AGRI Biz

For the past 137 days, 20 hours, and 32 minutes I have been waiting for exactly this moment. The 2009 offseason is now officially over. We can stop thinking about a lost season where the Diamondbacks lost 97 games. We can forget about all the shattered expectations. We can put behind us the injuries to Conor Jackson and Brandon Webb. We can erase the memories of Chris ...

As you can probably imagine, life around our house is anything but normal. Starting with the line of Arizona Diamondbacks bobble head dolls that greet visitors to ôthe shrineö as my wife calls it where I have two Chase Field seats, a piece of Bank One Ballpark adorning one wall, and of course second base . To say my home life revolves around baseball and the Arizona Diamondbacks would be ...

After the conclusion of the Arizona Fall League in mid-November, professional baseball took a hiatus in the United States. That is not the case elsewhere in the world. Winter baseball began in full shortly after the end of the MLB season. For many minor league players winter ball is the perfect opportunity to get a few more at bats or repetitions at another position. For American-born players winter ...

When the Arizona Diamondbacks representatives left for the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis they took with them a war chest of roughly $10 million and a laundry list of needs to fill on their roster. Given their financial position they were not expected to be major players during the meetings. Instead the expectation was that Arizona would talk to several clubs and perhaps meet with the representatives of the second and third ...

Throughout baseball, team representatives and members of the media have packed their suitcases and found themselves in Indianapolis. What could possibly possess the baseball community to make a trip to the frozen mid-west in the dead of winter? The Winter Meetings begin today and with them the hopes and dreams of your team becoming a contender are born. This is the official beginning of the Hot Stove season when rumors will ...

One of the feel good stories of the 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks season was the promotion of Reno Aces outfielder Trent Oeltjen to the major league club. Oeltjen immediately became a fan favorite with his contagious smile and his eager attitude. Oeltjen, from Sydney Australia, appeared in 24 games for the Diamondbacks hitting .243 with three home runs and four RBIs. Nicknamed the ôThunder from Down Underö he had a ...

Just under two weeks ago the Arizona Diamondbacks made a slew of roster changes setting their 40-man roster . I found the timing of that somewhat interesting since they entered the free agent period with no openings on the roster. This leads you to believe that any changes that will occur will be the result of a trade rather than a free agent signing. Not only a trade; but ...

The Arizona Diamondbacks current management team has made a conscious effort to be available not only to the media but to the everyday fan. Since taking over as president of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Derrick Hall has offered an open communications channel to anyone. Besides offering his email address up to those wanting to speak with the team, Hall has also implemented a monthly forum where members of the Diamondbacks front ...

The passing of the deadline for Major League Baseball teams to offer arbitration to their former players clears the landscape slightly in the free agent market. Players who have been offered arbitration have until Monday to decide whether to accept, but at least now teams know which players will cost them draft choices if they decide to sign them. Rather than attempt to list all of the players who were denied arbitration, ...

With the trade for Aaron Heilman the Arizona Diamondbacks addressed one of their needs for the 2009 offseason. Going into the free agency period Arizona general manager Josh Byrnes publicly stated he was interested in finding a reliever, a veteran bench player, and a No. 4 starter for the rotation. Now that the free agent market is officially open the Diamondbacks are free to negotiate with any of the current ...