AGRI Biz

In the 40 hours or so since the conclusion of the World Series, four trades have sent nine Major Leaguers to new teams. Eight players filed for free agency, and two more were released by their 2009 organizations. Milton Bradley, however, remains a Cub. This is not yet a critical failing on the part of Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry. The key word, however, is "yet." Cubs fans have seen this movie before. ...

In some ways, it's the same old story. The Yankees win, the Yankees win, say it 27 times for emphasis. But for those of us who cast a critical eye on the Yankees' championship romp through a 105-win regular season and a dominant playoff run, there are lessons from which a hopeful contender in 2010 can learn a great deal. The Cubs are just such a would-be winner, and since I make ...

The rumors are out there. The free agent lists are nearly complete; only uncertainty over player and club option years remains. The trade market is beginning to rediscover itself, for the first time in six weeks or so. And now, armed with all of that knowledge, we have an opportunity to begin the task of concretely formulating the best plan of action for the Chicago Cubs over the course of the ...

If you have ever read Baseball Prospectus' Baseball Between the Numbers , or a similarly analytical baseball text, the argument against standard pitching statistics (wins and losses, ERA, and saves) is not new to you. By now, most educated baseball fans understand that all three of those statistics reflect myriad factors far beyond the pitcher's control (and, in fact, relatively few that fall within it). But while some fans have eagerly ...

He's no Todd Hollandsworth, but he'll do. Frank Catalanotto, who holds the unofficial Major League record for surname syllables, is a free agent this offseason and couldápop up on the radar of Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry as he looks for ways to bolster the team's outfield and add a veteran leader to a troubled clubhouse. Catalanotto may be one of the more underrated utility-men of the past 15 years. His ...

Florida Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla can flat-out hit. Uggla has a .826 OPS in his first four Major League seasons and has clubbed 121 home runs, more than anyámiddle infielderáin history over the first four years of a career. Just as importantly, Uggla, 29, walked a career-high 92 times in 2009, which helped offset his lowest batting average in any single season to date. Uggla also plays in pitcher-friendly Land Shark Stadium, ...

As the Milwaukee Brewers look toward a long off-season filled with projects, one objective that will have priority is their effort to trade 27-year-old shortstop J.J. Hardy. Hardy, just two years removed from a 2007 National League All-Star selection, watched his production and value to the club drop sharply in 2009. After a 2008 campaign in which he batted .283/.343/.478, and saved the Brewers 16 runs with his glove alone, Hardy ...

The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers have a lot in common. Each has a fan base of little or no merit: witness LA's failure to sell out its Game Two NLDS win over St. Louis, even though the Redbirds' fan base travels exceptionally well. Nor are Yankees fans, who have come out in numbers 12.7 percent smaller than last year despite the Yanks' 103 wins, especially worthy of the ...

Minneapolis is a modern Mudville tonight. Gloom hangs like the first snow snow clouds of a bitter upper-midwesternáautumnáover shell-shocked Twins fans. A mere three outs from stealing the New York Yankees' home-field advantage in their American League Division Series, and holding a seemingly comfortable two-run lead as closer Joe Nathan entered to begin the bottom of the ninth inning, Minnesota blew its golden opportunity. A Mark Teixeira single, followed by ...

Among the two dozen or so video clips of the AL Central Tiebreaker game between the Twins and Tigers that mlb.com elected to post in its multimedia page, one will find only one from the top of the eighth inning. That clip is of Magglio Ordonez's game-tying home run. What the clips don't tell you, though, is that the most important event of that inning occurred much later. After Ordonez's blast, ...