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One of the most difficult things to do in baseball is keep a good team intact. Any number of factors from finances to free agency can fracture a team. To actually improve it and upgrade it at several key positions in one offseason can prove most diff...

Blog | March 05, 2013

There is nothing worse for a general manager than to be blindsided by allegations of impropriety by one of your players. True or false, the news causes an immediate maelstrom of controversy, uncertainty and turmoil. And that's exactly what happen...

Blog | January 31, 2013

Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been superb in the first half and is sure to be selected to the National League All-Star team by the players or by manager Tony La Russa. However, the Nationals have said they have installed ...

Blog | June 19, 2012

When Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels admitted to purposefully hitting Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper in the first inning of Sunday's game in Washington, he allowed misguided logic to steer his actions. Labeling it as an act of...

Blog | May 07, 2012

It's only fitting that Washington Nationals prospect Bryce Harper will make his major league debut basking in Hollywood's shadow, because the 19-year-old's story is cut from a movie script. By now everyone knows his background as the baseball wun...

Blog | April 28, 2012

An active offseason that witnessed some of baseball's best players changing teams clearly would buoy some and sink others. For the following five teams, their offseason moves could vault them into bona fide postseason contention and divisional releva...

Blog | January 03, 2012

All week, the word around the campfire was that the Oakland Athletics were going to trade left-hander Gio Gonzalez. And sure enough, general manager Billy Beane pulled the trigger Thursday, sending the 26-year-old to the Washington Nationals, along w...

Blog | December 23, 2011

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was wheeling and dealing Saturday, trading starting pitcher Jason Marquis to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league middle infielder Zach Walters. The Nationals had four clubs that had expressed inte...

Blog | July 30, 2011

PHOENIX -- During spring training in Viera, Fla., this past March, I spent some time with Washington Nationals senior vice president and general manager Mike Rizzo on the field prior to batting practice and asked him about the team's development plan...

Blog | July 11, 2011

Jim Riggleman shocked the baseball world Thursday when he abruptly resigned as manager of the Washington Nationals. Earlier in the day, Riggleman told team vice president and general manager Mike Rizzo that if his 2012 club option was not exercised ...

Blog | June 23, 2011