Baker still close with Nats: "I left my heart over there when I left"

Baker still close with Nats: "I left my heart over there when I left"
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Dusty Baker stood near one of the practice fields outside FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on Thursday morning, wearing an Astros cap and pullover, answering questions about the team he now manages. He looked very much at home, very much in his element. The 70-year-old baseball lifer has done everything there is to do in this sport, and yet he has now found perhaps the ultimate challenge of his career: guiding a Houston roster loaded with talent but stained by proof...
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Union chief addresses players' vitriol toward Astros

Union chief addresses players' vitriol toward Astros
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Tony Clark, head of the Major League Baseball Players' Association, visits every club every spring. Those meetings can run long, sometimes topping two hours, depending on the list of topics that need to be discussed. This morning, Clark and his associates with the players' union, walked into the Astros clubhouse at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and did not emerge until nearly four hours had passed. Suffice it to say, this was no ordinary spring training meeting,...
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Handful of Nats regulars will play in exhibition opener

Handful of Nats regulars will play in exhibition opener
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - After more than a week of bright sunshine and temperatures in the mid-80s, the Nationals walked outside this morning to an unfamiliar sight this spring: rain. For the first time in camp, weather altered the club's plans. What should've been a two-hour full squad workout instead was condensed into a quick session that took care of the day's most pressing needs (a group of pitchers throwing live batting practice, moved to the covered batting cages) and little...
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West Palm Beach throws Nationals another parade

West Palm Beach throws Nationals another parade
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It didn't compare to the parade they threw the Nationals in Washington three days after Game 7 of the World Series. How could it? Maybe there weren't hundreds of thousands of fans lining Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach on Thursday evening. But those who did turn out - and there were plenty who did - were treated to a yet another nice celebration of the 2019 champs, this one in their spring home. "I am very impressed with all the players that are here,"...
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For Fedde, more options mean less opportunity

For Fedde, more options mean less opportunity
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Erick Fedde got a text message from his father in December. The message was brief: "Hey, I was reading an article online saying you have a fourth option." Fedde's reply was direct and didn't mince words: "Dad, don't be dumb. Fourth options are not a thing." Everyone in baseball, certainly younger players who bounce up and down between the minor and major leagues, knows you only have three option years. In other words, you can only be demoted to the minors in three...
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Martinez on today's workout and what he expects Saturday

Martinez on today's workout and what he expects Saturday
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Starlin Castro came to Nationals camp with a revamped swing that results in more balls pulled in the air and fewer balls on the ground, a swing that produced big numbers late last season with the Marlins. But the first live pitcher he had to face here was immune to such tweaks. Castro groaned Wednesday when he found out he was hitting against Max Scherzer, a longtime nemesis when facing him as an opponent. And sure enough, there wasn't much contact to speak of when the...
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Boring, drama-less camp is fine with Nationals

Boring, drama-less camp is fine with Nationals
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Spring training life for the defending champions is a bit different than in previous years. There are questions about trying to repeat. New signs all over the place touting last fall's achievement. Fingers to be sized for championship rings. Everybody's in a good mood, for good reason. But there's something lacking from Nationals camp so far, something that can be found at other camps across Florida and Arizona, something that could be found around here in many...
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Martinez ready to try Robles at leadoff, Turner batting third

Martinez ready to try Robles at leadoff, Turner batting third
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The casual observer should be awfully careful reading too much into a team's lineup during the early days of spring training. With many veterans resting and those who do play often batting high in the order so they can get a couple of at-bats and get out of there, there isn't a whole lot worth interpreting. That said, don't be surprised at all if you see Trea Turner batting third sometime in the next week or so. It doesn't mean he's going to bat third for the...
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"Sore in all the right spots," Scherzer will start Saturday

"Sore in all the right spots," Scherzer will start Saturday
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Max Scherzer offered up a simple, yet important, takeaway from his first session throwing to live hitters this spring. "I'm sore in all the right spots," he said. For the uninitiated, there's no reason to be alarmed. Scherzer knows the difference between being "sore," being "hurt" and being "injured." Sore is good. Hurt is potentially worrisome. Injured is full-blown panic attack. After a long and grueling season that saw him make a prolonged stint on the...
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Nats getting fitted for rings today, won't see them until April 4

Nats getting fitted for rings today, won't see them until April 4
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The note was visible to all at the top of the video board inside the Nationals clubhouse: "Ring fitting Wednesday and Thursday." Add this to the growing list of developments that remind everyone the Nats' World Series victory really did happen. Players, coaches, support staff and front office executives all will be fitted for their championship rings over the next two days. The finished products will be presented to everybody prior to the Nationals' second home game...
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Nats' infield intentions take shape during first workout

Nats' infield intentions take shape during first workout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Nationals' first full-squad workout of 2020 began with an extra-long "Circle of Trust" meeting that at one point featured team massage therapist Patrick Panico's cannonball into the adjacent pool but most importantly featured a hammering home of the overriding message Davey Martinez wants to convey to a club seeking to repeat as World Series champions. "Process. Process. Process," the manager said. "For us, the word 'repeat' doesn't mean anything, except to...
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Kendrick never doubted he'd back with Nats for another year

Kendrick never doubted he'd back with Nats for another year
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Howie Kendrick went home to Arizona a few days after the World Series ended, a free agent with no assurances of returning to the same Nationals club he had just helped lead to victory. There was reason to wonder if the defending champs would want to bring back a 36-year-old utility man coming off far and away the best season of his career. Not that they didn't love Kendrick and his contributions, but what were the odds he could duplicate that performance at this...
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Sudden fame, success haven't changed driven Soto

Sudden fame, success haven't changed driven Soto
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The 21-year-old said what you expect most 21-year-old outfielders to say when asked for their goal upon reporting to spring training. "I come here to make the team," the young outfielder said. "I'm going to fight for my place. I'm going to keep working hard, keep playing baseball the right way. Because it's a lot of new players, a lot of new outfielders, and you don't want to get comfortable on this team. You want to keep going. I come here to play for one spot,...
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The infield and catching plans, cabbage race and title sign

The infield and catching plans, cabbage race and title sign
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - If it wasn't already clear before, Davey Martinez today made his plan for the Nationals infield this spring very clear. Starlin Castro will get all of his work at second base for now. Carter Kieboom will get all of his work at third base for now. Asdrúbal Cabrera will get the bulk of his work at third base. Howie Kendrick will work mostly at first and second bases for now, but will get some action at third later in camp. Though this new conglomeration of Nationals...
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Healthy Zimmerman sets goal to avoid IL in 16th MLB season

Healthy Zimmerman sets goal to avoid IL in 16th MLB season
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Ryan Zimmerman has been coming to Florida for 15 springs now, during which time he's taken 740 official plate appearances, amassing 43 homers and 136 RBIs, batting .320 with a .955 OPS. Suffice it to say, Zimmerman knows the routine. He knows how much work he needs to feel ready for opening day, and that typically is contingent on the physical state of his body. When he didn't feel 100 percent two springs ago, Zimmerman basically took the entire Grapefruit League...
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As position players report, Scherzer ready to face hitters

As position players report, Scherzer ready to face hitters
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Nationals position players officially report to spring training this morning, and there may be nobody in camp happier to hear that than Davey Martinez. "I've actually been excited since right after the New Year, really," the third-year manager said. "I've started gathering my thoughts and looking forward to seeing all the guys, and then all of a sudden you're here, you're excited and after about two days of watching pitchers throw bullpens, it's like: 'Let's...
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Upbeat Castro fits right in on first day with Nationals

Upbeat Castro fits right in on first day with Nationals
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Some might be intimidated walking into a clubhouse full of returning veterans - veterans returning from a World Series title, for that matter - and trying to blend in as one of only a handful of new guys. Starlin Castro walked into the Nationals clubhouse today for the first time, though, and looked and acted like he's been here all along. "I've been in the league a while and I know a lot of guys," the 29-year-old infielder said. "It's a little bit scary when you...
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Suzuki takes the high road after Correa lashes out

Suzuki takes the high road after Correa lashes out
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Kurt Suzuki wasn't expecting to find himself in the middle of the war of words between the Astros and players around the majors who are now blasting the 2017 champs for cheating by illegally stealing signs. But when the Nationals catcher was quoted in The Washington Post saying he believed the Astros were still cheating during the 2019 World Series - "We could hear it from their dugout. We heard their whistling." - he suddenly was thrust into the fray and earned the...
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How improved bullpen could make up for loss of Rendon

How improved bullpen could make up for loss of Rendon
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - So much mental energy has been spent this winter trying to figure out how the Nationals are going to account for the loss of Anthony Rendon's production. Here's one potential way they could do it: by having a better bullpen. It may not seem one has anything to do with the other at first glance, but the Nats actually do view this as a realistic way to make up for the loss of Rendon without adding another big bat to their lineup. The idea is simple: If you can't score...
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High-energy Robles reports early, will get chance to lead off

High-energy Robles reports early, will get chance to lead off
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - He came bounding through the doors around 8:30 a.m., announcing his presence with authority in an otherwise sleepy clubhouse partially filled with pitchers and catchers. Position players are not required to report to Nationals camp until Monday, but a handful have already found their way here, staying mostly quiet and staying mostly out of the way. Victor Robles, however, wasn't worried about letting everybody know he's here. And he's ready to go. "I was having a...
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