AGRI Biz

Mark Shapiro and Manny Acta won't win many popularity contests together in the city of Cleveland, but that doesn't mean they can't be a match made in heaven. With the announcement of Acta being hired as the new manager of the Cleveland Indians, the entire fan base shook the ground they gathered on, by jumping up and causing a seismic shock of unrest. The ones who wanted Eric Wedge gone didn't get ...

You could say that things are going ahead of schedule for Cleveland and their search for a new manager. So much so, Mark Shapiro may add one or two more final candidates. At least that is the latest word out of Cleveland as they prepare to interview one of their own on Friday. Thursday, Bobby Valentine faced the media after his sit down with Shapiro and assistant general manager Chris Antonetti. What ...

Chiba Lotte's fans wanted Bobby Valentine back in Japan for yet another year. Chiba Lotte management didn't want to pay him. I don't know what budget the Marines are on, but surely an MLB team, even one as cash-strapped as Cleveland, could afford Valentine's asking price. In Mark Shapiro's quest to hire a new manager, he has said that money won't be an issue. However does that mean money won't be an ...

With the League Championship Series halfway through, the self-imposed deadline of installing a manager into the Cleveland Indians dugout is looming. Mark Shapiro and company conducted eight to 10 phone interviews since the end of the regular season, the names of those interviewees still a mystery. Names have been thrown around, but three are for certain as the Indians have named three finalists for their vacated post. The first is Manny Acta, ...

Last year, on somewhat of a whim, I put together a group of rankings called the Contender Rankings. I took 11 different categories that I believed were crucial to playoff success and ranked each postseason contender in each category. It accumulated into one combined ranking that was supposed to tell us something. Well, in the end, the top two teams were eliminated in the first round and the eventual World Series ...

We're still waiting on one last playoff contender for this year's postseason festivities, but the story machine is already churning for most outlets. Can you see the possibilities? I'm pretty sure big media markets like Boston, New York, and Los Angeles can. Every year the MLB postseason can provide some of the most intense drama you'll ever witness. What makes it so special is the storylines that surround these moments. Questions ...

"What took so long?" "About time!" "Good, now Shapiro must go!" "Not shocked at all." All common responses from Cleveland Indians fans at the news that Eric Wedge has been let go as the manager. After seven seasons as the skipper for the Tribe, Wedge departs with the club that gave him his first managerial job back in 1998 with Low-A Columbus. He takes with him good memories, such as the success of a 2007 ALCS ...

Right at the All-Star break of this 2009 season, I took a break from doing my weekly summing up of baseball happenings. It became too exhausting because of work and after a few weeks of telling myself to start back up, I couldn't muster it up. Now with more time on my hands and not feeling so exhausted, I'm wishing to have that space back. I'd go through the four to five ...

Being fired is the last thing you'd think Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge would be the way he is finishing out a disappointing 2009. It probably goes against every fiber in Wedge's being to consider giving up or taking a day off. That's the type of person and manager Eric Wedge is. Sure his job is in serious question, but why would that stop him from living and managing by his ...

I feel myself acting more hostile towards my team lately. I’ve ignored watching the Indians on several occasions and have found myself actually hoping they’d continue to lose. Even though I still get miffed every time it happens. I think it’s that, "never want to lose a game" mentality battling with the opinion that winning now does absolutely nothing to benefit the team. They keep winning; they climb up the draft order ...