SARASOTA, Fla. - Infielder Danny Valencia is attracting attention in camp for the wrong reason. For now, Valencia is known more for being a player whose name appears in the records of the Miami-area Biogenesis clinic that is alleged to have distributed performance-enhancing drugs to a number of players. He's looking forward to having the focus shift back to baseball, and he took a step toward reaching that goal this afternoon. Valencia already issued a statement denying any involvement with...

VIERA, Fla. - We spoke to Gio Gonzalez yesterday about his involvement with Biogenesis, the anti-aging clinic that allegedly supplied performance-enhancing drugs to major league players. Today, we talked to Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo about Gonzalez and his future. Because of Major League Baseball's ongoing investigation into Biogenesis and Tony Bosch, who ran the clinic, Rizzo couldn't say too much on Gonzalez and the Nats' plans for their star lefty. Rizzo did say, however, that...

SARASOTA, Fla. - No major news came out of today's first workout for pitchers and catchers - and all the position players who reported early. The only position players still marked absent are Travis Ishikawa and Yamaico Navarro. We haven't seen Wilson Betemit, but he reported. We heard Adam Jones in the outdoor batting cage as reporters walked past it. He wanted to get our attention in the usual humorous manner. Nolan Reimold took batting practice in the same group as Manny Machado, Ryan...

VIERA, Fla. - Davey Johnson strolled into the home dugout at Space Coast Stadium a bit ago, wearing a blue track suit and sneakers, a smile on his face as the last season of his managerial career has gotten under way. After participating in meetings with coaches and front office members over parts of the last couple of days and taking his physical this morning, the 70-year-old Nationals skipper told stories of his offseason trip to Africa, recounting tales of watching a lion eating a warthog,...

When you're a rookie on the baseball beat, you're caught between a rock and a hard place. You want to act the part, be professional and do your job - which is a little hard when you're suddenly smack-dab in the middle of a major league clubhouse, chatting up the same players you previously cheered for from the stands. It's wonderful to realize a lifelong dream - and more than a bit scary, too. But back in 1993, when I made my first appearance on the Orioles beat as a freelancer for The...

As the Orioles get spring training underway in Sarasota, the club will host five Division I college baseball teams for the Snowbird Classic at Ed Smith Stadium and the Buck O'Neil Baseball Complex this weekend, Friday, February 15 through Sunday, February 17. Five college teams - Florida Gulf Coast University, the University of Notre Dame, Ohio State University, St. John's University and Mercer University - will play games at Ed Smith Stadium from Friday through Sunday. One game, on Sunday,...

VIERA, Fla. - While the last few days have consisted of just some light workouts for the players who chose to arrive early to Nationals camp, today marks the first mandatory day in camp for pitchers and catchers. All pitchers and catchers on the roster were expected to report that they were in the area by midnight last night, so as of this morning, we have yet to receive word on whether everyone expected to be here is, in fact, here. That said, I haven't yet heard of any of the dreaded visa...

This has been a good place over the last few months to take the pulse of the fans on the Orioles. On the moves they made and the ones they didn't. On O's fans' expectations for this team and on the predictions of others. Today, I want your opinions on the man heading it all up - Dan Duquette. Have O's fans become Duquette fans after his first season produced 93 wins and a playoff berth? What did you think when he was first hired? What do you think of him after an offseason that has been...

According to a Houston media outlet during the 2012 season, there were reports that Nationals top prospect Anthony Rendon might not return to the field because of his recovery from an ankle injury. Third baseman Rendon suffered a fractured left ankle early in April for the high Single-A Potomac Nationals. But slowly and methodically, Rendon rehabbed that ankle and was able to resume baseball late last season. Double-A Harrisburg Senators manager Matt Lecroy got to see Rendon play for the last...

SARASOTA, Fla. - So far, the two most interesting stories in Orioles camp involve players who aren't here - literally or technically. Jair Jurrjens can't report until the Orioles decide whether he passed a physical. Trayvon Robinson apparently is here, but his dateline reads "LIMBO" until it's determined whether he passed through waivers. Otherwise, the biggest buzz yesterday may have come from Nolan Reimold, who hit live pitching for the first time since his surgery. After some...