AGRI Biz

From the moment I watched my first game of baseball, I was mesmerized by the importance of the pitcher. To win games you need to have a consistent pitcher, something that Dontrelle Willis wasn't for the Detroit Tigers or the Arizona Diamondbacks. Dontrelle Willis was the most exciting lefty pitcher to watch from 2003 to 2007, when he played for the Florida Marlins. With the Florida Marlins he played magnificently, winning the ...

When he first came into the league as a 20-year-old, starting in the back of the rotation for the Cleveland Indians, many people said that CC Sabathia needed to lose weight if he wanted to be successful in the major leagues. He tried that.  A few years later, when he didn't get the calls that he felt should go his way, and threw immature tantrums on the mound, many other people said that Sabathia needed to mature ...

You can't please everybody. That is, unless you picked the most deserving players. With the MLB All-Star Game just around the corner (July 13), lineups were announced today on TBS. National League mainstays like David Wright and Hanley Ramirez were voted in by the fans, while the rest were left up to their fellow peers and Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. There are questionable players on the roster and, with that, deserving guys who ...

It's that time of year again: selection Sunday. And of course, fans everywhere are questioning the roster choices. I consider being placed on the final ballot a snub, because there's an 80 percent chance they won't make it. Here's who was snubbed for the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.Begin Slideshow

On Sunday afternoon the Blue Jays finally got a bit of good news after a few weeks of utter despair. Outfielders Vernon Wells and Jose Bautista were odds on favorites to make the American League All-Star team and did so, but to everyone's surprise, catcher John Buck was also named to the team as a replacement for injured Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez. This is Buck's first ever all-star selection. All three ...

Miguel Cabrera and Jose Valverde will represent the Detroit Tigers in the 2010 Midsummer Classic. Cabrera narrowly lost out to for the starting position at first base to Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins. Through Saturday night's game against the Mariners, Cabrera had a .338 batting average, 20 HR and 68 RBIs.  Cabrera is most likely the last remaining hitter with a chance at the American League triple crown this season. He ...

Three Reds were named to the All-Star Game Sunday night. It was a proud moment for a team that isn't used to having an abundance of all-stars, but the name that was left off made it bittersweet. Reds' first baseman Joey Votto was not on the final National League roster, despite being in the top five in the NL in all three major statistical categories, with a .312 average, 19 ...

The 2010 MLB season has been quite a season for rookies may it be Stephen Strasburg, Jason Heyward or Austin Jackson. This season has brought us the debuts of some of baseball's most touted prospects and has shown us waht the future of baseball may be. The most touted prospect of all, Strasburg, debuted about a month ago against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Strasburg phenomenon has struck the country. There ...

I was thinking back, this fine Fourth of July morning, to the beginning of the Major League season. Things weren't exactly bright for the Cleveland Indians, but there certainly were bright spots, and you know what they say, hope springs eternal. The Indians top three offensive players, and likely, their top three defensive players, were Grady Sizemore, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Shin-Soo Choo. These three, along with ...

I do some writing at the best Minor League site on the planet, Tony Lastoria's Indians Prospect Insider, where I currently write about the Kinston Indians. While I won't publish all of my stuff from IPI here, I will on occasion. Here the latest: While watching the fireworks blast over Lake Benson here in Carolina last night, I couldn't help but think of the state of the Kinston Indians ...