AGRI Biz

It was a picture-perfect fall day in Minneapolis. I was back in town to resume my collegiate studies, the sun was shining on my face, and the Twins had charged back into the playoff race, coming up on the slumping Detroit Tigers. Life was good. Then "The Text" came. The Twins were playing an afternoon game that particular day, and rookie phenom Francisco Liriano was pitching against Oakland. He had been battling forearm pain and was making ...

Could someone please fix the humidor? The Rockies lost 12-11 on Wednesday after slamming their way back into a game in which they were down by six runs before they recorded a single out. Greg Smith pitched all of one inning, giving up six earned runs on four hits and three walks. It was the exactly opposite of what the Rockies needed from him in the rubber match of the three-game series. Despite ...

Robinson Cano still is on fire and is having his best season to date. Cano connected on his sixth home run of the season and is currently batting .390. Of course he can’t continue at this pace, especially on the batting average front, but Cano has hit well over .300 multiple times in his career, so this is not coming out of nowhere. He might not quite reach the 25 home ...

Eric Gagne's April of 2008 was an epic failure. Heartbreak after heartbreak he let the organization down with blown saves and an embarassing ERA. Trevor Hoffman's April of 2010 has been an epic failure. Heartbreak after heartbreak he is letting the organization down with blown saves and an embarassing ERA. This is a short, bitter comparison of the two, with some pretty appalling statistics.Begin Slideshow

Although it was not at the San Diego Marlin Club’s weigh station on Shelter Island, the Padres were all smiles after landing two of three from the Marlins in Miami. Fueled by a five-run fifth inning, the Friars picked up Kevin Correia and edged out a 6-4 victory.  After sweeping Arizona and San Francisco at home, Wednesday’s matinee gave the Padres a 4-2 road trip. Is April too early for a division race? San ...

As a Miami Dolphin last year, New York Jets linebacker Jason Taylor mentioned Jets fans taking the "cl" out of class when it comes to talking about them. Now, he has to find a way to win them back. Maybe he can go say that about the Yankees, but this is not a good idea for a guy that is trying to make a new impression in this region. So this baseball ...

This is not simply a reaction to the post by Bruce Levine, who is wrong more often than he is right. There seems to be legitimate buzz around the Cubs organization about bringing up young stud Starlin Castro. But it doesn't necessarily mean the end of Ryan Theriot as a Cub, for they may simply move The Riot to second base and play Castro at short. Regardless of what they do with ...

Before the ink could dry on Ryan Howard's five-year, $125 million contract extension, speculation already was running rampant in Milwaukee on how the deal for the Phillies' first baseman would effect Prince Fielder. Word had already leaked out that Fielder would likely start his contract talks based on the eight-year, $184 million deal signed by Joe Mauer. Fielder would offer no such "hometown discount" like Mauer did for the Twins. As much ...

In the 2010 season, some teams have the most dominant pitchers of the game. If MLB had to go against any kind of other league out of the United States, which pitchers would you take? The one with the pinpoint control? The hottest pitcher in the league? These would be my picks: the best starting pitchers for a rotation. (Note: these are not ranked)Begin Slideshow

The San Francisco Giants had a series sweep of the two time defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies all wrapped up with a bow on top. Tim Lincecum had dominated the Phillies all day long and with one out in the ninth inning, he had 11 strikeouts and zero walks. Without walking a single batter until giving Shane Victorino the free pass in the ninth, Lincecum had thrown just 106 pitches. And Giants ...