AGRI Biz

As Red Sox Nation sighs in relief to see Cliff Lee bypass New York for the Lone Star State, WEEI's Rob Bradford reports that Theo Epstein and the Boston front office have started showing some interest in acquiring Philadelphia OF Jayson Werth. While "no deal is imminent," trading for the soon-to-be type-A free agent Werth could go a long way toward shoring up a Red Sox lineup crippled by injury. During the ...

Kansas City Royal outfielder David DeJesus has reportedly been on the block for some time now, and the injury-riddled outfield of the Boston Red Sox has been suggested as a possible destination. Since the beginning of June, the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves have also been linked to trade discussions involving the 30-year-old DeJesus and his mere $4.7 million salary. However, Boston's need is quickly eclipsing that of an offensively soft ...

With the Boston Red Sox outfield decimated by injury, General Manager Theo Epstein and Manager Terry Francona looked to the Sox farm system for some short-term help this weekend. Ready when opportunity knocked, OF Daniel Nava has hit .294 with an .856 OPS for the 2010 Pawtucket Red Sox, and on Saturday those numbers earned him a call to The Show. After J.D. Drew hooked a homer off Joe Blanton around the Pesky Pole ...

The Red Sox have made some interesting and perhaps somewhat predictable draft selections so far in the fledgling 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft.   Theo Epstein gambled on a future power hitter for the hot corner when he selected Kolbrin Vitek 20th overall.   While a well-developed Vitek could succeed Adrian Beltre and internally help solve a partial power outage with youth and value, the 36th-picked Bryce Brentz could soon replace the aging J.D. ...

After Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon surrendered a pair of two-run jacks in the bottom of the ninth inning at Yankee stadium Monday night, the BoSox fell to 8.5 games back in the thickly competitive American League East. Now well behind the Tampa Bay Rays and their rotation of rising stars and streaking young mashers—not to mention their failure in beating the New York Yankees—the Red Sox were never really in contention ...

In no uncertain terms, the Red Sox significantly stepped up the pressure on catcher Victor Martinez Monday when they signed Cuban Adalberto Ibarra to a Major League contract worth anywhere between $3 and $4.3 million over five years.   The versatile Ibarra has seen action all around the diamond, but the 22-year-old has focused progressively more and more on catching during only the past few years, and therefore brings with him to ...

Like Carlos Zambrano, big-time pitchers Justin Verlander, Jake Peavy, and Josh Beckett are off to awful starts. They are not alone. Names like Jon Lester, Aaron Harang, Javier Vazquez, Chad Billingsley, and Jeremy Bonderman join them on this list of the top ten worst pitchers in 2010. Virtually all of these pitchers have two things in common. They were expected to be aces, stoppers, shutdown grinders, strike-one dealers. They are all ...

Always afraid to release your drafted stars whose weak performances are killing your fantasy squad, you risk missing out on some early-season hot up-and-comers that could make or break your team. Remember this: in fantasy, you need to play it week by week, and you need to take advantage of the fact that your players aren’t “real.” In the real world players demand and possess no-trade clauses, so Theo Epstein and Brian ...

The proof is in the pudding. After months of free-agent hoopla, much of it focused on a few premier players, the 2010 season is beginning to reveal which acquisitions were wise and which weren't worth the contractual ink. 14 major players either changed teams or threatened to do so during prolonged flirtations with free agency. As young as the season may be, it's never too soon to start patting ourselves on the ...

For the second time in his professional career, right-handed pitcher Santo Luis has been claimed by a team named Sox.   During the Minor League portion of the 2007 Rule Five Draft, the White Sox claimed the Dominican Luis from the Houston Astros.   Now the Red Sox have claimed the 6-6, 240-pound Luis off waivers from the Chicago White Sox and optioned him to Double-A Portland.   The oft-injured infielder Jed Lowrie was assigned to ...