AGRI Biz

The Atlanta Braves are making it clear that they are looking to add a bat this offseason and will be willing to trade a starting pitcher—probably Javier Vasquez or Derek Lowe—to get one.   Several hard-hitting outfielders have been mentioned, but it is common knowledge that the Braves have been interested in the Nationals’ Josh Willingham since last year.   Would it make sense for the Nationals to consider a bat-for-arm type of trade?   Willingham, ...

The Washington Nationals are teetering on a precipice so dangerous that their very existence hangs in the balance. á Well, IÆm exaggerating of course, but only a little bit. á Since their first year in Washington when an undermanned squad flirted with the playoffs before fading in August, the Nationals have the worst record in all of baseball, with their back-to-back 100+ loss seasons capping a four-year backslide into the abyss of embarrassment. á They opened ...

The strangest thing just happened to me. A few minutes ago, I received a call from Nationals’ team President Stan Kasten. He said that Mike Rizzo was fired by the Lerner family, after being found walking aimlessly along the Beltway, wearing nothing but a Mets’ cap. Kasten told me Rizzo could have survived the “naked” part, but wearing the oppositions’ colors was a deal breaker. They want me to take over on a ...

Thanksgiving Day has a very special meaning to me. Oh sure, there are family and friends and turkey and football. But that's a given. However, in my life, Thanksgiving is all about baseball. It was on that day 24 years ago that I left the blizzards and barren trees, the yellow grass and the smoking chimneys of middle-America for Southern Florida and year-round Spring Training. I wrote this story last winter, but ...

When the first round of last summerÆs amateur draft came to an end, the Washington Nationals had significantly improved themselves by selecting pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen. Usually, it takes several years before a team knows whether their first-round selection was a success. Since picking Ryan Zimmerman in 2005, the Nationals have selected eight players in the first-round (including Strasburg and Storen). The jury is still out on Colton Willems, ...

Wednesday was a very good day for the Washington Nationals. á Ryan Zimmerman, who former general manager Jim Bowden described as a ôfuture Gold Glove winnerö when he drafted him 4th overall in 2005, won his first Gold Glove award earlier this afternoon. A few hours later, Jim Riggleman, who single-handedly skippered the Nationals away from the horror of becoming the latter-day Æ62 Mets, was named the teamÆs permanent manager. á Now, neither of these ...

By the timeáthe 2009 baseball amateur draft concluded last June, the Washington Nationals had added 50 players to their minor league system. á But really, other than the first twoùStephen Strasburg and Drew Storenùthe other 48 were unknowns who would quietly slip into the anonymity of the low minor leagues, likely never to be heard from again. á A playerÆs first year can be very telling regarding his hopes of making it to the ...

Craig Stammen pitched pretty well as a rookie in 2009, though he had not looked nearly as crisp over the last month of the season. It seemed as though opposing hitters had begun to make their adjustments once they had seen him a few times. á Certainly, that happens to many rookie pitchers who, after looking very good the first time around the league is never heard from again. á But Chico Harlan posted ...

In 2008, The Washington Nationals had the worst record in all of baseball because they had the worst players in all of baseball. That kind of stands to reason, donÆt you think? á They ended the season with just 59 wins, thanks in part to their woeful offense, by far the worst in the league. á Club owner Mark Lerner and team president Stan Kasten vowed to place at general manager Jim BowdenÆs disposal ...

In 2007, John Lannan came out of nowhere.   An 11th-round afterthought in 2005, Lannan climbed the minor league ladder quickly, going a combined 12-3, 2.87 before finishing the season with the Nationals where the 22-year-old went 2-2, 4.15.   Since then, Lannan has won 18 games and been the team’s presumptive ace.   Man, if the Nationals could find just one more pitcher to come out of nowhere, 2010 could be a fun year to ...