AGRI Biz

Kaz Matsui's time with the Houston Astros is officially in the books. We are left to wonder his options. Perhaps he will join fellow Japanese export Ichiro Suzuki in Seattle, or maybe he'll head back to Japan and play for the Yomiyuri Giants, the Chunichi Dragons, Yakult Swallows or the Nagasaki Yakuza. With that, we are left to wonder who will be next to be issued their walking papers with the ...

After snapping an eight-game losing streak on Carlos Lee's walk-off home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 4-2, the Houston Astros are now 9-18 on the season. They are comfortably nestled in last place in the N.L. Central. Don't get too excited about the win, Astros fans. The home run was only the first of the season for Lee, who plays in a very right-handed hitter-friendly ballpark and is now ...

If actor John Houseman were alive today, I'm sure he'd modify his Smith Barney commercials to fit the Houston Astros: "The Houston Astros: they win ballgames the old fashioned way...they EARN them!" A few weeks ago a reader named Clayton Elkins thought I was being far too pessimistic regarding the Astros' slow start and referenced a Jim Rome quote. Being in a sour mood and not having listened to Romey in ...

Yes, it was wonderful to see Houston get within one game of being halfway to .500. They're 4-9 courtesy of a 7-5 win over the soon-to-be Miami Marlins (I'd call them the Florida Marlins, but I'm worried that noted Tampa Bay Rays fan Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea might send me an angry message, BROTHER!). Yes, it was wonderful to have Lance Berkman back. He doubled and drove in two runs. We ...

As of this blog posting, the Houston Astros will try to notch their first win of the season as they close out their three-game series in St. Louis against the venerable Cardinals. The good news is Houston has won nine games this season. The bad news? The Astros have been playing this season in German, so in essence they've won nein games. As Arnold Schwarzenegger, Heidi Klum-Seal, Boris Becker, and Steffi ...

Following the Houston Astros' 9-6 loss the Philadelphia Phillies last night (I'm typing this at around 12:30 a.m. EST), the Astros are now 0-5 on the season. Not only does this put them in last place in the NL Central, it gives them another very dubious distinction. Houston is the only team in Major League Baseball that's still winless. The woeful Baltimore Orioles are 1-4. What about the Kansas City Royals? Not only are ...

Today, in one of my two day jobs (I work about 30 hours weekly at a newspaper and about 24 hours at a gas station), I traveled around Birch Run and Clio, Mich., and asked folks this question: "Whom should the Detroit Lions take in the upcoming NFL draft?" I might as well have asked the people what the Houston Astros should do to improve their team. Many of the Lions fans ...

New year, same result for the Houston Astros. Roy Oswalt takes the mound and, for the first game of the season and coming off a season of injuries, pitches a decent game: six innings, seven hits, three earned runs, three strikeouts. His team goes out and gets four hits against two-time Cy Young Award-winning San Francisco Giants hurler Tim Lincecum. They also strike out seven times, draw no walks, and score no ...

...It's spring training . No, I'm not trying to pull an Eeyore and lament in perpetual negativity, but this is the time of year other teams evaluate players, trim their rosters and work to get their starters into baseball shape. "Duh, Zowie!" you're probably saying. "Who doesn't know that?" Well, probably not many. But I feel the need to issue this reminder for those over-excited Houston Astros fans who look at the ...

Just like a three-hour rough cut that must be edited down to a two-hour movie, the Houston Astros have announced that 12 have been cut from the team. Of those 12, one has been given his outright release while the others are heading to the farm. For those who were impressive but not quite there, we can expect them to be playing near Austin at Triple-A Round Rock. Others will find ...