The Orioles just announced that they signed veteran left-handed reliever Armando Benitez, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Benitez, 39, last appeared in the majors with the Blue Jays in 2008. Update II: Now we know how the Orioles are making room for Romero at Norfolk. Left-hander

Every year, as the All-Star Game chatter gets going, the talk in Nationals nation is who they hope might get asked to be invited as a manager's choice, not which Nationals will actually be voted in or even how many will go. And usually the conversation centers around a Ryan Zimmerman or a Drew Storen. Every once and awhile a deserving Tyler Clippard or Dmitri Young gets the call. Not this season. There is an incredible Nationals buzz about this team throughout the league. This year's...

The 16 teams that gathered on baseball diamonds in Thurmont, Md., last weekend for a baseball jamboree didn't focus on wins and losses, batting averages and ERAs. They were more attuned to the game's basic tenets - hitting a pitched ball, fielding and throwing, running the bases. When a physical or developmental disability makes it more difficult to play the game you love, you tend to focus on the little things - and like the saying goes, the little things often mean the most. Since 1991,...

As it turns out, not only will Dylan Bundy stay pitching in a six-man rotation when he makes his first start for Single-A Frederick on Saturday night, but starting this weekend, three Orioles farm teams will be using six-man rotations. As Bundy moves to Frederick, right-hander Mike Wright moves from Frederick to Double-A Bowie to start tomorrow night and Zach Britton makes his first outing for the Baysox on Saturday, three O's farm clubs - Delmarva, Frederick and Bowie - will be going with...

As we all know, veteran Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts returned to competitive baseball last night as he played three innings for the Double-A Bowie Baysox last night. Roberts is playing for the Baysox as part of a rehabilitation assignment. He's missed much of the past two seasons dealing with post-concussion syndrome issues and other injuries. His Wednesday night was pretty mundane, as he walked in both his plate appearances and made some routine plays in the field. No matter what...

I usually use this space to delve into something that's caught my eye in the previous week of Nationals baseball. I try to examine whatever that might be using statistics, either the boxcar stats that come in the daily paper (you still read box scores, right?), or advanced stats, which really aren't all that advanced (it's still add, subtract, multiply and divide, just using some concepts you might not have thought about too much). But this week, I'm going to forget the statistics and...

You know what's fun? Being around opposing team's reporters and members of the national media and hearing them discuss Bryce Harper. Those of us who watch the 19-year-old play every day are accustomed to his speed, power, baseball awareness (most of the time) and hustle. Those who haven't witnessed Harper in action as much are wowed by what they see even on days when the youngster doesn't light up the stat sheet. As I wrote last night, Harper's statistical performance in yesterday's...

PHILADELPHIA - Bryce Harper was asked after tonight's game whether he got the feeling early on that his old buddy Cole Hamels was going to keep the Nationals off-balance all night. "Um, me personally, no," Harper said. "But maybe for everybody else, I guess. I felt good against him." Harper went 1-for-3 with a single and a walk against Hamels tonight, but it was his first at-bat that he was lamenting after the game. The Nats right fielder took a 90 mph cutter out to deep left in the...

In case you don't recognize it, the Orioles are experiencing what is commonly known as an "off-day." No reason to report to the ballpark. No workout, no game, no interviews. The rainout that proceeded the doubleheader against the Rangers doesn't count in manager Buck Showalter's book. Players still had to show up at Camden Yards. They hit in the indoor cage and watched video and dressed in front of each other. That's not an "off-day." I'm going to have one of those, too, but not...

PHILADELPHIA - After a bit of a shaky start, Edwin Jackson settled down and ended up allowing just three runs over seven innings in tonight's loss to the Phillies. Jackson just got out-pitched by Cole Hamels, who held Nationals hitters in check for a second straight start. "I thought Edwin pitched a damn good ballgame, we just couldn't get nothing going against Hamels," manager Davey Johnson said. "You've got to give him credit. Pitched a good ballgame, and by the time we got something...