After spending the past week in Arizona analyzing ways to improve their club, the top members of the Braves’ recently-overhauled baseball operations department returned to Atlanta on Thursday with the sense that they had at least gained a better feel for how the remainder of this offseason might unfold.

It would be tough to imagine Nick Markakis not in an Orioles uniform next season. And after Thursday’s latest batch of reports, it’s looking more and more like that’s a scenario the O’s won’t have to worry about.

In the normal free-agency story, the questions are: Where is he going? And how much is he getting? These elements are obviously present with Max Scherzer. But in his case you also get the answer to another question that just won’t go away: Was turning down that six-year, $144 million deal from the Tigers a smart move?

Andrew Friedman has put together his staff and implemented his philosophy while getting acclimated to his new job with the Dodgers

The Tigers are close to re-signing designated hitter Victor Martinez to a four-year deal, according to a tweet on Wednesday afternoon by FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. The club has not confirmed the agreement.

In an offseason where David Robertson has already turned down an opportunity to bring home the highest single-season salary ever issued to a closer, the free agent has his eyes set upon scoring an even bigger prize.

The Rangers and the defending National League West champion Dodgers will play a pair of exhibition games in the Alamodome in San Antonio next March as part of the Big League Weekend, which returns for its third year.

Every fall, Minor Leaguers raise their stock with their performances in the Arizona Fall League. The caveats that are typically thrown out when discussing such matters: it’s a small sample size and the AFL is always very hitter-friendly. But it’s also true that every year, expectations around some prospects are heightened based on what they did during six weeks in the desert.

The Freeway Series meets awards season Thursday, as Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and Angels star Mike Trout step into the spotlight one more time as strong candidates for the Most Valuable Player Award for each league.

On Wednesday morning, Washington announced that its entire 2014 coaching staff will return for the ’15 season to defend its NL East title.

The Yankees announced on Wednesday that they have signed left-hander Jose De Paula to a one-year Major League contract for the 2015 season.

Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton was a game-changer and a franchise-shifter in 2014, leading the National League in home runs and slugging percentage to help Miami win 15 more games this season than it did in ’13.

Andrew Cashner is electric. You can feel it in the air on days when he is scheduled to pitch. Could this be the day of the first no-hitter in Padres history? Cashner has the triple-digit velocity, the command and the stuff to make it happen.

South Korean pitcher Kwang-hyun Kim may be headed to San Diego after his club, SK Wyverns, accepted the Padres’ $2 million bid for the 26-year-old left-hander, according to a statement released on the team website.

The Cubs are in the market for starting pitching, but they are not ready to part with some of their young infielders to fill that need.

In his first outing since the American League Division Series, Angels starter Matt Shoemaker held Samurai Japan to two runs over five effective innings, but the MLB All-Stars were shut out by starter Kenta Maeda and three relievers on Wednesday, losing Game 1 of the Japan All-Star Series, 2-0, at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka.

If Kenta Maeda was looking to prove that he can handle the rigors of Major League Baseball, he did it on Wednesday against a team of MLB All-Stars. Amid a clapping, chanting, trumpet-blowing crowd at the Kyocera Dome, the 26-year-old starred with five shutout innings of two-hit ball in Samurai Japan’s 2-0 victory in Game 1 of the Japan Series.