Coming into spring training, was there any player on the Nationals roster who had more riding on this season from an individual perspective than Ian Desmond? Sure, guys like Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche felt the need to put up bounceback campaigns after really tough 2011 seasons. But they were proven big leaguers who simply were coming off a down year. Yeah, Ross Detwiler's emergence this year allowed him to establish himself as a true major league starter and cement a spot in the Nats'...

No doubt a real key to the Orioles playing excellent baseball after the All-Star break and particularly down the stretch was the very solid starting pitching we saw, pitching that got better deeper into the season. The Orioles' starting pitchers posted an ERA of 4.42 for the entire season to rank ninth in the American League. But that works out to an ERA of 4.77 in the first half, when the O's went 45-40, and a starters' ERA of 4.01 after the All-Star break, when the Orioles went...

The Salt River Rafters outscored Peoria 12-9 in the Arizona Fall League on Wednesday, rallying from an early 7-1 deficit. A five-run sixth inning and a four-run ninth broke open an 8-7 game for the win. The Rafters are now 5-2. Good game for

It doesn't seem that long ago that Steve Johnson was deciding whether he should re-sign with the Orioles. And later, whether he should become a minor league free agent if the Orioles didn't place him on the 40-man roster. Now he's still washing champagne out of his hair. Johnson's professional life took some crazy turns, including the one that pointed him toward the playoffs. He won all four of his major league decisions, posting a 2.11 ERA and striking out 46 batters in 38 1/3 innings....

Outfielder Brett Carroll and catcher Carlos Maldonado, two players who spent the bulk of the 2012 season with Triple-A Syracuse but had brief stints with the Nationals, have filed for free agency. Carroll was on the Nationals' opening day roster and appeared in five games before being designated for assignment. The 30-year-old went 0-for-2 with two runs scored with the Nats and batted .250 with 10 home runs and 50 RBIs in 111 games at Syracuse. The former 10th-round pick of the Marlins in...

Pitcher Dana Eveland and catcher Ronny Paulino, among the 52 players who appeared in games with the Orioles this season, have filed for free agency. Eveland, acquired from the Dodgers on the last day of the Winter Meetings for Jarret Martin and Tyler Henson, went 0-1 with a 4.73 ERA in 14 appearances with the Orioles, including two starts. He cleared waivers twice this summer - he didn't pitch for the Orioles after July 13 - and accepted outright assignments rather than forfeit the rest of...

I mentioned yesterday that if the Nationals want their 2013 roster to closely resemble their 2012 roster, they can make that happen. Re-sign Adam LaRoche this offseason, opt not to add a center fielder via free agency or a trade and keep Michael Morse in left. Bing, bang, boom, you've got the exact same outfield and infield alignment that we saw this season. Of course, general manager Mike Rizzo has plenty of other options that he can consider if he wants to shake things up a bit, the...

In case you don't remember, the Orioles used eight players to bat in the leadoff spot this year. They had varying degrees of success in the role and Nick Markakis and Nate McLouth were the only two players to start more than 20 games in that spot in the order. A lot of you would probably get this question wrong. Among players with more than three starts batting leadoff, which player produced the best winning percentage in his starts there? If you guessed Endy Chavez, you get a gold star,...

Just when I'm convinced that I've kept up with all the firsts with the Orioles this year, I stumble across another one. On Sept. 26, Jim Thome became the oldest player to homer for the Orioles at 42 years, 30 days. Thome was 11 days older than the previous record older. Can you name him? Answer below. No fair looking it up or scrolling down. While I'm focusing on Thome, I'll mention again that the Orioles don't know whether he wants to continue playing in 2013. That's because Thome...

So, it appears that Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is being skewered by the New York media for trying to score from the dugout. According to a New York Post article, Rodriguez flirted with two young women sitting in the stands after he was removed for a pinch hitter in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. The Yankees were losing 4-0. Rodriguez, who's 3-for-23 with no extra-base hits in the postseason, supposedly tossed a baseball to one of the women requesting her phone...