Of all the interviews that were conducted at NatsFest yesterday, if I was asked which was the most interesting, I'm pretty sure Danny Espinosa's 10-minute chat with reporters would take the cake. We got a lot of updates on throwing programs, a lot of offseason workout updates. But as always, Espinosa was brutally honest in his session with reporters, and provided some interesting information on his 2013 season and what he expects in 2014. Espinosa says that he's been told he'll be able to...

Orioles pitchers and catchers report to the spring training complex in Sarasota on Feb. 13. Maine residents arrived in the middle of January. Ryan Flaherty needed to escape the cold and proceed with his workouts before heading to Baltimore for FanFest. He's going to show up as the favorite to start at second base. Does his status change his offseason routine? "Not really," he replied last week on WBAL Radio. "I've taken a lot from what I've learned the last couple years and I've tried...

The Nationals announced that more than 8,400 people showed up today at NatsFest. Hope everyone who did had a blast. Unfortunately, as is almost always the case with these events, I was pretty much stashed away in a media work room, making the walk from the interview area to my laptop and then back to the interview area. Wish I could've seen more of the sights and sounds around the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. Here are a handful of final notes and quotes from a jam-packed...

While Bryce Harper still has a little ways to go in his rehab from offseason knee surgery, Stephen Strasburg's rehab is complete following a surgical procedure to remove loose bodies from his right elbow back in October. Strasburg says that he went through a brief six-week rehab period following the surgery, but that he's now back to his normal offseason routine. As a result, he expects to be full-go when spring training begins in a few weeks. "(The offseason routine) really hasn't...

Even before his Nationals career was over, Livan Hernandez was talking about how he'd like to return to the organization once he had thrown his last pitch. He wanted to be able to work with young pitchers, impart the knowledge that helped him forge a 17-year major league career, five of those seasons spent in a Washington uniform (and two before that north of the border with the Expos). Now it appears that dream may become a reality. Appearing at NatsFest on Saturday, the 38-year-old...

It was not a World Series win. It was not even a playoff win. But on the night of Sept. 6, 2012, the Orioles won a huge game against the New York Yankees behind an eighth-inning homer barrage. What brings that game to mind was that is was replayed recently on MASN and I got into a Twitter conversation with fans about whether that was the best home crowd we've ever seen at Camden Yards. That, of course, is subjective - personal to each of us and some would not agree. That night, some fans...

Whatever the Nationals want him to do is just fine with Tanner Roark. "If they want me to throw one pitch to one guy, I'll do it," he said. "Anything to help out the team. It's a different mindset. Starting, you've got four days to prepare yourself. Relieving, you flip that switch right away once you hear that phone ring. Everybody looks back to see who's name will be called. But I like starting, I guess." Coming off a spectacular 2013 campaign where he went 7-1 with a 1.51 ERA in 14...

Back at the Winter Meetings in December, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo suggested that Danny Espinosa could become a solid backup middle infielder this season, largely because of his defensive abilities at shortstop and second base. Today, Espinosa said that Rizzo and new Nats manager Matt Williams have both told him that he'll get a chance to compete with Anthony Rendon for the Nationals' starting second base job, the job that Espinosa held in 2011, 2012 and early in the 2013 season...

If Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard has a sense of how his impending run through the arbitration process will unfold, he's keeping it close to the vest. "I don't know, we'll see how it all plays out," the veteran right-hander said when asked if he expected to go to an arbitration hearing with the Nats. Clippard has filed for arbitration and, since he wasn't able to reach an agreement with the Nationals, he and his representatives have exchanged proposed salary figures with the...

Bryce Harper says that he's been making solid progress in his recovery from offseason surgery to debride and repair the bursa sac in his left knee, but it sounds like there's a chance that he won't be full strength when spring training begins. Harper says that he's rehabbing the knee three times a week at this point and he's at week 12 or 13 in what he's been told is a 16-week rehab process. He sprinted for the first time three weeks ago and says that he felt good. But with position...