Saturday, February 22, 2020

There are only 32 days until MLB Opening Day 2020 and 41 days to the Washington Nationals Home Opener at Nationals Park! There are 144 more days until the 2020 MLB All-Star Game in LA.

Some of the news that we are covering today includes:

• Nationals, Astros wade into first spring training game after polar opposite weeks
• A handful of Nat's regulars will play in the exhibition opener
• Michael A. Taylor Trade Makes Sense
• It's a girl! Trout, Upton help the happy couple
• The most interesting non-roster player for all 30 MLB teams
• David Samson explains why MLB decided to send out a memo warning team not to throw at Astros and more.

Here are today’s latest Washington Nationals & MLB Headlines and what you need to know to start your day.

Washington Nationals Headlines

Washington Nationals: Michael A. Taylor Trade Makes Sense

I like Michael A. Taylor as much as the next person but it’s time for the Washington Nationals to trade him, and here are all of the reasons why

The Washington Nationals have entered spring training with very few roster spots up for grabs. The outfield, appears especially set, with Juan Soto, Victor Robles and Adam Eaton all returning as regular starters. Michael A. Taylor has his hooks locked into the fourth outfielder role after signing a one-year $3.325 million contract and avoiding arbitration with the Nationals during the offseason.

Taylor has spent time with the Nationals in each of the last six seasons. He is a career .240 hitter, serving primarily as a reserve and role player with the Nationals. Taylor’s best season came in 2017 when he hit .271 with 19 home runs while appearing in 118 games.

Read the full article via District on Deck

Nationals, Astros Wade Into First Spring Training Game After Polar Opposite Weeks

It’s tough to blot out the sun and joy in south Florida. Friday was an exception. The temperature dropped into the 60s, clouds won the day and if West Palm Beach can be labeled dreary, the title fit on Friday as the wind whipped around.

The poor weather forced the Nationals into a truncated workout before their first game of spring training. Typically, the Grapefruit League opener for each team would be a signifier of the creeping regular season. It’s not a thing. Certainly not a thing, thing. But that will be the case Saturday night when Max Scherzer faces the still-reeling Houston Astros.

Read the full article via NBC Sports Washington

Handful Of Nats Regulars Will Play In Exhibition Opener

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 else.

Manager Davey Martinez will try to work some of today’s planned activities into Saturday’s pregame workout.

Read the full article via MASN Sports

Nats, Astros Clash In Intriguing World Series Repeat

Saturday’s matchup between the Astros and Nationals is about as intriguing as it gets for a Spring Training opener.

It’s a rekindling of last year’s thrilling seven-game World Series, for starters, in which the Nationals prevailed to claim their first title. But this will also be the first time the baseball world sees the Astros take the field after one of the most tumultuous offseasons for any club in recent memory. Plus, Nats’ ace Max Scherzer will be on the mound for the defending champs.

The game is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla. MASN will carry the game for local Nats fans, and MLB Network will also carry a live broadcast. Fans can also stream the game on MLB.TV.

Read the full article via MLB

Nationals' World Series Run Anchors Bond Between Davey Martinez And Mike Rizzo

Day after day, from 19-31 to the end, Davey Martinez and Mike Rizzo tried to maintain. Resolving small problems, like who was coming from Triple-A Fresno, to big problems, like Max Scherzer’s suddenly frozen neck in the middle of the World Series, is what their conversations so often focus on. And, there’s a lot of them.

They can’t -- and rarely do -- leave each other alone. Rizzo departed for his honeymoon after the season. Martinez stared at his phone, desperate to tap out a message, grappling in his head with the notion he should not bother Rizzo. When Martinez was in Bali in January -- a trip he bid on and won in 2018 at Ryan Zimmerman’s foundation event -- Rizzo was working through final free agent deals. Martinez scrambled to his phone each morning in a panic. Was it working? Did they make a move? What’s happening on the other side of the planet?

Read the full article via NBC Sports Washington

As Nationals Spring Training Kicks Off, F.P. Santangelo Opens Up About The Team

Days before hopping on a plane down to the Washington Nationals spring training facility in Palm Beach, Florida, F.P. Santangelo, color commentator for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, sat down with me at a crowded coffee shop in Alexandria to chat about winning a World Series title, the upcoming 2020 season, and what kind of makeup he wears on TV.

The former MLB switch hitter turned broadcasting pro sported a scruffy face and black Nationals beanie as he leaned across the table to lament about the long line at the register, which curved down on a narrow aisle to the shop’s front door. “I’d get a coffee, but I don’t want to stand in that line,” he laughed, as onlookers in Nationals sweatshirts and baseball caps watched curiously.

Read the full article via Washington Examiner

PHOTOS: Washington Nationals Hold World Series Parade In West Palm Beach

The Nationals, who hold spring training at FITTEAM Ballpark of The Palm Beaches, held a parade in downtown West Palm Beach on Thursday to celebrate their 2019 World Series championship.

Read the full article via Palm Beach Post

Around The Horn: News From Around The League

David Samson Explains Why MLB Decided To Send Out A Memo Warning Teams Not To Throw At Astros

Earlier this week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that he planned on sending out a memo to teams this week regarding the Astros sign-stealing scandal. Manfred is warning teams about intentionally throwing at Astros players throughout the 2020 season.

In Thursday's installment of "Nothing Personal with David Samson," David Samson took the opportunity to explain that Major League Baseball needs to have on record that they are not condoning the harm of their players in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.

"It was not sent because of what happened with the Astros," Samson said. "It was sent because from a legal standpoint, there has to be a record. The record is that Major League Baseball will not permit the possible intentional harm of its players."

Read the full article via CBS Sports

Minor League Baseball Team Comes Up With Greatest, Most Dangerous Promotion Ever

Minor League Baseball has officially gone too far. The latest, weird promotion to come from the sport is for fans to bring a live fish and live bison to a game. If you do, you get free tickets for life.

Yes, they want you to walk up to their stadium in Great Falls, Montana, with a fish in one hand and a bison in another.

Read the full article via SB Nation

It's A Girl! Trout, Upton Help Happy Couple

If you're a couple expecting a child and both of you are big baseball fans, what better place for a gender reveal than in the sunshine of Spring Training?

Better yet, what better way to discover the gender of your child than having a couple of big leaguers do the honors?

That's the stuff of dreams, right?

That became reality for a lucky couple in the stands at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Friday, when the Angels' Mike Trout and Justin Upton happily assisted the parents-to-be in the joyous occasion.

Read the full article via MLB

The Most Interesting Non-Roster Player For All 30 MLB Teams

The rites of spring: pitchers and catchers, Jose Altuve's tattoo and, of course, non-roster invitees. This is one of my favorite articles to write every season, going through all the non-roster players and pulling out an interesting name for each franchise. Sometimes it's a top prospect who we might see later in the season, sometimes it's a veteran who is a good bet to be added to the 40-man roster and make the Opening Day roster, and sometimes it's a simple, "Wow, he's still hanging around!" dude.

Read the full article via ESPN

Kobe Bryant’s Death Hit Mets’ Dominic Smith Hard: ‘Sick To My Stomach’

Dominic Smith’s worst day this offseason occurred Jan. 26, when he heard the news his childhood hero was dead in a helicopter crash.

Growing up in Los Angeles and loving basketball almost as much as baseball, Smith couldn’t help but idolize Kobe Bryant, who became so much more to the city than just a gifted athlete and Lakers icon.

“He did so much for the community, he started an academy, it sucks,” Smith said before a recent spring training workout with the Mets.

Read the full article via NY Post