Orioles infielder Ryan Flaherty collected nine hits and one illness during his brief stay in the Dominican Winter League. Flaherty, who's currently working out in Tampa, batted .209/.306/.233 with one double, three RBIs, six walks and 13 strikeouts in 43 at-bats with Escogido. He returned to the U.S. on Dec. 20 about eight pounds lighter after coming down with a bad case of "water poisoning" during his last few days. "It was kind of crappy," Flaherty said, no pun intended. "It's...

The Washington Nationals have agreed to terms with left-handed pitchers Fernando Abad, Bill Bray and Brandon Mann, right-handed pitcher Ross Ohlendorf and infielder Will Rhymes on minor-league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training. In addition, the Nationals extended Spring Training invites to left-handed pitcher Pat McCoy, right-handed pitcher Tanner Roark, catcher Carlos Maldonado, first baseman/third baseman Matt Skole and infielder Zach Walters. Nationals Executive Vice...

The Gulf Coast League Nationals had their share of pitching prospects make progress in 2012, as the youngsters look to move up to short-season Single-A Auburn or low Single-A Hagerstown. We will take a look at several of their prospects in a couple of installments this week. The Nationals worked very hard to teach the prospects to pitch to contact, emphasizing from the beginning a philosophy of putting the ball in play and not allowing walks. Pitching coach Michael Tejera, rehab pitching...

Another Scott Boras client is coming to the nation's capital. The Nationals have signed right-handed reliever Rafael Soriano to a two-year, $28 million deal with a vesting option for a third year, according to Yahoo! Sports. Update: A source confirms the report. The terms listed above are accurate. Soriano's third-year option, worth $14 million, vests if he finishes 120 games over the next two seasons. By signing Soriano, 33, the Nationals will forfeit their first-round pick (No. 29...

If you look at Adam Jones' offensive stats, they have been trending upward for three years now. It makes you wonder just how good the Orioles center fielder can be and how much better he can get. When MLB Network recently picked its list of the current 10 best center fielders, guest host Bill James rated Jones fifth and analyst and former Oriole Bill Ripken placed Jones third among all center fielders behind only Mike Trout and Andrew McCutchen. Ripken said of Jones that he got a lot of big...

Nothing beats a memory, and Orioles FanFest is all about creating memories. The photographic kind - the variety that give you the opportunity to prove you've pressed the flesh with one of your favorite Orioles players or MASN personalities, maybe exchanged a quick question or prediction about the 2013 Birds. Come Saturday at the Convention Center, you'll get that chance - over and over again. Check in our at MASN booth - more like a small city deserving of its own ZIP code, actually - in the...

Los Angeles, where Bryce Harper made his major league debut on April 28, will also be the site of the Nationals outfielder's debut on late night television. Harper, the National League Rookie of the Year, will appear tonight on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," which emanates from the City of Angels. The show starts at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time. Memo to show host Jimmy Kimmel: Watch the clown questions, bro. This is a nice get for the Nats, who have an opportunity to enhance their national...

If you don't mind staying up close to or past midnight tonight, you'll find the 2012 National League Rookie of the Year making an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," a late-night talk show on ABC. Bryce Harper will be swinging by the set for an interview with Kimmel, whose show starts at 11:35 p.m. It's too bad Harper hasn't been able to have any cool things happen to him prior to turning 21. Just a shame. By the way, I'm setting the over/under at the first "That's a clown question,...

I don't have information on all of the forums at FanFest, but I do know that Brian Matusz is participating in one that features a group of Orioles relievers. This doesn't mean that Matusz is assured of being assigned to the bullpen on opening day. He's going to work out as a starter in spring training. But he ended 2012 as a reliever and that's how he'll enter FanFest. Matusz was 6-10 with a 4.87 ERA in 34 games last year. He posted a 5.42 ERA as a starter and a 1.35 ERA as a...

He is mentioned often as being one of the Orioles' top pitching prospects. After this past season, Baseball America rated right-hander Mike Wright as the club's No. 8 prospect and he ranks fourth among pitchers after Dylan Bundy (No. 1), Kevin Gausman (No. 2) and Eduardo Rodriguez (No. 5). Wright began this past year at Single-A Frederick and went 5-2 with a 2.91 ERA in eight starts for the Keys. He moved to Double-A Bowie in late May, but after just two Baysox starts, he spent about five...