AGRI Biz

As word starts to trickle in, it appears imminent that Placido Polanco will return to Philadelphia to play third base for the Phillies. What has been reported for the past two days and was on the "verge" of happening, was verified when Philadelphia WCAU Channel 10 NBC sportscaster John Clark caught up with Polanco Thursday morning, as the former Detroit Tiger was in town to take a physical. I first got word ...

The off-season is a funny time for baseball fans, especially when your pro football team is not setting the world on fire. Following last year's World Series win by the Philadelphia Phillies, one player stood out in my mind in the off-season: Chase Utley. In their six-game loss to the New York Yankees this season, Utley again stood tall. Crowd cheering,áchest-pounding, fire-eating, kill your best starter, hide your momma, where's Obama, we ain'tályingáperformance. (Sorry, ...

The Philadelphia Phillies are set to open its free agent signing as soon as next week with the signing of free agent utility man Juan Castro, late of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The signing appears imminent, according to his agent, who added in a Philadelphia Inquirer report that Castro is out of the country and has to pass a physical to make the signing official. Castro, 37, is a .230 hitter, with ...

SI writer Jon Heyman stated that the Phillies are still the main suitors for the services of speedy third baseman Chone Figgins. A growing number of people I have talked to favor a more traditional third baseman with power, such as Garrett Atkins of Colorado or Adrian Beltre of Seattle. Figgins, with 101 walks, 42 stolen bases, and a near .400 on base percentage would make him a natural lead off hitter. I ...

When Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro declined the $5.5 million contract renewal of incumbent third baseman Pedro Feliz, he suggested the Phillies could upgrade the position. I heard Randy Miller of the Bucks Country Currier Times on WIP today and he said Chone Figgins, with more than 40 stolen bases and near .400 on-base percentage, would probably be too much money for the Phillies to pay. A story on SI.com suggested teams ...

Less than a week after the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games to win their 27th World Championship, the Hot Stove League has begun in earnest. Even before the general managers meeting in Chicago on Nov. 10-11, trades have been made in the fresh offseason. The Pirates and the Rays made a deal on Nov. 3, with Tampa Bay sending second baseman Akinori Iwamura to Pittsburgh for reliever ...

If in a loss everything would have a Phillies hue, perhaps if Chase Utley would have hit a two-run home run in the late innings of Game Six, and his Reggie Jackson breaking performanceácould have earned him the World Series MVP in a losing cause. If the dinger was off Mariano Rivera and pulled the Phillies within a run or two of what was in reality was a 7-3 World Series ...

As I sift through the rubble that was the New York Yankees 27th World Series title, being a Phillies fan, I feel not shame, but respect for our conquerors. A 7-3 victory in Game Six gave the Yankees a 4-2 victory Wednesday night in the Bronx. As I have stated several times in this format, and to friends, I thought the series was over after Game Four, a 7-4 Yankees victory. The ...

Following the Yankees 7-4 defeat of the Phillies on Sunday night, I had all but conceded in my mind that the 2009 World Series was over. The Yankees had erased a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning to score three runs off Phillies closer Brad Lidge. The win gave the Yankees a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. But with Cliff Lee going in Game 5 in Philadelphia, I thought there was ...