Spring Training storylines for the Nats’ Minor Leaguers

Of course you have minor league players in Spring Training trying to make the big league roster — or at the very least — impress the coaches like Joey Meneses did in 2022. While Meneses did not make the Opening Day roster in 2022, he impressed manager Dave Martinez enough that he got a callup mid-season and became an instant starter.

Some minor leaguers are in camp as Non-Roster Invitees (NRI), and some are on the 40-man roster having never made their MLB debut. For Robert Hassell III, he is one of many NRIs in camp. He is also one of the biggest storylines for the Washington Nationals’ minor leaguers. There are others too, of course.

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Patience will pay off for some teams and some players, but not all!

There are still 40 percent of the Top-10 ranked free agents unsigned, and they are all reportedly Scott Boras clients. Yes, No 2. ranked Cody Bellinger, No 4. Blake Snell, No. 6. Jordan Montgomery, and No. 7. Matt Chapman are all without contracts at the moment. The waiting game is tough all around, and there are not many teams looking to add $200 million contracts and fewer at $300+ million. Patience will pay off for some teams and some players, but not all. They are at polar opposites of this tug-of-war for the money and roster spots. Some players have tired of waiting like Corey Kluber who reportedly was going to submit his retirement papers this week.

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Coaches are a key to player development and the Washington Nationals just upgraded

As the farm rankings of the Washington Nationals system were getting published, the news was not good as evaluators dropped the Nats farm system from as high as No. 7 last year to an average of No. 15 this year. The best ranking came from Keith Law of The Athletic, and he dropped the Nats to 11th in his rankings today. Regardless of farm rankings, changes had to be made in the leadership of the player development system.

The team’s President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, Mike Rizzo, made numerous changes like not renewing the contract of his VP of Player Development, De Jon Watson, and he replaced Watson with Eddie Longosz — an internal promotion.

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Opening Day is right around the corner!

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The W/L projections are based on what?

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Time flies and 8 years later: Still called ‘Nationals Park’

Yes, we finally have a new main videoboard and state-of-the-art LED lighting at Nationals Park. All of this comes after the first large scale upgrades from the DC Stadium Authority in the 16-years since the stadium opened. The ballpark needed technology updates, and could use some new “wow factor” too.

But this stadium still does not have a naming rights partner. It was eight years ago when news broke that the Washington Nationals had contracted with Korn Ferry and MLB Advanced Media to sell the naming rights for the stadium on South Capitol Street. There was speculation at the time that the Nationals could wrap-up a deal quickly which was not the case.

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The 2023 rules have changed the speed game; the Nats are now taking advantage!

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The offseason ends in just 10-days

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UPDATED: From 2004 to 2024, the leverage has turned on Baltimore

With a possible sale of the Baltimore Orioles to David Rubenstein and partners, the Angelos family that currently controls the team is now on the clock to help push the sale to the finish line. While this sale should not be as complicated as the sale of the Montreal Expos to MLB — then subsequently to the Lerner family and their partners, these sales often have issues to overcome. All sales of teams must adhere to the rules of the MLB Constitution. That is a key document, and all thirty MLB owners must agree to its terms.

The MLB Constitution is a confidential document comprised of 16-pages filled with an abundance of legal language, and normally you would never have seen it unless you owned an MLB team. But there we have this document because it was an evidentiary exhibit in the first MASN lawsuit brought by Peter Angelos against the Nationals nearly a decade ago.

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BREAKING: The Orioles could be sold to two private equity firm billionaires per reports. What is the impact of that sale on the Nationals?

News has been breaking that an agreement has been made to sell the Baltimore Orioles to two private equity firm billionaires with David Rubenstein, 74, taking over as principal owner from the Angelos family that has run the team for the past 31 years. Rumors also have been reported that a Baltimore legend, Cal Ripken Jr., would have a small ownership interest with the Rubenstein group.

Remember that Bloomberg News first reported the Rubenstein rumor in early December. The very next day, per Andy Kosta of The Baltimore Banner, John Angelos told Maryland Governor, Wes Moore, that his family did not plan on selling the Orioles. That essentially killed the Rubenstein rumors at the time, and until today’s news.

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