Major League Baseball and MLB Advanced Media announced that right fielder Jayson Werth was named the Nationals' nominee for the 2013 Hank Aaron Award. Fans can vote exclusively online at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites. For the fourth straight year, a special panel of Hall of Fame players led by Hank Aaron will join fans in voting for the award, which is officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball and has recognized the most outstanding offensive performer in each League since it was...

If you look at Denard Span's overall numbers for the 2013 season, you probably wouldn't have any indication of just how long the Nationals center fielder struggled offensively this year. Span's career slash line is .283/.351/.387. This season, he hit .279/.327/.380. Not his best work, but not a line that jumps out at you as all that subpar. Yet, for more than four months, Span was stuck in neutral from an offensive perspective. He didn't feel comfortable with his swing. He wasn't getting...

It became a popular feature on this blog late last offseason, so I'm breaking it out early this time around. It's the first offseason edition of "10 questions for O's fans." I've got plenty of questions and you provide plenty of answers. You don't need to answer all the questions. Answer one, two, five or all 10. Provide a one-word answer to any question or expand fully on your answer as much as you like. There are no right or wrong answers, just opinions from you that I'd love to...

The Orioles had the right idea. Add a big bat to the middle of the lineup before the deadline for setting playoff rosters. Don't stand pat while other contenders are hunting for more offense. Executive vice president Dan Duquette landed Michael Morse on Aug. 30, sending Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Xavier Avery to the Mariners. The Orioles claimed him off waivers and had 48 hours to work out a trade. They did so with a few minutes to spare. Morse figured to become the regular designated...

A couple of more pitchers who made moves this season deserve praise as we look ahead to 2014 and setting up the organizational rosters. Robert Benincasa and Matt Grace both were promoted this season and showed promise with their efficiency and consistency. One a right-hander and the other a southpaw, both spent time under high Single-A Potomac manager Brian Daubach in 2013. Daubach said Benincasa did not miss a beat after his promotion from low Single-A Hagerstown when he arrived with the...

I mentioned yesterday that the emergence of young pitching talent in the Nationals organization could cause general manager Mike Rizzo to view the plans for the back of the rotation differently. Instead of going out and spending a large chunk of money for an experienced free agent starter, like the Nats have the last two offseasons when they acquired Edwin Jackson and Dan Haren, Rizzo could go a different route. He could decide that with Tanner Roark, Taylor Jordan, Nathan Karns, A.J. Cole,...

The Orioles' attendance was up 12.1 percent in 2013 as the club drew a total of 2,357,101 fans over 81 dates a season after drawing 2,102,240 for 79 dates. This was the Orioles' largest attendance figure since the club drew 2,624,740 in 2005. The O's average attendance increased from 26,611 per game in 2012 to 29,100 in 2013. The Orioles posted seven sellouts, actually down one from last year. Maybe the most impressive was the 44,230 on the final day of the season for a game with no...

No matter how many times the rumors shifted from one player to the next, from one organization to the next, the Orioles never lost sight of Astros right-hander Bud Norris as the non-waiver trade deadline approached. He was a pitcher they had targeted, a pitcher under team control through the 2015 season who could solidify a rotation that was putting too much stress on the bullpen. The asking price was high. It gave some executives nose bleeds. The Orioles wouldn't part with Double-A...

In compiling the list of Orioles trades in July, I ignored the acquisition of minor league infielder Alex Liddi from the Mariners. He never made it to Baltimore and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers. I'm focused on the major league deals, which included the July 23 acquisition of veteran reliever Francisco Rodriguez from the Brewers for Single-A Frederick infielder Nicky Delmonico. Rodriguez didn't sign with the Brewers until April...

Each of the last two offseasons, the Nationals have added a veteran right-handed starter to complement the back end of their rotation. Edwin Jackson and Dan Haren were supposed to provide experienced, talented options behind a rotation of fairly young starters. They got $11 and $13 million, respectively, and were counted on to make big things happen to help the Nats get over the edge. It's safe to say that didn't happen. Jackson went 10-11 with a 4.03 ERA in 189 innings in 2012 and...