After hitting 31 homers in back-to-back seasons, first baseman Tyler Moore is the hottest young power hitter in the Nationals organization. Moore hit 15 homers in his first two professional campaigns, and then exploded for 62 in his last two seasons at Single-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg. With first base locked in at Triple-A Syracuse by Chris Marrero, and because of Adam LaRoche's presence in D.C., the Nationals decided to try out Moore in the outfield during instructional league this...

Scottsdale Scorpions left-hander Matt Purke pitched two innings following Red Sox prospect Brock Huntzinger in Saturday's 8-7 loss to the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League. Purke fired 38 pitches, 20 for strikes, allowing one run on one hit, one walk and striking out one. He induced two groundouts and two flyouts. Nationals director of player development Doug Harris said Friday that this is one of the ways we might see Purke pitch in Arizona, as a "piggyback" to Huntzinger's...

Double-A Bowie first baseman Joe Mahoney made his Arizona Fall League debut yesterday and went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. He also committed four errors. Now that his oblique strain is gone, he needs to get rid of the stiffness in his mitt. But at least he's playing again. Maryland's football team squandered an 18-point third quarter lead last night against Clemson, and Kevin Gregg was charged with a blown save. I'm not sure how that's possible. I failed to wish Jim Palmer a happy 66th...

My current issue of ESPN The Magazine has a naked Hope Solo on the cover. A naked goalie? I'm going to save this issue. (See what I did there?) I wanted to give you some reading material before I head over to Hunt Valley for the latest airing of "Wall to Wall Baseball" from 11 a.m. to noon on MASN. I wrote an entry yesterday detailing Jeremy Guthrie's inclusion on the major league team that will travel to Taiwan next month. He's known about it since August, but his placement on the...

As the Orioles move forward with hiring their next president of baseball operations, among the key jobs for that person when hired will be to improve the Orioles' scouting and player development departments. We all know that while the club was in last place in the standings this year again, it is also apparent that right now the Orioles are fifth in the division in producing talent from their minor leagues. In my opinion, they could do a better job in both scouting and developing...

There have been conflicting reports about the Orioles' possible interest in former Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi for their position of president of baseball operations. A major league source said that, as of late Friday afternoon, the Orioles had not contacted Ricciardi about their opening. Ricciardi currently serves as a special assistant to New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson. He was the GM of the Blue Jays from 2002 through 2009 and three times in that span,...

I've been dropping strong hints that Willie Randolph wouldn't return to the coaching staff in 2012. I received further confirmation earlier this afternoon. It appears that manager Buck Showalter will need to fill two vacancies. I heard recently that Randolph was exploring other opportunities. Naturally, he'd prefer to manage. The Orioles hired Randolph to serve as bench coach, but he swapped places with third base coach John Russell. We were told that Russell's sore knee made it...

Nationals draft pick Matt Purke has arrived in Arizona and is now available to pitch for the Scottsdale Scorpions after a successful instructional league camp in Viera, Fla. The 96th overall selection, a left-hander out of TCU, will work out of the bullpen in Arizona, according to Nationals director of player development Doug Harris. Harris said Purke will usually get one or two innings of work, with Single-A Potomac Nationals pitching coach Paul Menhart, the Scorpions' pitching coach,...

The Orioles have received permission from the Toronto Blue Jays to interview Tony LaCava for the position of general manager. Also, they've requested permission from the Florida Marlins to interview Dan Jennings. However, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is in Europe, so that decision is on hold. The interviews with LaCava and Diamondbacks executive Jerry Dipoto might not take place before Monday. As I wrote earlier, manager Buck Showalter is tentatively scheduled to fly back to Texas late...

The Washington Nationals will host the Boston Red Sox in an exhibition game at Nationals Park on Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Game time has yet to be determined. As a benefit to 2012 season ticket holders, all those with full, half and partial season ticket plans will receive tickets for the game at half their regular season ticket price. Details for the team's 2012 season ticket plans are available online at nationals.com/tickets. In addition to the exhibition game, the Nationals 2012 schedule...