At one point, it seemed likely that the Nationals would switch spring training locations after the 2013 season, with the team looking to relocate its minor league facilities from Viera, Fla., to Fort Myers. Apparently, the chances of that happening continue to decrease. According to

Exactly one week from today will be the second official day of baseball's Winter Meetings, which are being held in Nashville. I'll get my cardio workout from chasing false rumors and power-walking through the lobby of the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, which I'm told is roughly the length of 72,000 football fields. Anyone want to trade places with me? I'm taking offers. Last year's meetings in Dallas yielded a Dana Eveland trade and Ryan Flaherty claim in the Rule 5...

The Arizona Fall League announced its Top Prospects Team and a pair of Nationals prospects made the list. Both are third basemen - Anthony Rendon and Matt Skole. The team was put together by AFL managers and coaches. The Top Prospects Team recognizes players who distinguished themselves throughout the league's six-week 2012 schedule against other top prospects from every organization in Major League Baseball. Voters also were asked to consider AFL performance and major league...

Well, that new contract that Evan Longoria signed with the Tampa Bay Rays was a surprise to me. I guess if there was one player to lock up long-term for that franchise, it's Longoria. But the Rays had Longoria under team control through the 2016 season. Why add six years to that? Maybe the Rays will be proven to have made a smart move here, but having a player under team control for the next four seasons seems like a very long time to me. Wasn't there plenty of time over the next few years...

The Orioles haven't contacted former manager Sam Perlozzo about their third base coaching job. Perlozzo, who was let go as Phillies first base coach, obviously would be interested if the Orioles reached out to him. So far, it hasn't happened. Perlozzo seemed like a perfect fit for the Nationals after third base coach Bo Porter was hired as Astros manager, but the club needed an outfield instructor. The Orioles, meanwhile, need an infield instructor to replace DeMarlo Hale. The Frontier...

Brian Graham, the Orioles' coordinator of minor league instruction, is definitely being considered for the third base coaching job. So is Bobby Dickerson, the Orioles' minor league infield coordinator. They are two of the in-house candidates. Former Orioles shortstop and current MASN analyst Mike Bordick hasn't been contacted at this point. Bordick would be considered if the Orioles had a vacancy somewhere else on the staff, but manager Buck Showalter is seeking an experienced replacement...

The short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds have a new logo, a sleek, more fearsome-looking bird to accompany the club's 12th season in the New York-Penn League as an Orioles affiliate. Gone is the smiling cartoon jet logo that had been a constant since Ripken Baseball founded the club in 2002. In its place is a much more serious avian emissary with a link to "Iron Man" - the Robert Downey Jr. film franchise, not the moniker bestowed on Cal Ripken Jr. for his consecutive-games prowess....

Come playoff time, major leaguers aren't thinking about money. They're thinking about the World Series. They're thinking about a ring. They're thinking about what they can do to help their team make a run deep into the postseason. With that, however, comes money. The further your team advances in the postseason, the larger a monetary pool your team will receive from Major League Baseball, which gives playoff teams a percentage of the gate receipts from the postseason action. The league...

We're getting close. After weeks of chatter but minimal action, the hot stove is finally getting ready to heat up. Things often develop slowly during the baseball offseason. Teams spend weeks kicking the tires on players, feeling out agents and determining where their priorities lie. Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, all the talk will start to get put into action. A week from today, the annual Winter Meetings will begin. I'll fly down to Nashville on Sunday afternoon, grab some good...

The Orioles say they'd like Nate McLouth back. He played well for the last two months of last year and was the Orioles' best hitter in the playoffs. Now that he is a free agent, McLouth can sign with any team and the Orioles will likely have competition as they try to retain the 32-year-old lefty hitter. But maybe one thing they have in their favor is that Baltimore just may be the best place for McLouth. Shouldn't he want to return to the Orioles as well? McLouth was with the Pirates his...