerman moves across the diamond and becomes the everyday first baseman and Anthony Rendon remains at third. They'll need to add to their bullpen (which will almost certainly be without Rafael Soriano next season, as the Nats are unlikely to pick up his $14 million team option for next season) and bench, which will see...

If you start to think about how the Orioles rotation will shape up next season, there certainly seem to be fewer questions than heading into most recent seasons. You have the four that started in the playoffs in Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris and Miguel Gonzalez. Kevin Gausman made 20 starts this season and he certainly looks to be a key member of the 2014 rotation. And there is Ubaldo Jimenez, who was signed to a four-year, $50 million deal before this season. He is due to make $12.25...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette was succinct yesterday when asked about pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. "The only thing, his walk total was up this year," Duquette said, "so obviously we'd like to see him throw a few more strikes." Or a lot more, since his 77 walks ranked second in the American League behind C.J. Wilson's 85. Wilson threw 175 2/3 innings. Jimenez threw 125 1/3, spent time on the disabled list and was moved to the bullpen. Jimenez went 6-9 with a 4.81 ERA in 25...

Dan Duquette, the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, delivered a message to fans this afternoon while standing in front of the home dugout at Camden Yards. The gates were closed, but he wanted them to hear it. "I think what I want our fans to know is that we took a big step forward this year," he said. "We won the division. We won 99 games and we aim to be competitive year in and year out." Duquette was just getting started. "We had several players that we didn't...

The Twins haven't contacted Orioles bench coach John Russell about interviewing for their managerial position, which was vacated with the firing of Ron Gardenhire. However, they're expected to reach out to him. "If they don't call," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter, "then they must have some really good candidates." It's believed that the job belongs to Hall of Famer Paul Molitor if he wants it. Stay tuned. Immediately following the Game 4 loss in Kansas City, I asked Showalter...

I've got plenty of quotes to pass along later from today's interviews with Orioles manager Buck Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette at Camden Yards, where workers are removing the red, white and blue bunting from the fences. There's nothing newsy. Duquette didn't map out his plans for the offseason. Left-hander T.J. McFarland was the only player in the clubhouse while the media hung out for almost an hour. He grabbed a flight home to Chicago this afternoon. Duquette said he...

Nationals prospects continue to work in the Arizona Fall League. Low Single-A Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson is an extra coach with the Mesa Solar Sox and provided an update on each Nationals player playing for the team. Second baseman Tony Renda: "He's looking great. He's hit so many balls right on the nose right at people, I feel so bad for him. We all laugh. How many balls can you hit so hard right at somebody and have nothing to show for it like ever? I'm waiting for balls to fall...

The National League Division Series obviously didn't go as the Nationals hoped. The team didn't perform as well as many, including those inside the clubhouse, expected it to. Many players didn't play to their ability levels. And they will openly admit as much. Despite the disappointment from a team perspective, there were a couple of positives from that series, however. And Bryce Harper was one of them. Harper had an up-and-down 2014 regular season, which featured a significant injury,...