Since July 2011, Doug Fister has been with the Detroit Tigers, a team that made the postseason in each of the last three years and made it to the World Series in 2012. He's built friendships there and has pitched in a strong starting rotation. The 29-year-old is now eager to have some of those same experiences in D.C. Fister found out last night that he had been traded to the Nationals, who will now be his third organization in six major league seasons. Both he and fellow Tigers right-hander...

With the holiday season underway, the Orioles will host a youth baseball tournament and help a worthy cause this Saturday, December 7. The Orioles invite Sarasota area residents to bring a new, unwrapped toy for donation to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program to the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex in Twin Lakes Park anytime between 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., then stay to watch games played as part of the Suncoast Travel Ball's Toys for Tots Baseball Tournament. Donated toys will be...

The Nationals acquired a frontline starter in right-hander Doug Fister on Monday, and now turn their sights on the rest of the 25-man roster. It appears now that the starting rotation is almost set for 2014, with Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez and Fister the top four. Where does this leave Ross Detwiler? Nationals executive vice president Mike Rizzo said it is not so much about Detwiler as it is that the Nats now have options for that spot this season, where they didn't...

Reporters didn't get a chance to discuss the Doug Fister trade with Mike Rizzo last night because Rizzo had previous obligations, but we were able to fire questions at the Nationals general manager just a bit ago during a conference call. Rizzo said that the Nationals had been talking with the Tigers about a possible trade for a starting pitcher dating to just before the general managers meetings in November, and they initially "kicked the tires" on three of Detroit's right-handed options...

Jim Johnson is known as a stoic figure on the mound and inside the clubhouse. Nothing seems to faze him. Not the pressure situations in the ninth inning or the blown saves or the fan criticism. It wasn't until Johnson began to talk about his tenure with the Orioles, which ended with last night's trade to the Oakland Athletics, that the emotions bubbled to the surface. Johnson choked up several times during a phone conversation while reflecting on the past two years and the role he played in...

The trade of Jim Johnson sure brought on an avalanche of reaction, much of it questioning the return the Orioles got in Jemile Weeks from Oakland. In acquiring Weeks, the Orioles got a player who didn't even play much in the majors last year and has not been able to duplicate his big league success of 2011, when he hit .303 in 97 games. It appears Weeks is not being handed the second base job, so the O's did not get back a top prospect or a player guaranteed to be a regular in exchange for...

Jim Johnson flew into San Diego late last night with the intention of working out with Orioles executive Brady Anderson. He had no idea that he would be traded to a West Coast team. Talk about a strange coincidence. Johnson was dealt to the Oakland Athletics for infielder Jemile Weeks and a PTBNL, the announcement coming at the midnight deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players. It had to be a shock to his system. Johnson said he was still digesting the news. I...

To recap a busy day and night, the Orioles tendered contracts to six of their arbitration-eligible players: catcher Matt Wieters, first baseman Chris Davis, and pitchers Tommy Hunter, Bud Norris, Brian Matusz and Troy Patton. They reached agreements on one-year deals with outfielders Nolan Reimold ($1.025 million) and Steve Pearce ($850,000). They traded closer Jim Johnson to the Athletics for infielder Jemile Weeks and a PTBNL. And they non-tendered outfielder Jason Pridie and knuckleballer...

By now, we've all had time to digest last night's trade that brought right-hander Doug Fister to the Nationals and sent infielder Steve Lombardozzi, and left-handers Ian Krol and Robbie Ray to the Tigers. Now let's break it down a bit more. There are certainly some Nationals fans who are sad to see Lombardozzi go, given that he's a local kid who has made an impact for the last few seasons and has done everything that's been asked of him, including learning new positions, without a single...

The early reaction to tonight's trade via my Twitter account has not been real positive, but feel free to add your two cents here as well. Those that wanted Jim Johnson gone got their wish tonight, as the Orioles traded him to the Oakland A's for infielder Jemile Weeks, which was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. The Orioles also get a player to be named later. Weeks had a slash line of .282/.375/.402 in 361 minor league games and has a line of .258/.319/.677 in 223 major...