According to this tweet from the Houston Chronicle's Zachary Levine, the Nationals have signed right-handed reliever Jeff Fulchino, who split last season between the Padres and Astros. In a five-season career that has also included stints with the Marlins and Royals, the 32-year-old Fulchino is 9-10 with a 4.84 ERA in 163 relief outings. He was 1-4 with a 5.71 ERA in 2011. Manager Davey Johnson has stated his preference to have both right- and left-handed long men in his bullpen, but...

So much for a slow day at Camden Yards. The Orioles just announced that they've hired Danny Haas as the club's national crosschecker. Haas spent the last 10 seasons as an amateur scout in the Boston Red Sox organization. In case anyone is confused by the term "crosschecker," here's a handy guide. Here's the rest of the Orioles' press release: Haas, 35, most recently served as Boston's Southeast Crosschecker. He was East Coast Crosschecker in 2010 and worked as the club's Upper...

The Baltimore Orioles today announced that Danny Haas has been hired as the club's National Crosschecker. Haas spent the last 10 seasons as an amateur scout in the Boston Red Sox organization. Haas, 35, most recently served as Boston's Southeast Crosschecker. He was East Coast Crosschecker in 2010 and worked as the club's Upper Midwest/Northeast Crosschecker from 2006-09. Red Sox major league players signed during that time include Ryan Kalish (ninth round in 2006), Ryan Lavarnway (sixth...

The Orioles have brought in a new executive vice president and scouting director. It was logical to assume that more changes were coming to various departments. Dan Duquette has made a few hires and done some restructuring, and it continued yesterday. Confirming this report from FOX Sports, Duquette has reassigned pro scouts Todd Frohwirth, Jim Howard, James Keller, Ted Lekas, Lee MacPhail IV and Jim Thrift to the amateur side. Dave Engle and Bruce Kison will remain in their current...

With Randy Knorr leaving Triple-A Syracuse to be the Nationals bench coach, Tony Beasley will move up to manage the Chiefs this season, according to MiLB.com. (Updated: The Nationals are expected to announce the complete minor league coaching staffs early next week.) Matt Lecroy goes to Double-A Harrisburg to manage the Senators after leading the Single-A Potomac Nationals last season. Brian Daubach is still listed as the manager at Low-A Hagerstown, and his coaching staff remains intact....

The shroud of secrecy around the bidding process for Yu Darvish - which is starting to feel like an Oliver Stone screenplay instead of an elongated baseball transaction - is slowly starting to lift, and Nationals fans hoping the Japanese pitcher would take the mound in D.C. may not like what it's revealing. According to this story in the New York Post, the Blue Jays have placed the winning bid for Darvish, a proffer upwards of $50 million intended to blow away the Nippon-Ham Fighters, who...

There are thoughts and arguments on both sides of the fence on where a particular 19-year-old No. 1 Nationals prospect should play in 2012. Nationals bench coach Randy Knorr remembers how disappointed Bryce Harper was last season when he was told after an impressive spring that he was not going to go north with the big club. So after starting slow and then tearing up Single-A, Double-A and the Arizona Fall League, why not give Harper a shot with the Nationals out of spring training? Knorr...

New Orioles left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada says one of the biggest differences between baseball in Japan and the U.S. is that the game is "more power generated" here. He's referring to both the batters and the pitchers. He's not going to blow the ball past anyone, but it sounds like he's a left-handed version of Koji Uehara - excellent control and a wide assortment of pitches. Hopefully, he's got better stamina. Executive vice president Dan Duquette said he's hoping that the minor league...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette took more questions from reporters after today's press conference to introduce Japanese left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada. I say he "took" them. That doesn't mean he answered all of them. Like many baseball executives, Duquette won't show his hand and let the rest of the world know which players he's pursuing. He isn't going to offer specifics on trade talks or which free agents are mulling offers from the club. Don't bother asking whether he...

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of today's press conference occurred near the beginning, when Japanese pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada gave his opening remarks in English. You had to appreciate the effort. "My name is Tsuyoshi Wada," he said. "I'm from Shimane, Japan. I played for Fukoka SoftBank Hawks. I would like to thank you, Baltimore Orioles organization to give me this opportunity. I was dreaming to play major league baseball since I was a college (pitcher), so this is a very special...