AGRI Biz

My cousin Jaime (left) and I at Citizens Bank Park. Being born and raised just outside the Philadelphia area, I make it a tradition to see at least one Braves-Phillies series a season. This year, I made my first trip to see the 2010 Braves in a weekend set against the Phillies on May 7-9. The results weren’t pretty. On Friday night, Derek Lowe was on the mound for the Bravos. He was opposed ...

Watching the Atlanta Braves these days is like pulling teeth...no pun intended. As I recover from mouth surgery this week and try to figure out just what has happened to the Braves, I can’t help but remain flabbergasted by their sudden and shocking downward spiral. After experiencing one of the most exhilarating wins in franchise history over the Phillies on April 20, the Braves now find themselves in the midst of a ...

Just call him Nate McClutch. The Braves center fielder, who was hitting a mere .138 with just one RBI all season, sure picked a good time to break out of his slump. McLouth hit a leadoff 10th-inning solo blast against Jose Contreras to cap Atlanta’s stunning comeback 4-3 win over division rival Philadelphia. The Braves have now won five of their last six games and find themselves in a first-place tie with ...

It would be easy to look at Monday’s ugly 17-2 loss to the Padres and panic. But, I won’t. Every team over the course of a long 162-game season endures an embarrassing and lopsided loss. It just happens. There is often no rhyme or reason as to why, but on any given night a pitcher’s poor misfortune is an offense’s playground.  For Jair Jurrjens and the Atlanta Braves, that night was Monday.  They were ...

Mr. Clutch has returned. Never one to shy away from a big game situation, Chipper Jones delivered again—proving why he’s still one of baseball’s most feared hitters. With the Braves trailing the Cubs 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Jones smashed a 3-1 fastball from John Grabow over the left-center wall, propelling Atlanta to a come-from-behind 3-2 win. In his season debut, Braves starter Jair Jurrjens allowed two runs, both unearned, on ...

The Atlanta Braves will be holding their collective breaths as they await word on the health of one of their best pitchers. Braves starter Jair Jurrjens will travel to Atlanta later this week to have an MRI on his sore right shoulder. Jurrjens reported to camp a week before pitchers and catchers were scheduled to arrive on Friday, expressing lingering soreness in his throwing shoulder. The 24-year-old hurler was examined by a Braves ...

The Atlanta Braves believe they have found their right-handed power hitting first baseman. The Braves and free agent Troy Glaus reportedly have agreed to terms on an incentive laden, one-year deal. The contract is believed to be worth a base salary of two million dollars included with incentive clauses based on the number of games Glaus plays. Glaus, 33, spent most of the 2009 season recovering from shoulder surgery and missed all but ...

While it wasnÆt the return the Braves had hoped for in exchange for parting ways with their hard-throwing set-up man/closer Rafael Soriano, GM Frank Wren struck a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays late Wednesday night. Atlanta will receive right-handed reliever Jesse Chavez in return for Soriano. Chavez was 1-4 with a 4.01 ERA in a team-high 73 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season. Pittsburgh traded Chavez to Tampa Bay this ...

It didn’t take long for the Braves to receive permission from Rafael Soriano’s agent that his client would approve a trade. Shortly after accepting the club’s offer of salary arbitration, Peter Greenberg informed the Braves that Soriano preferred to remain a late-innings reliever in 2010. When told that those roles had already been filled by Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito, Greenberg gave Wren a list of teams that Soriano had discussed signing ...

The Braves thought free agent reliever Rafael SorianoÆs agent Peter Greenberg was bluffing over the weekend when he claimed his client was seriously considering accepting AtlantaÆs arbitration offer by MondayÆs midnight deadline. Turns out he wasnÆt. Soriano chose to take arbitration and return to the Braves on a one-year deal that could net him between $7 and $8 million in 2010. The decision to accept a one-year, non-guaranteed arbitration offer over exploring free ...