AGRI Biz

Filed:April 5th, 2010 What were you expecting exactly? Consider me fairly non non-plussed about the Cubs 2010 opener, a 16-5 shellacking by the Atlanta Braves down at Turner Field, for a couple of different reasons actually. Carlos Zambrano, although the 1 1/3 innings was by far his worst Opening Day start, tends to come out of the box with these sorts of appearances. Personally, I always thought he's a bit too amped, ...

  The Cubs made big moves Friday, releasing seven players, while setting both their rotation and bullpen in the process. Tom Gorzelanny and Carlos Silva round out the rotation, with James Russell becoming—as of now—the last man in the 'pen to start the season. What, 10 more days til Opening Day? Let's just say that I'm in extra great anticipation of the upcoming season, as I've begun marking days off, and checking ...

I guess today is just going to be the day that black men make me weep. That's my first thought after running through the morning news, and finding these delightfully insane, and completely narcissistic interviews with Milton Bradley and Torii Hunter. First, we have ESPN sitting down with Milton Bradley to discuss at length, his time in Chicago. Bless ESPN, who never resists an opportunity to facilitate flinging in the name of ...

Filed:February 25th, 2010 Lost amongst the news of Carlos Zambrano's secret handshake with Kevin Millar, Angel Guzman being shut down, Ted Lilly being flu-ridden, and the existential question of should Lou Piniella tweet or not tweet, came a small snippet out of Arizona expanding on the Cubs competition for spots on the pitching staff. According to Piniella, he regards it as a race between Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, and, wait ...

Stopping to read the Jim Hendry outfield foibles over the last few seasons reads like the tale of a man who just doesn't get it. Corey Patterson, Jacque Jones, Jeromy Burnitz, Matt Lawton, Cliff Floyd, Juan Pierre, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Milton Bradley, just to name a few. In pretty much every case, the Cubs have either failed to get the production that they hoped for, and/or ...

Last year, I ran what I hoped to become a tradition here at Cubbie Nation, the current team captured in pictures. The premise is pretty simple. Teams and seasons come and go, and for as much time as we give to being with them, there's something wrong about the notion that many of these guys are gone, if not altogether forgotten, by the time the playoffs have ended. You know the guys. ...

Former Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley (Cubbie Nation/file) I'd been hoping over the last day to see some movement, some twist, some nuanceùany indication of a plan, reallyùthat would make the trade of Milton Bradley for Carlos Silva palatable. In the end, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: pathetic. Yes, pathetic. I went back through the notes, looked at some old Silva footage, and combed over the Mariners blogs to see ...

  You know, for years I've respected Jim Hendry. Oh sure, i thought he was overmatched, and in over his head at times. But he worked tirelessly to improve the team, supported his manager, turned Chicago into a preferred free agent destination again, and did get around eventually to vastly improving the Cubs farm system. While he certainly wasn't of the Schuerholz or Jocketty caliber, I felt like he was ...

Filed: Nov. 18, 2009 Have you ever found yourself reading a well-written piece and feeling like it all sounds logical and sensible, but then you think about it a little more and wonder if the writer is off his meds? I had a moment like this when I read a recent piece by Fox Sports writer Dayn Perry , who proposes in the column a number of moves that teams need to ...

No, it hasn't come to fruition yet, but I suspect that it's a phrase that we should all start practicing. The Milwaukee Brewers acquired center fielder Carlos Gomez in a swap with the Twins for J.J. Hardy, relegating Mike Cameron, at least temporarily, to the ranks of the unemployed. Can't blame general manager Doug Melvin. As a cash-constrained team, especially one desperate for pitching, they simply couldn't afford the luxury of Mike ...