VIERA, Fla. - It's not much of a surprise, but it is official: Stephen Strasburg will be the Nationals' opening day starter. Manager Matt Williams announced after tonight's 2-0 loss to the Astros that Strasburg will get the ball for the Nats on opening day, March 31 in New York against the Mets. It will be the third straight season Strasburg has started opening day for the Nats. He'll be followed in the rotation by Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann, in that order. The rest of the...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Here is the second part of the interview with Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette. The Orioles minor leagues are obviously improved. There have been some solid rankings of your players individually and the system collectively. What is the state of the O's farm right now? "I'm encouraged by some of the improvement in the rankings from some of the major publications that follow it closely. We've moved up from 28 into the teens and I saw one ranking where we were...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette is about to begin his third season running the team's on-field operations. After producing winning teams in Montreal and Boston, Duquette's first two O's clubs have had winning records, and the 2012 team ended the Orioles' string of 14 straight losing seasons with its first playoff appearance since 1997. The native of Dalton, Mass., is an Amherst College grad and twice has been honored as MLB Executive of...

NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Astros 2, Nationals 0 Recap: Taylor Jordan pitched five innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out five. But the Nats committed two errors and looked out of sorts on defense on the way to falling to the Astros. The Nats were held hitless until the sixth inning. Need to know: Jordan might've enhanced his chances to earn the No. 5 spot in the team's rotation with an impressive outing that lowered his spring ERA to 4.80. On deck:...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Steve Clevenger's main competitor for the backup catcher's job, Johnny Monell, was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after today's game. That leaves three catchers at big league camp with Matt Wieters, Clevenger and Caleb Joseph. After today's game, manager Buck Showalter referred to Clevenger as "the leader in the clubhouse" for the No. 2 catcher's job. Clevenger said today's news won't change much for him right now. "I'm just going to continue to do what I do," he...

VIERA, Fla. - Those of you who will be watching tonight's Nationals-Astros game on MASN (airing live at 6 p.m.) will get a treat. Manager Matt Williams is running out a lineup loaded with regulars. In fact, Williams said that his lineup tonight could end up being "close" to the starting lineup that he runs out on opening day less than two weeks from now. Things could and will certainly change based on lefty/righty pitching matchups and even the team that the Nats are playing, Williams...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn't ready to declare a winner in the battle for the backup catching job. He did, however, point out the obvious. Steve Clevenger is the current leader inside the clubhouse after the Orioles optioned Johnny Monell to Triple-A Norfolk. "Stevie's presented himself well," Showalter said. "We'll see what happens between now and the end of spring, what other options present themselves. Caleb (Joseph) has had a good spring, but I'd categorize...

The Orioles today announced that they have optioned catcher Johnny Monell and right-hander Suk-min Yoon to Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles also reassigned outfielder Xavier Paul to minor league camp. With the assignment, the Orioles now have 43 players at major league spring training, including eight non-roster invitees.

SARASOTA, Fla. - There's no longer any doubt that Steve Clevenger is the leading in-house candidate to back up catcher Matt Wieters. The Orioles optioned catcher Johnny Monell following today's 7-4 loss to the Rays. They also reassigned outfielder Xavier Paul to minor league camp and will make one more roster move. Clevenger hasn't won the job at this point in camp. The Orioles continue to check outside the organization. Left fielder David Lough passed his impact test and manager Buck...

VIERA, Fla. - Ross Detwiler surely didn't envision getting moved into a relief role this spring, but that's now where he finds himself. The Nationals left-hander learned on Monday that instead of continuing his battle for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, manager Matt Williams had decided to move him to the bullpen, this after he had been a member of the team's starting rotation for the bulk of 2012 and all of last year up until being sidelined by injury. Detwiler is scheduled to work one...