AGRI Biz

Some say baseball can be defined by just statistics, but only a true fan can see past the statistics and see the beauty of the game.  Some people say that a cycle is just four hits, that a perfect game is just another win, a walk off home run is just a hit, that a no hitter is just another win! In the next few weeks I will dive into ...

Around baseball there are a number of ballplayers who have gotten off to horrendous starts. In some places, such as Boston, the struggles of players like DH David Ortiz (.156, 7-for-45) and RF J D Drew (.158, 9-for-57) will have no implications beyond shuffling someone like Mike Lowell into the lineup on occasion. The prospects who are deemed closest to being major-league-ready aren’t really doing any better in the minor ...

Ramon Hernandez knocked in the winning run in the last of the eighth inning as the Cincinnati Reds did what they do best. They came from behind to score the winning run in their last at-bat for the seventh time in eight wins. The Reds evened their homestand at 3-3, while putting the skids on the San Diego Padres win streak at eight. They won the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers ...

April baseball rarely provides a clear window into the state of the game by October. Teams that struggle to find their way early on suddenly become high-powered contenders late in the season, and those who lead their respective divisions in the first month rarely sustain that dominance into the sixth. However, while 20 or so games may not be enough time to accurately predict a team's path through the season, it is ...

Milwaukee 20, Pittsburgh 0. I nearly dropped my laptop when I saw that score-line the other night. Almost right away, I wondered if it was time for Major League Baseball to implement the mercy rule. The Milwaukee win isn't actually the best case of a reason to bring in this ruling, also known as the "Slaughter Rule." It was "only" 10-0 after six innings, before the Brewers piled on ten more. ...

Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Manny Ramirez is back on the disabled list, this time with a strained right calf. Ramirez hasn't officially been on the DL since 2002, but the calf strain is just another injury in a string of complications experienced by the slugger over the past several seasons. As the season moves in to full swing, the pace set by Manny seems to mimic last season's pre-suspension trend. Ramirez ...

  Last evening, Jayson Werth put on a "Baseball Tonight" highlight reel in leading the Phillies to a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Watching him continue to evolve as one of baseball's brightest all-around stars argues that the Phillies should sign him to a contract extension right now.    As he often does, Werth displayed his multi-dimensional talents in the desert.  With one out in the second inning, the bearded right-fielder with ...

There's no reason why the Rays shouldn't be in the top spot in this week's power rankings. They are the only team to be ranked in the top five in scoring and team ERA. They are also the only team that has won at least eight of their last 10 games. The Royals' Jose Guillen (.352 average, 6 HR, 15 RBI) and the Brewers' Ryan Braun (.382 average, 5 HR, 20 ...

The St. Louis Cardinals lost their first series of the year this past weekend in San Francisco. How concerning is this to the Cardinals? Let's try not at all. Or maybe 0%. Either would work. Fans are understandably on edge. After all, the teams offense seems to be under the impression that they only have two options when batting: strike out or hit a home run. While this approach isn't exactly preferred by baseball ...

Ever since the Yankees reacquired Javier Vazquez, fans have been cool to the once former Yankee. Quite a few have remarked how he isn’t a good enough pitcher and some think he brings less value than Melky Cabrera would have. That was before the season. Since the season has started and Vazquez has had a bad couple of starts, even more fans have jumped all over him. Instead of ...