Now that most of the smoke has cleared from yesterday's Hall of Fame voting - if not the stench from the steroid scandal - we can look ahead to the 2014 ballot and the inclusion of a former Orioles pitcher who was inducted into their Hall of Fame over the summer. Yes, Mike Mussina will be eligible for induction in Cooperstown. Put your bitterness aside and tell me whether he's deserving based on his numbers. Mussina was 270-153 with a 3.68 ERA in 537 games. He struck out 2,813 batters in...

Today a random rumblings, Hall of Fame edition. As per usual, after reading this please leave plenty of your own opinions and comments: * The so-called steroid era is a mass of confusion to me. It is undefined, subjective and talk of it creates many more questions that actual answers. It creates a wealth of strong opinion and spirited debate, which is interesting, but very few absolute facts. It makes each Hall voter judge and jury and that is what a vote is, I guess. You decide what you think...

With Orioles pitchers and catchers set to report Feb. 12, it's time to reveal which spring training games can be viewed from the comfort of your home or favorite watering hole. Perhaps you're lucky enough to have a television at work and an understanding boss. MASN HD will televise six exhibition games, all from Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, beginning with the Monday, Feb. 25 clash with the New York Yankees at 1 p.m. Yes, it's a rematch of the American League Division Series. The gloves...

The Baseball Writers' Association of America didn't elect any players to Cooperstown on Wednesday, but despite the shutout and the controversy surrounding the vote, Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson said he sees no need to change the voting process. "We remain confident and comfortable with the voting electorate as well as the procedures we give the electorate," Idelson said in a conference call after the announcement that no player received the 75 percent needed to be inducted. "It's...

The Hall of Fame pitched a shutout this year. For only the eighth time since voting began in 1936, a winning candidate did not emerge from the balloting conducted by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. There were 569 ballots cast, the third-highest total in the history of the voting, but none of the 37 candidates received the necessary 75 percent for election. Former Houston Astros second baseman Craig Biggio led the way with 68.2 percent of the votes, followed by Jack...

One day after agreeing to terms on a two-year deal with the Nationals, first baseman Adam LaRoche said that despite other offers, he knew this was the place he wanted to be. There were negotiations with the Nationals and with some other teams, but one reason LaRoche did not accept something comparable was because the Nats already had a good team, and he felt most comfortable playing for them. "One of the big ones was I was fighting to get back to Washington," LaRoche said during a...

Back at the Winter Meetings in December, Davey Johnson said that he'd ideally like to add another left-handed reliever to his bullpen, giving him better match-up options late in games. General manager Mike Rizzo echoed that sentiment, but said that the Nationals don't necessarily need to add a late-inning lefty. Rizzo's reasoning was that with Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen and Ryan Mattheus in the Nationals' bullpen, Johnson has three righties who possess good track records against...

The weeks-long staredown between Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo and first baseman Adam LaRoche has concluded, with the free agent getting the two-year deal the Nats offered rather than the three-year contract he sought. What did we learn from these negotiations? (First, let's just agree that we can call them negotiations, even though there was precious little give and take. Rizzo drew a line in the sand, didn't waver and basically forced LaRoche's hand. It wasn't exactly a...

The baseball recovery clock from Tommy John started on Aug. 31, 2012, for Lucas Giolito. But before that day, the Nationals and baseball gurus got a small window into the immense potential that made Giolito the team's No. 1 selection in the 2012 draft. The 6-foot-6, 225-lb., flame throwing right-hander out of Santa Monica, Calif., pitched two innings for Gulf Coast Nationals and then-manager Tripp Keister saw quickly why the Nationals have such high hopes for the 18-year-old. Giolito was...

In the wake of the news that Adam LaRoche has signed a two-year deal with the Nationals worth a guaranteed $24 million, the most popular question among fans, by far, seems to be the following: Why would the Nats trade Michael Morse? Morse has become a popular guy with teammates and fans over the last couple years, thanks largely to his offensive production (it's tough to dislike a guy who hit .303 with a .910 OPS and 31 home runs two seasons ago), but also because of his quirky, fun-loving...