VIERA, Fla. - More and more position players are trickling into camp - including the Nats' first-round picks in the last two drafts, outfielder Bryce Harper and infielder Anthony Rendon - and Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo held an extended session with reporters this morning and talked about a variety of subjects.
* Rizzo said outfielder Mike Cameron, whose retirement was announced yesterday, called the Nationals "out of the blue" Wednesday to tell them he wasn't going to report....
VIERA, Fla. - Count Rick Ankiel among the few people happy that Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo is still searching for a center fielder who can hit leadoff. If Rizzo had found elusive quarry this offseason, Ankiel might still be searching for a job.
Two weeks ago, Ankiel inked a minor league deal with the Nationals, getting a spring training invitation that's more formality than anything. Barring a collapse of epic proportions, Ankiel will be on the opening day roster at Chicago's...
VIERA, Fla. - Scenes from the first day of Nationals spring training at Space Coast Stadium, where pitchers and catchers reported:
Handshakes, hugs and introductions - a necessity considering the team's offseason maneuvering. A clubhouse attendant sits at a table removing the elastic band at the bottom of pants legs with surgical precision, an accommodation for players who prefer a looser fit. One by one, pitchers don their dress white uniforms and head off to be filmed by the club's...
To prepare for this season, his first full campaign after Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery, Stephen Strasburg started a little later than usual, ramped up his weight lifting for strength and his running for endurance. He took a page from the past, returning to the yoga poses he practiced while in college at San Diego State University, to increase his flexibility and facilitate quicker recovery.
None of that will change the path the Nationals will push the right-hander down ever so...
VIERA,Fla. - A few minutes ago, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was joking with reporters about how empty the Space Coast Stadium clubhouse felt with only 55 players needing locker space. It was a far cry from 2007, when 71 players were jammed into the room, necessitating extra locker stalls in the middle of the clubhouse.
Now, there's unexpectedly one less player.
According to this tweet from the club's public relations department, veteran outfielder Mike Cameron has notified the...
VIERA, Fla. - Think Jayson Werth's first season in Washington left a sour taste in your mouth? You've got nothing on Werth, who didn't exactly perform like a player who had signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Nationals, then struggled to find his form, often appearing to be battling himself.
"Last year was a little odd," Werth, one of the position players to arrive early at spring training, told reporters Saturday. "You are coming into a new place. I really didn't know...
VIERA, Fla. - Danny Espinosa's main goal this spring? Avoid extended slumps and become more productive more of the time.
"I think I'll be able to stop those long slumps," the Nationals' second baseman said. "You're going to have slumps, I don't care who you are. You hit .330 and you're still going to ... have a week of being cold. The difference between the good guys is it's a week of being cold and then being back on track. It's not two, three weeks of being cold, a bad month of...
VIERA, Fla. - Jesus Flores' impressive performance in the Venezuelan Winter League this offseason was almost offset by the kidnapping of his friend and teammate, Wilson Ramos. Now, Flores has his mind set on showing the Nationals he can again be a starting catcher, even if it means doing so at Ramos' expense.
Unseating Ramos will be an uphill battle, since Ramos is viewed as Washington's top backstop entering 2012 after batting .267 with 15 homers and 52 RBIs in 113 games as a rookie last...
Gary Carter's death at 57 from a brain tumor hits home for Nationals manager Davey Johnson, who skippered the New York Mets from 1984-90 and had Carter as his catcher from 1985-89. Carter backstopped the 1986 Mets who went 108-54 and won the only World Series on Johnson's resume.
Carter spent the first 12 year of his Hall of Fame career with the Nationals' predecessors, the Montreal Expos. The affable catcher nicknamed "Kid" hit .269 with 220 home runs and 823 RBIs for the Expos and the...
Barring something unexpected, the Nationals will go into spring training with shortstop Ian Desmond as their leadoff hitter.
And manager Davey Johnson is perfectly fine with that, even if Desmond is viewed as an imperfect solution atop the order by some observers.
"I like him there," Johnson said at the Winter Meetings. "I think he'll do fine."
Desmond struggled as a leadoff man at the start of 2011 under manager Jim Riggleman, batting .180 with only one walk and a .212 on-base...
Spring training is still a few days away - I'll be touching down in Orlando on Saturday, then taking the hour-long drive east to Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., where I'll be holding down the fort pending the arrival of a new Nationals beat reporter soon - but the Nationals are already getting some attention from the national media types.
It was bound to happen. But so soon?
Last night on MLB Network's "Hot Stove" evening roundtable, ex-major leaguers-turned-analysts Dave Valle and...
Over at MLBTradeRumors.com (and, really, how did we ever survive without our daily dose of aggregated baseball headlines before this site?), they've constructed team-by-team lists of players who are out of options. These players must make the 25-man roster or be passed through waivers in an attempt to assign them to a minor league club.
Some will make it, as teams are disinterested in them, figuring what they have is better than what they could have if they claimed a specific player. Others...
Ever watch the ballgirls or ballboys stationed along the outfield foul lines at Camden Yards make a nice grab of a foul fly or grounder and think, "Hey, I could do that!"?
Well, now's your opportunity.
Come Sunday, March 4, the Orioles will conduct an open tryout to field a new group of, er, ballpersons for 2012. The tryouts will occur - where else? - Camden Yards and will be judged by a panel of O's front office members and WBAL Radio sportscaster Keith Mills.
Outgoing and athletic men...
VIERA, Fla. - Are there four more glorious words in the English language than "pitchers and catchers report"?
But before the Nationals' batteries charge from Space Coast Stadium to the Carl Barger Baseball Complex - OK, it's actually more of a leisurely stroll, but after nearly five months off, the pace will be quickened - here are the five most important questions facing the club between now and the April 5 season opener at Wrigley Field in Chicago:
Is Bryce Harper ready for prime time?...
A year ago at this time, the Nationals were flush with catchers. Ivan Rodriguez was entering the second season of a two-year contract and Wilson Ramos, acquired the previous summer in a trading deadline deal from Minnesota for Matt Capps, was poised for a breakthrough and pushing for playing time. Jesus Flores was finally ready to return after missing most of two seasons with a variety of shoulder injuries and Derek Norris was waiting in the wings in the minors, ready to shake off a concussion...
The wait is over. Well, sort of. You can't buy single-game tickets to see the Nationals at Nationals Park quite yet. But at least you now have a date to mark on your calendar, as the team has announced single-game tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 8.
Tickets may be purchased online at nationals.com/tickets, by calling 888-632-NATS (6287) or by visiting the Nationals Park main box office at Half and N streets, SE. Fans can register now at nationals.com/tickets for the...
What's your favorite TV memory of the Orioles at Camden Yards? For me, it's watching Cal Ripken Jr. take a forced victory lap around a packed, appreciative ballpark on the night he played his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking the mark established by Yankees legend Lou Gehrig that was once believed to be unbreakable. Just typing about it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention, baseball's version of a Pavlovian response.
As part of the celebration surrounding the 20th...
In honor of the 20th Anniversary celebration of The Ballpark That Forever Changed Baseballâ„¢, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the Orioles have selected 20 Camden Yards Classics, the most exciting games in the ballpark's history. Highlights of games 20 through 12 can be viewed now on CamdenYards20.com, and the top 10 games will be unveiled on MASN on a weekly basis beginning this Sunday. Game #10 will be shown in its entirety on Sunday, February 19 at 7:00 p.m. on the...
Dark horses, long shots, under-the-radar players, guys who come out of nowhere - every spring training, someone unexpectedly forces his way into 25-man roster consideration. Sometimes it's because of the kind of on-the-field performance that just can't be ignored. Other times, it's because an injury opens up an opportunity. Occasionally, a trade creates an opening.
So who among those players soon to report to Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., might fall into this category?
Unlike...
The most interesting battle of Nationals spring training in Viera, Fla., might not be waged on the field. It centers around top prospect Bryce Harper, and whether the slugging outfielder with the cannon for an arm will break camp with the Nationals. As soon as manager Davey Johnson and general manager Mike Rizzo settle into their respective homes away from home at Space Coast Stadium, they'll both be continuing their attempts to convince the other they are right about whether Harper is ready...