Given the state of the Nationals' roster going into this offseason, general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Johnson could have essentially run out pretty much the exact same team in 2013. They could have left Bryce Harper in center field and put Michael Morse in left. They could have kept Jayson Werth as their leadoff hitter, given the high on-base percentage Werth put up last season in that spot. They could have offered Edwin Jackson a qualifying offer or made an effort to re-up the...

It would be highly surprising if the Orioles didn't announce manager Buck Showalter's contract extension this week, leading up to Saturday's FanFest at the Baltimore Convention Center. Showalter keeps downplaying the importance of the extension. He almost seems embarrassed by the money he's already made in this game. "Honestly, the way I judge whether or not I've got enough money is, if I can walk into Target and buy anything I want, I'm in good shape," Showalter said Saturday on...

So, were there any exciting sporting events over the weekend? I heard there were some. Meanwhile, back on the baseball beat, what if there was a team and only four other teams made more errors than said team last season? What if just three squads had a lower fielding percentage than said team? Could that squad be a good fielding team in 2013? It can if you are talking about the Orioles, and of course we are. Tampa Bay, a team with a recent history of very solid defense, led the American...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter filled in for Dave Johnson yesterday as one of the co-hosts of "Wall to Wall Baseball" on MASN. He passed the audition. In case you missed it, I asked Showalter whether the Orioles would have to be overwhelmed by an offer in order to trade shortstop J.J. Hardy, who's coveted by the Detroit Tigers. "What's the word above overwhelmed? Stunned?" he said. "I like J.J. He's pretty good and he's going to have a big offensive year for us this year, I think....

Despite lots of Twitter campaigning this past week, Bryce Harper came up short in the voting for the cover of MLB '13 The Show. Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen will grace the video game's cover after receiving over 108,000 votes via Facebook and Twitter. Harper received 42,542 votes and finished fifth in voting that also contained CC Sabathia, Miguel Cabrera, Matt Kemp, Buster Posey and Ryan Braun. We know that Harper will not be participating in the World Baseball Classic this...

The Orioles are preparing to hire Matt Martin as their new minor league infield coordinator, a position that became vacant with Bobby Dickerson's promotion to third base coach. Martin, 43, served in the same role with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2007-2011. Last year, he was named manager of the AZL Dodgers and coordinator of Arizona instruction. Previously, Martin managed the Pioneer League's Billings Mustangs (1996), the New York-Penn League's Jamestown Jammers (1997) and the Gulf Coast...

High Single-A Potomac Nationals manager Brian Daubach recently completed winter ball as the hitting coach for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Republic. Daubach worked with 30 hitters from several teams, including Nationals outfielder Eury Perez. Daubach said their is nothing like baseball in the Dominican. He said the way the fans get into the games, being right on top of the action, reacting to every pitch and every swing, makes it feel like every game is a must-win. "It is pretty...

While we wait for the Orioles to announce Buck Showalter's contract extension, center fielder Adam Jones is just grateful that his manager will be staying around for a while. As you may recall, Jones walked into Showalter's office before signing his own extension last summer and asked about his manager's commitment to the organization. He didn't doubt Showalter's passion for winning. Jones just wanted to make sure that Showalter, startled by the question, wasn't going to abruptly...

The Orioles have promoted scout James Keller to the position of national pitching crosschecker, O's scouting director Gary Rajsich said tonight. Keller actually began working more closely with scouting pitchers before last season's draft. That was a draft where the Orioles took pitchers in the first two rounds, drafted eight in the first 12 rounds and selected 12 pitchers in the first 17 rounds. "That is really James' specialty. He's real good at identifying pitchers and real good with...

Today and this weekend, I'm asking 10 questions and looking for your answers. Feel free to provide a take on one, three, six or all 10 questions. If you want to number your answers to correspond with the question that may make it easier to follow. 1: How many games will Nolan Reimold start next season? 2: How many saves will Jim Johnson have in 2013? 3: In three years, will Johnson be a relief pitcher or a starting pitcher? 4: Which team will finish last in the American League East in...