AGRI Biz

Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball, wants to see a more competitive balance in baseball. He wants to see teams that lose start winning all of the sudden. How should this be done? Well, first get rid of the penny pinching owners of "small-market" teams (let's face it, there is no small market in professional sports) and get real owners in there. The more realistic answers are the following: Realignment Salary floor (no cap) Franchise ...

This article is a mere excerpt. If you would like to see the article in its full entirety, you can find it here at the BEV. Lopez gives the Cardinals a third, guaranteed bench rider—assuming Freese wins the everyday gig at third base. With that in mind, the Cardinals have two infielders (who can play the outfield if needed) and a catcher. Allen Craig, Tyler Greene, Joe Mather, and Jon Jay—not good news ...

Matt Holliday has officially signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Let me steal a line from Jack Buck here: "Pardon me while I stand and applaud." ... ... Okay, I'm back. Despite what pessimists say, this is a great signing for the Cardinals. I'm not here, however, to talk about the contract itself. I'm going to answer some questions that, for a lack of a better word, stupid people continue to ask. Q: With ...

First off, it is officially Christmas now, at least where I live. So, Merry Christmas to all you readers! Okay, happy junk out of the way and onto business. This one will be short, as getting up early for Christmas Mass putsáa damper on the college lifestyle of sleeping in. All I hear about is how signing free agent Matt Holliday to a long-term deal will be detrimental to the signing team. Let's ...

What we know right now is that there is one team pursuing Matt Holliday. Despite Scott Boras' best antics, everyone that follows baseball knows only the St. Louis Cardinals are in the running for Holliday. Why hasn't Holliday signed yet? Boras. Boras won't let Holliday sign until they have exhausted every option and gotten the offer they want from the Cardinals. In other words, he wants to prolong this until he gets his way. Boras ...

Bud Selig will be around for three more seasons, and in the midst of those three years will be working on a new collective bargaining agreement with the Player's Association. Here a few things I believe Selig needs to do to fix the game, and make it more competitive and balanced. Note that this will go from start (Spring Training) to finish (World Series).Begin Slideshow

Okay, let's live outside the box and in the realm of great possibility. Josh Johnson is an emerging ace. In his first true full season, Johnson dominated the competition with a 3.23 earned run average and a 15-5 record. He has two full years before he hits free agency, and then he could demand A.J. Burnett type money. Yes, he truly is that good. Take what you just read and add these five ...

Seeing how it is award season now, with the Rookie of the Year awards coming within the next hour, I thought it'd be good to look at this past decade as a whole and name my awards. While it will be difficult to name the Rookie of the Year as a decade (you'll see what I'll do there), I'm throwing in a new category and replacing an old. No more Most Valuable ...

Yes, his name is Mark McGwire. It isn't Mark McGuire, nor is it Mark Maguire, because he is not related to the main character of the movie Jerry Maguire. Spelling is a virtue. He is also the new hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Do I care about this? You better freaking believe it. McGwire is my all-time favorite player. There was Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Jose Canseco (yes, even him), Tom ...

Milton Bradley and his contract didn't work out for the Chicago Cubs. Gee, who didn't see that coming? The Cubs want to get out from under Bradley's contract, and pick up something useful in return. They have very little payroll flexibility and need a lot of things, including talent (zing). The best-case scenario for the Bradley saga to end on the north side, while adding a needed piece, exists. Yes, it does, ...