AGRI Biz

The 1971 Washington Senators were an embarrassingly bad baseball team. After owner/general manager Bob Short traded the core of his team, pitcher Joe Coleman, third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez and shortstop Eddie Brinkman, to the Detroit Tigers for over-the-hill pitcher Denny McLain and a bunch of guys named Joe, there were more holes in the lineup than players to fill them. IÆve always believed that the idea behind the movie ôMajor League,ö where ...

The Montreal Expos were the best team in the National League back in 1994. Their roster was the perfect mix of up-and-coming youngsters and experienced veterans. Cliff Floyd, Mike Lansing, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou, Larry Walker, Rondell White, Pedro Martinez, Ken Hill, John Wetteland, and Darrin Fletcher were just some of the names dotting the Expos' major league roster. The Expos got off to a fast start and when the player's strike ...

á After years of neglect and abuse, the Washington NationalsÆ farm system is beginning to look like, well, a farm system again. When the Montreal Expos moved here in the fall of 2004, the farm system was completely bare; all of the best playersùCliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore, Jason Bayùhad been traded by then general manager Omar Minaya. Of that class of 2004ùthose having never played in the majorsùnot a single player ...

As much as I love the Washington Nationals, I think itÆs fair to say that they havenÆt done much right since moving to D.C. five seasons ago. Too many of the teamÆs personnel decisions have backfired, leading to several very long, very ugly, very bad years. One of Jim BowdenÆs first moves was to trade a part-time outfielder and a poor-hitting shortstop to the Angels for the volatile Jose Guillen. At the ...

As much as I love the Washington Nationals, I think itÆs fair to say that they havenÆt done much right since moving toáD.C. five seasons ago.á Too many of the teamÆs personnel decisions have backfired, leading to several very long, very ugly, very bad years. One of Jim BowdenÆs first moves was to trade a part-time outfielder and a poor-hitting shortstop to the Angels for the volatile Jose Guillen.á At the ...

You know, it figures. á The Washington Nationals have in their farm system no more than a handful of true position prospects, and of them, only two seem to be of the ôcanÆt miss variety.ö á One, Chris Marrero (.284-17-76) is the clubÆs first baseman of the future and will take his place in D.C. just as soon as heÆs ready, probably 2012. á But the other, catcher Derek Norris (.286-23-84), perhaps the better of the ...

When Livan Hernandez was traded by the Washington Nationals to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006, it was a clear-cut trade of a dominant veteran for two above average prospects. á The Diamondbacks were in a pennant race, and LivanÆs guile and cunning was desperately needed. á When Livan Hernandez rejoined Washington three months ago, he came not as a returning hero but a washed up veteran who rode the waiver wire all the way ...

Okay, the 2009 season is finally over. á Now what? á Although the NationalsÆ 59-103 record was the worst in all of baseballùand for the second year in a row, no lessùthe surprising number of good things that happened this year will make the off-season a time for building, and not rebuilding. á LetÆs take a look at the final statistics for the NationalsÆ starting lineup and see who did, and didnÆt, help the Nationals in ...

Francisco Rodriguez has been a premier closer (perhaps the premier closer) in all of baseball over the last six years.áSince 2004, "K Rod" has saved 206 games and crafted a stunning 2.20 ERA during that span. Justin Maxwell has shown flashes of brilliance around his periods of ineptness, but hasn't indicated any real ability to become an everyday major leaguer. Since being recalled from "AA" Harrisburg in 2007, Maxwell has a 162-game ...

Over the past week or two, I have been poring over the Nationals' 2009 minor league statistics in preparation for a series of articles that will start when the season finally (and thankfully) comes to an end. á I began to feel much better about the state of the team's minor league system and began to count the players thatùbased on stats and comments by team managementùseem capable of succeeding at the ...