Is it time for a free agent signing deadline for MLB?

With spring training games beginning this week – Saturday for the Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium versus Boston – some big-name free agents remain unsigned. We have seen big names sign big dollar deals before with the season only weeks away. The Phillies signed Bryce Harper to a 13-year deal worth $330 million on March 2, 2019. This can’t be good for t
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Joey Gallo saved the scouting reports, the ones written about him when he was a 6-foot-5, 18-year-old third baseman coming out of high school in Las Vegas, the ones that insisted his only path to the major leagues some day would be through his prodigious bat. “Everybody always told me my whole life: ‘You’re going to be a fir
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Cole Henry missed out on the opportunity to attend his first major league spring training in 2023. He was still recovering from the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery he had in August 2022. Now 18 months removed from the complex procedure, which involved removing a rib and a neck muscle, the 24-year-old right-hander finally fi
SARASOTA, Fla. – Orioles reliever Jacob Webb earned his first win about seven weeks before Opening Day. Webb was victorious in his arbitration hearing in Arizona, setting his 2024 salary at $1 million instead of the $925,000 filed by the club. No hard feelings on either side. From Webb for having to go through the process or the Orioles for paying
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals added another experienced reliever to their spring training mix today, signing right-hander Derek Law to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp. The deal, confirmed by a source familiar with the terms, will become official once Law passes a physical. He’s expected to join the club within
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Some news and notes from Wednesday at Nationals spring training … * Defense and baserunning again were at the top of the list on the second day of full-squad workouts, with an emphasis on some different areas of each skill. As he did Tuesday, manager Davey Martinez opened the session by personally leading the baserunning ins
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Stone Garrett was taking fly balls with the rest of the Nationals’ outfielders earlier this week when one of the coaches sent a deep drive over his head. It was the first time he was forced to go back toward the wall to make a play this spring, the first time he engaged in such an activity since that awful August night at Ya
SARASOTA, Fla. – Grayson Rodriguez and Craig Kimbrel pitched today in the same live batting practice session on the stadium field. The starter with ace stuff, and the closer with a Hall of Fame resume. The pairing could be replayed many times over the 2024 season. Rodriguez got two “ups” this afternoon, with a shortened first inning that featured A
The Orioles would certainly love to duplicate a few things this season from last season. They’d love to win 101 games again. They would love to win the AL East and make the playoffs again. And, to that end, they would love to do another thing the 2023 Orioles did – get off to a fast start that set a great tone for the 162-game grind. The Tampa Bay
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – As he stood on the warning track to the side of the plate Tuesday morning watching several of his regular hitters step in to face Josiah Gray in the first round of live batting practice this spring, Nationals hitting coach Darnell Coles saw a few swings and misses. He saw a few called strikes. He saw a few weak ground balls.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trey Lipscomb hadn’t been invited to major league spring training before this year, but you would never know it with the way he comfortably sits at his locker among his fellow top prospects at the front of the Nationals’ spring training clubhouse. Dylan Crews, James Wood, Brady House and Robert Hassell III occupy the first f