The Orioles' short-season entry in the Gulf Coast League is opening up a new season today in Florida. Here is the GCL O's opening day roster, with more players to be added from the draft as they sign and report. For the most part, almost every high school player the Orioles drafted will be sent to the GCL. Players from the 2013 draft are listed with the round in which they were selected. Pitchers: Augey Bill (round 39) Garrett Cortright (round 40) Dariel Delgado Dioni Dominguez Eric Green...

The Washington Nationals have agreed to terms with three additional players selected in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft: right-handed pitcher Nicholas Pivetta (fourth round), right-handed pitcher John Simms (11th round) and right-handed pitcher Andrew Cooper (12th round). Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made...

Ian Desmond said last night that if he was picking the starting pitcher for the National League All-Star team, Jordan Zimmermann would be his guy. What are the chances of that happening? Well, Zimmermann is now tied for the major league lead in wins with 10. He has a miniscule 2.26 ERA, fifth-best in the NL behind Clayton Kershaw, Jeff Locke, Shelby Miller and Matt Harvey. Zimmermann has thrown three complete games (tied with Adam Wainwright for the major league lead), his 0.93 WHIP ranks...

One of the nice things about great individual performances are that they bring attention to past player accomplishments. Such is the case with Manny Machado and Brian Roberts. Machado hit his major league-leading 33rd double of the season this week, which tied Roberts' Orioles record for most doubles prior to an All-Star Game. Machado is likely to break that 2008 mark as soon as this weekend and has Roberts' single-season franchise record for doubles in his sights. After setting an Orioles...

Mike Rizzo reluctantly parted with 2010 fourth-round pick A.J. Cole in the December 2011 trade with the Oakland A's that brought Gio Gonzalez to the nation's capital in return for Cole, left-hander Tom Milone, right-hander Brad Peacock and catcher Derek Norris. Given a chance to reacquire Cole a year later when the Athletics got involved in three-team talks with the Nationals and Seattle Mariners, Rizzo pulled the trigger on a deal that brought the 21-year-old Cole back to the organization...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter had a plan for third baseman Manny Machado. He formulated it over the winter, kept it quiet and sprung it on the media - and the world - toward the end of spring training. Showalter elevated Machado to second in the order in a late exhibition game. Since the rest of the lineup seemed to be designed for opening day in St. Petersburg, it was safe to assume that Machado would be the No. 2 hitter for the Orioles. Showalter downplayed it, of course, saying that...

The All-Star Game is just a few weeks away now. And if Jordan Zimmermann's 10-3 record and 2.26 ERA aren't doing enough to convince people that the 27-year-old right-hander belongs in the Midsummer Classic, his teammates are sure going to lend him some vocal support. "Oh absolutely. Yeah, no question," Adam LaRoche said, when asked whether Zimmermann deserves his first All-Star Game selection. "He's had, I don't know, maybe two rough outings. Other than that, he's absolutely dominated....

The first thing Davey Johnson said as he approached the podium for his postgame press conference after tonight's 5-1 win over the Rockies wasn't related to Jordan Zimmermann's stellar eight-inning outing or Adam LaRoche's three-hit, two-RBI night. It related to Anthony Rendon's eighth-inning error that put the potential game-tying run in the on-deck circle and brought Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez up with two runners on and one out. "My second baseman gave me a heart attack," Johnson...

Everyone has been talking about Superman since "Man of Steel" has been rocking the box offices the past week. It led us to consider: Who is the Nationals' "Man of Steel"? Is it Ian Desmond, who has hit two home runs in the past two games? Is it Jordan Zimmermann, who is tied for the major league lead with 10 wins? Perhaps it's one of the Nats' younger talents, Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper. With a well-balanced lineup, it's difficult to choose just one "Man of Steel". But, with...

While the Orioles enjoyed an off-day Thursday, the Detroit Tigers beat Boston 4-3 on Jhonny Peralta's two-run walkoff homer in the last of the ninth. The homer came off Andrew Bailey and it was his fourth blown save of the year. That Red Sox loss moved the Orioles to within one game of first place in the American League East. It is the closest the Orioles have been since May 12 as they begin a series in Toronto tonight against a Jays team that has won eight in a row. The Blue Jays have been...