AGRI Biz

I don't know if you've heard...but Joey Votto is apparently the hottest thing to hit Cincinnati since the Big Red Machine. He's 26, coming into his prime, a recently-named All-Star, and he is the leader of the Red's playoff-bound (hopefully) 2010 squad. So, now the question becomes...what does Cincinnati do with Yonder Alonso? For those of you not familiar with the name, Alonso was Cincinnati's 2008 first-round pick, out of the University ...

So, we're now more than halfway through the MiLB season. And what an incredible season it has been for one of the up-and-coming leagues in American sports. Attendance has never been better, and with Strasburg-mania, and top-level prospects like Mike Stanton, Carlos Santana, Buster Posey, and Jason Heyward, 2010 will be a tough season to forget. Don't let the graduated roster fool you though, there is still a TON of talent ...

Scouts will tell you, minutes after the MLB draft is over, the task begins of putting together lists for who will be the top talent for next year's draft. Luckily, the scouts have me. Not really. Luckily, while scouting certain players for the 2010 draft, scouts have been quietly taking notes on 2011 prospects. Why else do you think the Orioles Joe Jordan has been taking in Rice Owls games? It sure ...

So, we're officially one-third of the way through the minor league season. It's time to review who's tearing it up among Orioles minor leaguers (non-prospects too!), and get to know the guys who are raking. On the mound, Jake Arrieta is making himself a runaway candidate for O's pitcher of the year. He already has six wins, and leads the IL in batting average against. He's top five in strikeouts, innings pitched, ...

So I'm in the market for a new baseball jersey. An Orioles one of course. And I'm having a hard time deciding. Ergo, I've decided to air my deliberations publicly and hopefully elicit some advice on who to purchase and why. There's a lot that goes into decision making like this. For instance, I can lecture you for days on the purchasing of a recent draft pick's threads. You see, when I ...

No doubt, it's been a rough week for the Baltimore Orioles. The roughest. Blown saves, surrendering four leads after the 8th inning, struggling with men in scoring position. It's been downright ugly. Luckily, things have been far more optimistic down on the farm, where the O's have had several sensational starts from their standout prospects. So let's examine who has been the hottest of the hot hitters in the past week, and ...

So it wasn't his back, but it looks like Brian Roberts will be headed to the DL. Roberts came up wincing and in noticeable pain after swiping his second base of the year in the first inning of the Orioles home opener against the Blue Jays. The diagnosis: an abdominal strain. Roberts was a spring-training worry for the Orioles, missing almost all of the preseason schedule with back issues. He reportedly had ...

So the Orioles' 2010 season opening series is through. The O's gritted their way through three games, all decided by one run, and managed to head back to Baltimore with one more victory than I thought they would get away with versus a VERY talented Tampa squad. Good riddance Carl Crawford! Much like last year when I foresaw such ominous idiotic predictions like "Jeremy Guthrie is going to be better than everyone thinks," ...

Don't look now, but the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft is only 147 days away. Granted, so many things can happen between now and then. This time last year, the Orioles seemed like the front-runners for USC shortstop Grant Green. And if March/April predictions tell you anything, they tell you a lot can happen in 147 days. Grant Green ended up going 13th overall to the Oakland A's, while the Orioles tabbed ...

As usual, the idea for the this slideshow came from another night spent watching the clock countdown to closing time at work. Instead of thinking about (and enjoying) how Jones and Markakis compliment each other, I thought I'd turn it into a competition, with the main goal being to determine who is the better overall baseball player. Taking into account offensive production, as well as evaluating each Orioles' tools, including defensive prowess, ...