Last week, the Racing Presidents traded in their running shoes for ballet slippers. Teddy, Abe, George and Tom appeared in Septime Webre's The Nutcracker at Warner Theatre. Check out their rehearsal and performance video below:

I woke up to the shocking news that Cliff Lee has agreed to a five-year, $120 million deal with one of his old teams, the Philadelphia Phillies. So much for the Yankees and Rangers fighting it out for Lee. There's something about the Yankees not getting what they want that puts a smile on my face, even at this early hour. Lee took a lesser deal to pitch for the Phillies again, but we're still talking $120 million. And the contract reportedly includes a vesting option for a sixth year that...

The Nationals like what they have seen so far from young infielders Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa, who appear to be the shortstop and second basemen of the future for the Nats in 2011 and beyond. The next second baseman set to impress in the chain is Stephen Lombardozzi, who displayed solid numbers in Single-A Potomac, Double-A Harrisburg and Scottsdale of the Arizona Fall League this season. Lombardozzi produced the game-winning RBI hit to lift Scottsdale to the AFL championship. He...

Joel Guzman led Orioles minor leagues in homers and RBIs last year at Double-A Bowie and he recently turned that solid 2010 season into a nice, new contract. But he has to leave the country to get it. Guzman signed a one-year deal with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan. He did not get an offer to join any major league team's 40-man roster. The Orioles let Guzman know they'd like him back, but they also seemed to expect that the minor league free agent would sign elsewhere. "It was our best...

Cal Ripken knows a thing or two about streaks. He seems like the logical guy to comment on quarterback Brett Favre, whose NFL-record streak of consecutive starts ended tonight at 297 (only a few more than his record number of retirement announcements.) Favre has been taking snaps since 1992, but a right shoulder injury didn't allow him to suit up for tonight's rescheduled game against the Giants. He was listed among the Vikings' inactives. In a statement, baseball's Iron Man said the...

MASN will provide live coverage of the Nationals news conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon introducing outfielder Jayson Werth to local media. The news conference is scheduled for Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. and will be televised live on MASN hosted by Nats Xtra broadcaster Johnny Holliday. The Nationals signed Werth to a seven-year, $126 million deal during the annual Winter Meetings.  Werth, 31, batted .296 with an NL-leading 46 doubles, 27 home runs and 85 RBI in...

Koji Uehara passed his physical today and signed a one-year contract with a vesting option for 2012. Uehara will receive a base salary of $3 million, with incentives that could raise the deal to $5 million. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail didn't declare Uehara the closer during the winter meetings. He said the reliever's role would depend on manager Buck Showalter. If the Orioles sign Kevin Gregg, Uehara could slip into a setup role, though his pinpoint control makes him my...

I had a conversation recently with Lee MacPhail, the Orioles' director of pro scouting, who was heavily involved with the club's preparations for the Rule 5 draft, among other projects. Click here to see his take on Adrian Rosario, the 21-year-old righty the club took with the fourth pick in the Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings. Here is what MacPhail said about the club's prep and plans going into that Rule 5 draft: "We discussed some strategies going into the draft and we put...

When the Orioles took 21-year-old pitcher Adrian Rosario in last week's Rule 5 draft, they selected a pitcher with a good arm, but very little experience. The youngster from the Dominican has thrown only 183 career innings, most in rookie ball. When he pitched 32 innings for Wisconsin of the Single-A Midwest League last summer, those were his first career innings above rookie-ball level. The odds are against any Rule 5 player sticking with his new big league club all season. Rosario, with...

The long-awaited debut of Owen Wilson as a Nationals reliever in "How Do You Know" has finally arrived. The film opens Friday, but some Nationals season ticket holders will be invited to screen the movie on Wednesday evening in Washington, D.C. The team will host a red carpet VIP event to promote the film. In Los Angeles, the real red carpet for the film begins tonight at 9:30 p.m. Fans can watch at http://youtube.com/HowDoYouKnowMovie. You might also want to tune in to Owen Wilson's...