AGRI Biz

Despite having the World Series Champions of 2008 in the division, I very much thought that the NL East was there for the taking last season. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was winnable for four teams in my mind. This year, I think the Philadelphia Phillies are the clear favorites and it will take over-achievement from other teams to knock them down. They are good enough to run away ...

Like the American League East, I expect the West to be much of a three-horse race. You've got three clubs that could all win the division and would all be decent playoff teams if they did so, because everything would have come together. Unlike the East though, the West may only have one representative in the playoffs, which makes this division race all the more interesting. Los Angeles, Seattle, and Texas all ...

Some say that "play ball" is the greatest phrase in baseball. While I would tend to agree, there is another phrase that carries equal greatness in the game. "If." It qualifies every statement that people tend to make when talking about their team at this point in the season. And for Cleveland Indians fans, such as myself, we've been throwing the "If" word around a lot. Actually, a lot seems like a little. The ...

Like its American League counterpart, the National League Central is considered to be much of a wide-open race. The one difference is they've got more of a legitimate favorite that could very well go deep into the playoffs. The reason that they've got a favorite in St. Louis, yet can be considered wide-open is the pure fact that there is a lot of unknown for some teams. Even the Cardinals ...

I might as well get this initial statement out of the way, first and foremost. There is no greater sport than the game of baseball. There, I said it. Not that I haven’t said it before, but I’ve typed out several different ways to start this out—and that seemed the best way to go about things. It encompasses all my thoughts and feelings into 10 simple and glorious words. And with that, let me ...

What in the wide world happened to Johnny Damon this offseason? And even to a lesser extent, Felipe Lopez. When I originally started to type this feature up, I was almost sure Scott Boras was going to royally jam Damon into the corner. Then the Detroit Tigers went ahead and ruined a large portion of my argument. However, I still think there is enough ammunition to at least put a few holes in ...

How much stock should we take into performances from the off-season winter leagues? I think it becomes a question of merit when you have someone that is downright dominating. For instance, take someone like Mike Maroth, who is currently in camp with the Minnesota Twins. In the Puerto Rican League, Maroth started six games, carried a 2.60 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP in 34 innings pitched. That’s pretty good, but if ...

I was downright shocked to see the Philadelphia Phillies pull off the Roy Halladay trade. I figured that with Cliff Lee’s performance in the 2009 postseason, they were satisfied with the deal they pulled off to get him, and were content going with him and Cole Hamels atop their rotation. I’m sure they probably would have been had Lee been open to signing a long-term extension. I think it needs to be ...

It hit me at one point in the offseason that of the 30 teams in the game of baseball, there are a few teams that currently “get it” when it comes to running an organization, both short-term and long-term. There are a few teams that get it and then there is the Boston Red Sox. Few teams are on Boston’s playing field when it comes to spending money. That is a reality ...

You can’t go around the game and not find players that are just outright insane. Not just insane, but a tough man’s man that will get anyone that is a part of the male gender a little testosterone boost. These two players are for all the chest-thumpers. The players out there that welcome all comers and after they dispose of them, will stand over the damage they’ve caused and roar like a ...