Finally, some postseason recognition for the Nationals. Davey Johnson has been named National League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News. While this isn't the official baseball-sanctioned award - which is voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and will be announced Nov. 13 - it's the first of what could be several nice honors following the team's best season since arriving in D.C. In his first full season at the Nationals' helm, Johnson guided them to a 98-64...

Justin Verlander, the reigning AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, is the best pitcher in baseball. On average, he throws his fastball at a higher speed in the eighth and ninth innings than he does in the early innings. He has a 0.74 ERA with 25 strikeouts in the postseason. So given that he's on proper rest, the Tigers ace should mow through the Giants in Game 1 of the World Series tonight in San Francisco. Not so fast. Ace pitchers don't always dominate and there's never a predictable...

Right-hander Cole Kimball is finally back to feeling completely healthy following shoulder surgery. He is making his second appearance in Arizona and is excited to be back on the bump. Even though he is one of the older guys in the Arizona Fall League, he said he excited to be pitching again, keeping quiet and working hard. Kimball had rotator cuff surgery in July 2011, and has rehabbed to the point where his shoulder feels strong. He said the injury was a "freak accident," something he...

The cutoff for Super Two status this offseason is two years and 139 days of service time, according to The Associated Press. The cutoff would have been two years and 144 days under the old collective bargaining agreement. Super Two status enables a player to obtain a fourth year of arbitration eligibility. Jim Johnson qualified in 2010, Brad Bergesen in 2011. None of the Orioles were impacted this year. Brian Matusz has two years, 155 days of service time. Again, here's the list in...

After two straight subpar outings to open his Arizona Fall League season, Nationals farmhand Ryan Perry pitched a gem yesterday. Perry threw four perfect innings for the Salt River Rafters, striking out four. The 6-foot-4 right-hander finished out the regular season on an absolute tear for Double-A Harrisburg after being converted to a starter, and could continue to creep his way back up the organizational depth chart with a strong AFL performance. Also impressing out in Arizona is center...

One of the most surprising performances of the Orioles' postseason run may have come in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. Needing a win to force a Game 5 with the Yankees, the Orioles got it, and their victory in 13 innings included two shutout innings from reliever Pedro Strop. Many fans had to be nervous when Strop took the mound in the last of the 11th with the season riding on the outcome. Strop struggled badly late in the year but, on that night, when nothing less than...

Yesterday, it was Bryce Harper who fell short of the Sporting News Rookie of the Year award. Today, it's Adam LaRoche coming up just a few votes shy of the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year honors. LaRoche was edged out by Giants catcher Buster Posey, who won the award by earning 31 votes to LaRoche's 29. The voting was done by a panel of major league players. LaRoche battled shoulder issues through his first season with the Nationals last year, hitting just .172 with a .546 OPS...

The August trade that sent reliever Matt Lindstrom and a player to be named later to the Diamondbacks for left-hander Joe Saunders and cash has been completed. The teams couldn't agree on a PTBNL. The Orioles instead will send an undisclosed amount of cash to Arizona. It's a done deal. The PTBNL was supposed to be determined after the season. In the meantime, Saunders went 3-3 with a 3.63 ERA in seven starts after the Aug. 26 trade and allowed two earned runs in 11 1/3 innings in the...

A few days ago, I gave you the rundown of arbitration-eligible Orioles and educated guesses on which players could be non-tendered. There are enough names on the list to keep any team executive busy. The Orioles don't have nearly as many pending unrestricted free agents. The 40-man roster includes outfielders Nate McLouth and Endy Chavez, pitcher Joe Saunders and designated hitter Jim Thome. Pitcher Randy Wolf and first baseman Nick Johnson are on the 60-day disabled list. This group can...

It wasn't the tight, dramatic Game 7 that many, including myself, were hoping for. No, it certainly wasn't that. The Giants crushed the Cardinals 9-0 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series last night, giving them the NL pennant and perhaps giving Nationals fans a bit of a reason to smile. The Nats watched a 6-0 lead over St. Louis slip away in Game 5 of the Division Series, but the Cardinals had a big lead of their own disappear in the NLCS with a spot in the World Series oh...