AGRI Biz

I am going to have to admit, I am pretty tired this morning. Last night was the playoffs of my Team Trivia league, and it was a long night for a Tuesday. Like the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, we finished in second place and earned a silver medal. While we didnÆt accomplish our ultimate goal of finishing first, I will take solace in the fact that we finished ahead of a team that ...

I donÆt think there is anyone who will argue against the assertion that Tampa Bay RaysÆ BJ Upton is one of the most athletic and talented players in the major leagues. His ability to track down a ball in center field is second to none. Upton is so good in center, many people forget he was actually a shortstop when he came up to the majors in 2004. While Upton continues ...

I love players who have confidence. Give me the guy who thinks he is the best over the guy who is just happy to have a job in the major leagues. Take Ricky Henderson, for example. A lot of people didn’t like him because they felt he was arrogant. I just thought he was extremely confident in his abilities. I mean, who doesn’t want a guy who refers to himself in the ...

Back in 2008, I was scratching, clawing, and doing everything I could to win my fantasy baseball league. That league was and still is a total points league and my buddy Odie and I were fighting it out to the end. I was picking up guys like Ryan Raburn, Juan Uribe, and Mike Aviles. That’s how desperate I was to win. I actually won that year by one point and the ...

One of my first articles that was featured on MLBTradeRumors.com was my “Astros Fooled By Pudge” post. Here is what is I wrote back last March in regards to the Houston Astros signing Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. “The Astros need to get younger not older. I understand that J.R. Towles hit only .137/4/16 in 54 games last season and he has looked terrible this spring hitting .153/1/1 in 13 AB’s. However, he was ranked the ...

You would think that a guy who hit .310 with nine home runs and an .810 OPS in 2009, wouldn’t have a hard time finding a job in 2010, but that was the case with second baseman Felipe Lopez. And before we go any further, I am talking about Felipe Lopez the baseball player here, not Felipe Lopez the basketball player, who was a massive bust at St. Johns University. I ...

There are few things I find more comical than when an athlete who has accomplished absolutely nothing in his profession tells everyone how great he is. We see this time and time again in sports. The latest example of this would be C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers. Wilson has been in the major leagues now for five seasons and yes, he has had a couple of good years, but the reality ...

So much for being a good employee. Sometimes it pays to be like George Costanza. Atlanta Braves ace Jair Jurrjens came to camp early and will leave just as early. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Æs Dave OÆBrien, Jurrjens has left camp and will undergo an MRI on his pitching shoulder after complaining of mild soreness on Monday. This is kind of like entering the Royal Rumble at No. 1 and being eliminated ...

One of the things I always wanted to do was head down to Florida or Arizona and do a tour of spring training. I thought I was going to have the opportunity to do that this year when I was laid off, but I was lucky enough to find a great job right away and I donÆt think taking a week off two weeks into the job would fly. Perhaps with ...

Back in January of last year (actually almost one year to the day), I wrote a post: ôLooking at 2010 to predict 2009.ö The idea was to see which players would have a big year in 2009, based on their free agency status after the season ended. I called this big year the ôAdrian Beltre year.ö The pitcher I had targeted to have a big year, or an ôAdrian Beltre yearö ...