Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter kicked off a day-long series of fan forums by taking questions from season plan holders, a session that lasted about 30 minutes. J.J. Hardy can become a free agent after this season, and Duquette said the club will attempt to sign him to an extension before opening day, bringing a round of applause from the crowd. Duquette noted how the Orioles offered Chris Davis a long-term extension, "but it hasn't really...

Orioles pitcher Troy Patton said he let the team down and he has some repair work to do with the team and the O's fans. Patton was suspended for 25 games without pay in December after testing positive for an amphetamine in violation of Major League Baseball's joint drug prevention and treatment program. Patton says he has an issue with attention deficit disorder and took something late last year to try to boost his energy. "I took an Adderall and I don't have a prescription for it, at the...

The Nationals announced this morning that they have agreed to terms with right-hander Doug Fister on a contract for 2014, avoiding arbitration. Update: The New York Post reports that the Nats and Fister agreed to a one-year, $7.2 million deal. The Nationals had offered Fister $5.5 million through the arbitration process and Fister had countered at $8.5 million. Fister, who went 14-9 with a 3.67 ERA in 2013, made $4 million last season. Fister was acquired by the Nats in a December trade...

This will be the only blog entry I file today from outside the Baltimore Convention Center, barring late-breaking news as I'm heading back home in the evening. Don't hold your breath for the Orioles to announce a major signing at FanFest. It's doubtful that they would confirm a deal pending a physical - more fallout from the Grant Balfour debacle - and it would be extremely difficult to arrange and complete the exams, approve the results and get a signature on a contract before the crowd...

For the Orioles, the effort to get better on the international front continued this week with the additions of two players the club is high on. The Orioles purchased a 17-year-old first baseman, Carlos Diaz, from the Mexico City Red Devils. Diaz is from Baja California, Ensenada, Mexico. The Orioles signed 16-year old international free agent third baseman Jomar Reyes. Reyes is from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Orioles vice president Dan Duquette praised Fred Ferreira, the club's...

Drum roll please, it's time to announce Baseball America's No. 1 Nats prospect. It is, of course, 19-year-old right-hander Lucas Giolito, which comes as no surprise. Giolito rebounded from Tommy John surgery to post solid numbers in his first true pro season within the Nationals organization. In eight games with Rookie-level Gulf Coast Nationals and three starts at short-season Single-A Auburn, Giolito went 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 11 starts. In 36 2/3 innings, Giolito struck out 39...

The Potomac Nationals are coming off a tremendous season that saw them win both halves of the Carolina League Northern Division season and appear in the Mills Cup Championship final series. Most of those prospects from 2013 will now move on to Double-A Harrisburg. That will mean that new high Single-A manager Tripp Keister will have most of his roster from low Single-A Hagerstown to follow suit and join him in Woodbridge, Va. Here is my educated guess as to who will be on the field for the...

The Orioles have signed veteran shortstop Alex Gonzalez to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to spring training, according to a team official. This is not the big announcement for FanFest. I repeat, this is not the big announcement for FanFest. It's also not an indication that the Orioles are trying to trade shortstop J.J. Hardy. They've expressed a desire to sign him to an extension before he hits the free agent market next winter. Gonzalez, who turns 37 next month, batted...

I'm sure you're counting down the days until opening day, but if not, let me remind you there are only two more months! That's right. Just two months until the Nationals begin their season in New York. We took to Instagram yesterday, asking fans to submit their #TBT, "Throwback Thursday," pictures of their favorite memories from Nats Park. We saw awesome pictures of fans' experiences, and although it was difficult, we narrowed it down to five of our favorites. Check out the photos...

In many ways, Davey Johnson was a players' manager. One of those ways was that he ran a pretty laid-back spring training, in which early workouts usually were complete well before noon and veterans often weren't required to go on the long road trips. Things will probably be a bit different under new Nationals manager Matt Williams. Williams said at the Winter Meetings in December that he had the first 25 days of spring training totally mapped out. At NatsFest last weekend, Williams noted...