Last month, I wrote about the Orioles' plans to commemorate their 60th anniversary in Baltimore next season by wearing a patch on their right sleeve. Well, they unveiled it this morning in a tweet. This is the fourth consecutive season that the Orioles will wear a patch on their right sleeve. They sported one in 2011 with "Baltimore" or "Orioles" in script, depending on the jersey. The 2012 patch commemorated the 20th anniversary of Camden Yards, and the 2013 patch honored Hall of Fame...

The Nationals recently completed their first strength and conditioning camp for prospects at their training facility in Viera, Fla. As I reported earlier, this camp was administered by the Nationals' strength coaches and personnel and was focused on preparing prospects for their individualized offseason conditioning regimen. A major factor in this camp was the importance of nutrition for each prospect, re-emphasizing the standards the organization set for its 250 players during the season...

As a whole, the Nationals bullpen pitched to a 3.56 ERA in 2013, 17th-best in the majors. Nats relievers had a .252 batting average against (24th-best), put up a 1.29 WHIP (16th-best) and allowed a .679 OPS against (12th-best). Those aren't horrendous numbers, but it was clear that the Nats' bullpen dropped off from 2012, when that unit ranked seventh in the league with a 3.23 ERA and delivered big innings down the stretch in the team's postseason run. Improving the bullpen will be one...

While fan challenge winners Brady Doyle and Bella Ronca may not be able to snag line drives or smash home runs as well as Ryan Zimmerman, they proved that that they could take down the Nationals third baseman in an Xbox battle. Thanks to MASN's annual fan challenge, the duo had the opportunity to meet Zimmerman and take him on in a game of MLB 2K13. Doyle and Ronca submitted a video during the season, challenging Zimmerman to try to beat them in a game of MLB 2K13. Eventually, their video was...

What can we look forward to this week? Perhaps we can read a little something into this quote on Wednesday from executive vice president Dan Duquette, who returned my call during the last night of the GM meetings in Orlando: "We've been meeting with teams and agents and canvassing the market and seeing where we match up with teams. We've been talking to agents about signing some players to help bolster our ballclub, so we're making some pretty good progress with a couple of conversations...

If the Orioles are to add any players from their minor leagues to their 40-man roster in advance of next month's Rule 5 draft, they must do it by Wednesday at 5 p.m. Pitcher Tim Berry and catcher Michael Ohlman continue to look like the most likely to be added. Pitcher Oliver Drake has also been discussed and could lead the next group of players the club may be considering along with catcher Caleb Joseph and pitchers Jason Gurka and Eddie Gamboa. As I've written before, pitchers Eduardo...

The Arizona Fall League season has come to an end, with the Mesa Solar Sox, the team featuring eight Nationals prospects, falling to the Surprise Saguaros 2-0 in yesterday's championship game. Nats outfield prospect Steven Souza went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts and one of Mesa's five hits, and outfielder Brian Goodwin went 0-for-1 in a pinch-hitting role. None of the Nats' four pitching prospects on Mesa's roster saw action during the championship game. For a full rundown of how the...

How would you feel about the Orioles adding a starting pitcher who last year went 18-6 with an ERA of 2.65? He had a WHIP of 1.166 and walked just 1.4 batters per every nine innings. He was second in the American League in ERA and wins while adding three shutouts. By the way, you may be able to sign this pitcher for just one year. What? Who is this and how could this be possible? It is Bartolo Colon and because he will turn 41 next May, some team may be able to sign him to pitch on just a...

I checked my home insurance policy and I'm not covered for an avalanche of questions from Orioles fans. I'll just have to take my chances and live dangerously. The hot stove increases my risks, and not only because I could get burned if I'm out of touch with it (see what I did there?). I'm asked to confirm or shoot down various rumors. I'm asked for status updates on negotiations. I'm asked the same stuff over and over. I take so many deep breaths, I get lightheaded. For those reasons,...

Orioles pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez had a strong outing today in the Arizona Fall League championship game. The 20-year-old left-hander from Valencia, Venezuela, pitched three shutout innings for Surprise against Mesa. Rodriguez, who pitched this year at Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie, left with a 1-0 lead. Rodriguez gave up just two singles, one of which was erased on a caught stealing. He didn't walk a batter and fanned four. He fanned the Nos. 3 and 4 Mesa hitters in the...