VIERA, Fla. - Matt Williams admits he had a little trouble sleeping last night ahead of his first workout as Nationals manager. Williams got out of bed early and made his way to the Nats' spring facility by 5 a.m. He got in a workout, then went over to the minor league facility at 5:45 to mess around with one of the minor league coaches. Even though he had already gone over today's schedule dozens of times - he joked that yesterday's mental run-though of the schedule marked the 5,000th...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The biggest news to come out of Orioles camp today involved reliever Kelvin De La Cruz's hamstring and a waiver claim on utility infielder Jimmy Paredes. Not much going on here at the moment. Miguel Gonzalez cut short his workout because of back spasms, but it's not considered serious. He's already left the complex for the day. "We decided not to take any chances," said manager Buck Showalter. "I'm not alarmed at this point. He told Richie (Bancells) that his bed has...

The Orioles today announced that they have claimed infielder/outfielder Jimmy Paredes off of waivers from Miami. Paredes, 25, spent 2013 in the Houston organization, batting .287/.345/.462 with 16 stolen bases in 86 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City and .192/.231/.248 in 135 plate appearances for the Astros. In seven minor league seasons, Paredes is a career .289/.324/.428 hitter with 166 stolen bases in 219 attempts. He was originally signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent, July 2,...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles have claimed utility player Jimmy Paredes off waivers from the Marlins. They now have a full 40-man roster. Paredes, 25, batted .192/.231/.248 with one home run and 48 games with the Astros last season. He's a career .234/.274/.311 hitter in three major league seasons. The Marlins selected Paredes off waivers in November. Paredes is a switch-hitter, but he's posted a career .264 average against right-handers and a .143 average against left-handers. All three of...

VIERA, Fla. - While we've talked a lot about how intense Matt Williams was as a player and how regimented and focused his spring training workouts will likely be, today's workout for pitchers and catchers - Williams' first as Nats skipper - seemed pretty laid back and quiet. That doesn't mean it wasn't tightly run, however. Groups of pitchers quickly rotated through stations where they threw bullpen sessions, worked on their bunting, practiced pickoff moves and did some pitchers'...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles still haven't announced the signing of Korean pitcher Suk-min Yoon, but he was sitting in the lobby outside of the clubhouse a few minute ago. One of his representatives from the Boras Corporation, Tad Hun Yo, sat next to him. Yo said they're also waiting for the results of yesterday's physical, adding that Yoon prefers to work out in Sarasota and will attempt to avoid a return trip to South Korea. Yoon reached agreement on his three-year deal on Thursday. Both...

SARASOTA, Fla. - There's nothing new to report on pitcher Suk-min Yoon. The Orioles may announce his signing later today. However, it doesn't appear that he will be introduced to the media before Monday. Pitcher Tim Alderson reported to camp this morning after experiencing travel issues related to the snowstorm. He had to fly through Dallas after the cancellation of his connecting flight in Charlotte. "Yesterday was a long day," he said. "Just a lot of movies and hanging out." And a...

VIERA, Fla. - Today is the first official day of workouts here at Nationals camp, with players taking the field at around 10 a.m. to begin stretching. Doug Fister, Gio Gonzalez, Chris Young, Taylor Jordan, Ross Ohlendorf and new signee Josh Roenicke will throw bullpen sessions today. A big group of players were crowding around the lone clubhouse TV this morning, watching the U.S.-Russia Olympic hockey game. Ross Detwiler (a huge hockey fan) and Tyler Clippard were sitting front and center,...

VIERA, Fla. - You can learn a learn a lot about Doug Fister in 12 minutes if you ask the right questions. And in that 12 minutes, it's easy to see Fister as more than just the Nationals' newest addition to their starting rotation, a guy with a career 3.53 ERA and lauded by many as one of the more underrated starters in the majors. You can learn that Fister is an avid runner, sometimes strapping up the shoes and running 10 miles at a time in between starts. He's been running since he was a...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Welcome to the second day of spring training at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Clubhouse opens to the media at 8:45 a.m. Players will take the field around 10 a.m. The Orioles could announce Suk-min Yoon's signing today. No promises, though. A report out of Korea last night stated that Yoon will stay with the Orioles instead of returning home, and will later interview for a visa in Canada. Steve Johnson had an impressive bullpen session yesterday. He's making a nice...