AGRI Biz

I received "Giants Past and Present" in the mail yesterday from MVP Books . In all honesty, I plowed through the book in one night. In many ways, it is not a very dense book. It runs 144 pages long and for the most part, it is very picture-heavy. That being said, don't let that deter you from taking a gander at freelance journalist and author Dan Fost's (love ...

This is a series of posts leading up to the season preview which will be posted sometime next week. This post will look at the No. 1 and 2 starters for each team in the NL West (other than the Giants, since these posts will concentrate more on what the Giants will be facing in 2010 in various categories). One thing to note about these posts is that I'm not ...

I wish I could write something on Giants baseball today. I wish I could write about prospects, or how lousy the free agents (Huff, Derosa, etc.) will be next year, or some sabermetrics article that proves how good Fred Lewis is, but I just can't. The NCAA Tournament is blowing me away. I have been glued to my television and computer all day. Even as we speak, I have ...

With Spring Training beginning it's third week of play, a lot of interesting questions have sprung up around Giants' camp in Scottsdale. 1.) Is Madison Bumgarner going to start the year in San Francisco or Fresno? 2.) Is Fred Lewis going to be traded or released considering he has no minor league options left on his contract? 3.) When will Buster Posey supplant Bengie Molina in the starting lineup ...

The fact of the matter is this for Giants fans: Aaron Rowand is going to be the Giants center fielder on Opening Day, and he most likely is going to bat leadoff unless one of three things happen: 1. Mark DeRosa gets hurt again this Spring Training and is unable to play on Opening Day, which forces manager Bruce Bochy to play either Eugenio Velez or Andres Torres in ...

With spring training officially on its way, the offseason, for the most part, is officially done. Sure, there are some lingering free agents out there and perhaps some late-additions to the Giants roster could (but shouldn't) happen, but for the most part, the Giants seem pretty much set with their roster as they head into the 2010 season, which begins in less than a month. That being said, the ...

I am very intrigued by new Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Edwin Jackson , who arrived from Detroit in a massive three-way trade this off-season (the New York Yankeesùthe third teamùreceived Curtis Granderson ). Jackson should be more than a familiar face to Giant fans: Last year, he made the AL All-Star team , and he also spent his first five years of professional ball in the Dodgers organization. In ...

Eric Surkamp and Aaron King . Not exactly pitching prospects that jump at you like Madison Bumgarner or Zach Wheeler. That being said, while these two pitchers, both draft picks in the 2008 MLB amateur draft , may not deemed "Elite Prospects" by big-name publications, Web sites and blogs, they could be under-the-radar pitchers who could contribute to the Giants in 2011 or 2012 should they continue to make progress ...

This is not a defense of the Freddy Sanchez for Tim Alderson trade last July Trade Deadline . Even though I liked Sanchez at the time of the trade , I admit, it was a horrible transaction by Giants general manager Brian Sabean in retrospect. First off, Sanchez wasn't going to make that much of a difference to the lineup. The Giants needed someone with plate patience or run-producing power ...

With Juan Uribe on the verge of getting a new contract from the San Francisco Giants, the pressure is on for one current Giants player. Edgar Renteria. With Mark Derosa getting signed to a two-year, $12 million dollar deal , and the possibility of an Adam LaRoche acquisition still looming, Uribe most likely will be a platoon player heading into Spring Training. That being said, despite his backup-status, he will bring a lot ...