AGRI Biz

When GM Jim Bowden was fired last year, I figured all the bonehead moves by the Washington Nationals would come to an end. Unfortunately for Nationals fans, even with a new GM on board, those bonehead moves continue. According to Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, the Nationals signed 38-year-old catcher Ivan ôPudgeö Rodriguez to a two-year, $6 million contract. Rodriguez will receive three million in each year of the contract. The Nationals ...

In a very surprising move, Atlanta BravesÆ relief pitcher Rafael Soriano accepted arbitration last night from Braves. The Braves got a hint over the weekend from SorianoÆs agent Peter Greenberg that Soriano might accept arbitration. However, I donÆt think the Braves actually thought he was going to move forward with that decision. Soriano had until 11:59 p.m. EST last night to make a decision on arbitration. Now the Braves have a problemùalbeit a ...

In my free agent primer , I wrote that Brad Penny and Randy Wolf had to stay in the National League in order to be successful. Yesterday, one of those pitchers followed my advice. Yesterday, the St. Louis Cardinals signed RHP Brad Penny to a one-year, $7.5 deal that includes another $1.5 million in incentives. With the Penny signing, the Joel Pineiro era officially comes to an end in St. Louis. á Just ...

The baseball winter meetings are underway and there is nothing to better help to kick off the meetings than a blockbuster trade. Well, not exactly. There was one trade today so far, but a blockbuster it is not. Today, the New York Yankees traded relief pitcher Brian Bruney to the Washington Nationals for a Player To Be Named Later. This is probably a good thing for BruneyÆs career. Going to Washington is good ...

Today, the Veterans Committee for Managers and Umpires elected Whitey Herzog and Doug Harvey into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Herzog—or the “White Rat” as he was so often called because of his white hair—spent 18 years managing the Texas Rangers, California Angels, Kansas City Royals, and the St. Louis Cardinals. However, it was with the Cardinals were Herzog made a name for himself as a manager. Herzog was elected to ...

It was a good week last week for Placido Polanco. He signed a three-year, $18 million contract, he joined one of the best teams in baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies, and now that he is part of a great lineup, his offensive numbers should get a boost. While all that is great for Polanco, it’s the last item that fantasy owners care about the most. With Polanco in a much better lineup, ...

On Friday, the Milwaukee Brewers signed catcher Gregg Zaun to a one-year, $1.9 million contract with an option for 2011 for $2.5 million. Zaun signed with the Brewers because not only was the price right for Milwaukee, but Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin told Zaun he would be the No. 1 catcher going into spring training.   Zaun will be the Brewers No. 1 catcher in 2010 While I don’t have an issue with ...

Sometimes professional sports leagues do things I really just donÆt understand. According to the Daily Telegraph in Australia, the Boston Red Sox will play a major league game in Australia in 2010. The newspaper sites that talks have been ongoing now for a couple of months between the Red Sox and Sydney officials. The games would be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground . I understand that baseball wants to expand their game ...

According to current New York Mets beat writer and future Director of Player Development Adam Rubin, the Mets have officially announced the hiring of former Cincinnati RedsÆ GM Wayne Krivsky as special assistant to GM Omar Minaya. Despite having ôassistantö in his title, trust me when I tell you, Krivsky will not be answering the phone for Minaya. And trust me when I tell you, Minaya had nothing to do with ...

ItÆs that time of year again. ItÆs the time of year when Baseball America reveals which teams have the best farm systems and the worst. Baseball America also does an update of their rankings around the spring time. If there is one good thing (amongst many) about the end of the Steroid Era in Major League Baseball itÆs that there has been a re-emphasis by teams on the development of ...