AGRI Biz

I know the few weeks in spring training is insufficient time to make a detailed performance rating, but if not now, when? Yonder Alonso is not striking fear in the Reds opponents, or his competitors at his prospective position(s). Through games of Thursday night, Alonso is batting .125/.125/.188. That is well below any Mendoza line that has ever been drawn. He has scored one run with no RBI ...

The Reds beat up the Diamondbacks today, 13-7, while collecting 14 hits. Drew Stubbs, Jay Bruce, and Miguel Cairo had two hits each, while Bruce and Paul Janish each contributed his second homer of the spring.   The Good Bruce is continuing to show what he is really made of. He hit his second homer of the spring off Edwin Jackson in the third inning. He is currently batting .391 while striking out ...

The Reds have Scott Rolen locked in at third base which is the normal position for power-hitting youngster Juan Francisco . Francisco gets a crack at joining the overcrowded group battling for left field on Tuesday. He has played third base and left field in his four-year minor league career. The man can hit home runs, that is for certain. He hit two homers on Saturday against ...

Some already have given the Reds center field job to Drew Stubbs . Caesar Cliffius is not a part of that crowd. No sir, as I write this article, Stubbs has done very little to fortify his claim to that piece of land. In games through Sunday (March 14), Stubbs has struck out seven times in 20 AB. That, friends is a 35 percent rate, and if he would do that through ...

Mike Lincoln is not a starting pitcher. Did you hear (er...read) me? The closest Lincoln should come to starting a game is as a long reliever. He hasn't started a game since 2000. He came up to the big leagues in 1999 with the Minnesota Twins. He started 15 games in '99 and had a 3-10 record with a 6.84 ERA. The next year he started four games and was 0-3 with a ...

When the Philadelphia Phillies sent Cliff Lee to Seattle in order to make room for Rory Halladay, I shook my head. I couldn't understand the concept of sending a No. 1 starter and picking up another one. Lee was not ecstatic to realize the team he helped to the World Series had the door open for him with his hat in their hand. So much for gratitude, eh? He is currently with his ...

This is not a Top 10 list of home run hitters in Cincinnati history, nor is it a list of the RBI leaders. I chose five categories to sort through to obtain the best power hitters in Reds history. The categories used are based on 162 game season averages. To qualify, a player had to be with the Reds for a minimum of five years. I selected HR, RBI, total bases, ...

Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban defector-turned-Cincinnati Red, will get his first taste of MLB action on Monday. He will enter the game in a reliever's role at Goodyear Park against the Kansas City Royals. The 22-year old southpaw is being scrutinized carefully by the media. That is a bunch of attention for a man who hasn't thrown an MLB pitch to date. Chapman has thrown batting practice a couple of times and may see ...

Contrary to what many people believe, Joey Votto is going to remain the Cincinnati Reds first baseman for a long time. Some think that once Yonder Alonso is ready for the big leagues, he will play first and send Joey Votto to left field. That is, of course, if you believe GM Walt Jocketty . Alonso has been working out at third base and the corner outfield spots in spring training. MLB reporter ...

Could Aroldis Chapman have as much talent as the Big Unit? It has been said, and not by me. Some of the other suitors who lost out in the bid to get Chapman, said that he has that kind of talent but needs to have it nurtured. My speculation is that you will see him in a Cincinnati uniform between Memorial Day and the All-Star break. I am not saying he ...