Tag: Justin Upton

Justin Upton Still with Arizona Diamondbacks After Chris Young Trade

Well, we have our first real official trade of the offseason.

The Diamondbacks didn’t waste any time opening up their outfield logjam today, trading Chris Young to the Oakland A’s as part of a three-team trade involving the Miami Marlins, as reported by MLB.com.

This might cut down on the rumors of Justin Upton being traded this offseason, or this might cause the trade fires to burn more brightly.

Many things stand out from this trade.

Looking at it from the Arizona perspective, Justin Upton may not be going anywhere after all.

This trade opens CF for prospect Adam Eaton to take over and bat leadoff. Upton can continue in RF, and the D’Backs are then left to decide whether to go with offense (Jason Kubel) or defense (Gerardo Parra) in left field.  

By trading Young and taking back Heath Bell, the Diamondbacks are saving about $3 million in salary according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, which they can redirect to other areas. The Marlins are paying about $8 million of Bell’s remaining contract, making Bell (at $6.5 million per year) a valuable commodity if he can regain his All-Star form.

Arizona will also receive 28-year-old SS Cliff Pennington from Oakland. Pennington will likely factor into the D’Backs shortstop mix for the 2013 season. Pennington had a poor regular season for Oakland but was excellent during the playoffs this past year.

 

 

From the Miami perspective, according to mlbtraderumors, it looks to be a salary dump by the Marlins for a player that was touted last winter as a key piece coming into Miami. Bell had a terrible year in 2012, pitching to a 5.09 ERA, and he had only 19 saves. But in his prior three seasons in San Diego, he recorded over 40 saves each year. With how volatile the reliever and closer market is, he could easily regain his form in 2013 and have real value.

The other aspect from the Marlins side is the indication that Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen may return for the 2013 season. Bell and Guillen clashed last season, and Bell was one of Guillen’s most vocal critics, so by removing Bell it may signal that the Marlins are going to give Guillen one more season to turn things around. Miami did receive a prospect in the deal, but it looks to be mostly clearing salary and cleaning out the clubhouse.

The Oakland A’s side is very interesting. By trading for Chris Young, the A’s will have four quality outfielders under contract for 2013. Arizona only kicked $500K into the deal, meaning that Young will cost Oakland $8 million next season.

Do the A’s sell high on Josh Reddick, who struggled down the stretch in 2012? Does Oakland plan on rotating all of the outfielders through the DH position? Is Coco Crisp trade bait all of a sudden?

A’s manager Bob Melvin used to be Young’s manager in Arizona, during which time Young had two of his best seasons. Maybe Young can be a productive player again for Melvin in Oakland.

The MLB hot stove has started already. Great news for everyone looking ahead to next season.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Why Acquiring Justin Upton Would Be Smarter Offseason Move Than Josh Hamilton

Rich teams looking to land an elite offensive outfielder this offseason will have one name at the top of their wish lists:

Josh Hamilton.

It was widely expected before the start of the 2012 season that Hamilton would be the top position player on the free-agent market this winter, and he hasn’t done anything throughout the course of the season to compromise that expectation. Despite a prolonged slump in June and July, Hamilton has hit 40 home runs and racked up 119 RBI with 22 games left to play.

Another AL MVP award isn’t a lock for the Texas Rangers’ star outfielder, but he’s certainly in the discussion. At the very least, he should finish in the top five of the voting, and that’s just another thing he can sell to prospective employers this winter.

Prospective employers can hear him out if they want, but the smarter thing to do would be to ignore Hamilton and go and give the Arizona Diamondbacks a call. They have an outfielder they’ll be looking to unload, and trading for this particular outfielder would be a lot smarter than signing Hamilton to a massive free-agent contract.

We’re talking, of course, about none other than Justin Upton.

The Diamondbacks toyed with the idea of trading Upton ahead of the non-waiver trade deadline, and he was even claimed after the Diamondbacks put him on waivers in August, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Obviously, he wasn’t moved.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney (Insider post), rival executives around the league believe that the Diamondbacks will finally move Upton this winter.

The hope all along this season was that Upton would spring to life and carry the Diamondbacks toward a second straight postseason berth. This hasn’t happened. Upton struggled through the first four months of the season, and he’s hitting a modest .281/.324/.438 with five homers and 12 RBI since the first of August.

Hamilton, meanwhile, is hitting .288/.356/.575 with 11 homers and 35 RBI since the first of August. He’s hit almost as many home runs in his last 38 games as Upton has all season (13).

So then—why exactly would Upton be a smarter acquisition than Hamilton?

It has little to do with how well the two of them have performed this season. Hamilton hasn’t been as dominant as he was in his MVP season in 2010, but he has a good shot to end up leading the majors in both home runs and RBI when all is said and done. Players who can do such things tend to do well in free agency (see: Fielder, Prince).

Upton, on the other hand, isn’t going to come close to the numbers he put up in 2011 when he posted an .898 OPS and hit 31 home runs with 21 stolen bases. His immense talent has all but disappeared, and as a result, his value has plummeted.

And that’s the beauty of it.

If the Diamondbacks do decide to trade Upton this winter, they won’t be giving him up for peanuts. It likely will take a couple of blue-chip prospects to land him or a package centered around a young, established major leaguer and a few prospects (this is just me speculating based on reports such as the one Bob Nightengale of USA Today published back in July).

But since Upton will be coming off a down year, Arizona GM Kevin Towers won’t have nearly as much leverage in trade talks as he would have had if he had tried to trade Upton this past offseason. Upton is still very much worthy of an impressive trade haul, but he probably could be had for half of what it would have taken to land him last winter.

Besides, one must look at the situation relative to what it will cost to land Hamilton. And financially, it’s going to cost a ton to sign him.

According to ESPN’s Jim Bowden (Insider post), Hamilton is going to be on the lookout for a contract similar to the deals handed out to Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols this past offseason, and he has little interest in giving the Rangers a hometown discount.

If this is true, we’re talking about a 10-year deal worth around $200 million.

Hamilton isn’t going to get a deal for that many years, but an annual salary of around $20 million isn’t such a stretch. Even if his deal ends up being for five or six years with an option year or two, it’s likely that he will join the pantheon of $20 million-per-year players this winter.

No matter how long Hamilton’s next contract is for, there will be plenty of risk inherent in it. Hamilton is already 31 years old, and everyone knows about his past problems with drug and alcohol addiction and his inability to stay healthy for a full season.

To make matters even trickier, Hamilton is not without his flaws as a hitter. His 24.3 percent strikeout rate (via FanGraphs) this season is the highest of his career, and he tends to stay cold for a long time when he loses his focus at the plate.

As such, whoever signs Hamilton will be taking on a player who’s either going to be worth every penny, or a massive bust. It’s hard to imagine there being any in between.

We have more than enough evidence to suggest that Upton is the same kind of player in his own right, but there’s less risk where he’s concerned because of the friendliness of the contract he’s signed to.

Upton signed a six-year extension with the Diamondbacks back in March of 2010. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, it will pay him under $10 million in 2013, $14.25 million in 2014 and $14.5 million in 2015.

These are modest prices to pay for a player with as much talent as Upton, and it’s not a ton of money for a team to swallow if he does continue to struggle. And in the event that Upton reverts back to his 2011 form, he’d be more than worth the $38.5 million remaining on his contract after this season.

And indeed, why should any of us be too quick to rule out the possibility of Upton returning to form? He just turned 25 years old in late August. If you buy into the notion that hitters hit their prime around 26 or 27 years old, Upton hasn’t even hit his prime yet.

And seeing as how he’s already had one season in which he hit .289/.369/.529 and finished fourth in the NL MVP voting, that’s kind of a scary thought. Upton could do better than that if things start clicking for him again, and he’s far too young to be washed up.

A fresh start somewhere else wouldn’t hurt Upton’s chances of reverting back to the form he showed in 2011. There have been trade rumors buzzing around his head for months, and the 2012 season has not been without its share of drama between Upton and his bosses. What he needs after this season is a change in scenery.

That’s something of a baseball cliché, to be sure. But hey, it’s worked for Hanley Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis.

As for Hamilton, the possibility exists that a change of scenery would be a very, very bad thing instead of a very, very good thing.

Per Bowden’s report (and about a million other reports), Hamilton is comfortable in Texas. He lives in the Dallas area, and he may not move outside of Texas even if he does head elsewhere this offseason. He’s also comfortable with the Rangers, who have gone way above and beyond the call of duty to accommodate him since he arrived via a trade with the Cincinnati Reds following the 2007 season.

If Hamilton does sign elsewhere, his new employer will surely duplicate the Rangers’ efforts to make Hamilton comfortable. What he can’t change, however, is the new environment into which he’ll be placed. And if he signs with a big-market team in a big city, that could be a problem given his history of problems away from the field.

Because this possibility exists, I’ll wager that trading for Upton rather than signing Hamilton would not only be a smarter transaction but a safer transaction as well. 

It all boils down to a pretty simple comparison.

If a team signs Hamilton, it will be hoping for a player who’s going to hit 35-plus home runs and drive in more than 100 runs every year. If Hamilton doesn’t do that, he won’t be worth the $20 million or so he’s going to be getting paid.

If a team trades for Upton, it will be hoping for a player who has the ability to hit .300 with 30-homer power and 20-steal speed while providing above-average defense in right field. If Upton doesn’t do that, he’ll be overpaid for a couple years and will then be somebody else’s problem.

Twist my arm and ask me to pick one of them, I’d take Upton.

In fact, twisting my arm isn’t really all that necessary.

 

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter.

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Arizona Diamondbacks: Young Star Justin Upton Will Stay Put This Season

According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, Justin Upton isn’t going anywhere during the 2012 season.

Earlier Tuesday afternoon, team president Derrick Hall told reporters that there was “close to a 100 percent chance that nothing happens” with Upton and that, “We’re in no hurry to move this guy—nor do we think we need to.”

“Everybody in this organization is open for discussion and conversation, including Justin Upton. If people call, we’re going to listen. We’ve had a lot of people call, and we’ve said, ‘No, thank you’ to all of them. That hasn’t changed,” Hall said.

Trade rumors have been swirling around the young star for quite some time but, for now, it appears Upton will stay put.

Prior to this statement, Upton had been linked to the Yankees, Rangers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Pirates, Tigers and Braves.

Thus far through the 2012 season, Upton is slashing .276/.362/.412 with eight home runs, 41 RBI, 60 runs, and 11 steals in 89 games.

The power numbers are a disappointment as well as the slugging percentage in result of his decreasing power output, but Upton is producing similarly on all other fronts.

If Upton can get the ball up in the air a little more consistently and produce more line drives, then fans may see a return to 2011 form.

In 2011, Upton produced fly balls 44.8 percent of the time and ground balls 36.9 percent of the time. In 2012, those numbers have completely switched and he produces 33.2 percent fly balls and 45.7 percent ground balls.

Recently, the Diamondbacks have won four games straight moving, to 48-48 on the year and just 4.5 games out of the NL Wild Card.

Put your money on the Diamondbacks transitioning into buying mode come the trade deadline.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Arizona Diamondbacks: Ken Kendrick Rips Stephen Drew and Justin Upton

It certainly gets hot in the desert. Right now, things are starting to boil over.

Arizona Diamondbacks managing partner Ken Kendrick was featured on Prostopreps.com via telephone interview with Brad Cesmat on Monday. In the interview, he questioned Stephen Drew’s commitment to returning to the field this season and referred to All-Star outfielder Justin Upton as an “enigma.”

Currently, the Diamondbacks are third in the NL West, but they own a losing record of 25-30. It has clearly been a disappointing start for a team that found itself in a groove at the end of the 2011 season and clicking on all cylinders when the calendar turned to October.

Now, however, frustration is mounting in the front office—so much so that Kendrick went on to call out two of the Diamondbacks’ key players. In the case of Stephen Drew, Kendrick had this to say:

“I’m going to be real candid and say Stephen and his representatives are more focused on where he is going to be a year from now than going ahead and supporting the team that is paying his salary. All you can do is hope that the player is treating the situation with integrity. We have our concerns.”

While it never seems appropriate to question a players integrity, especially mid-season, the D’backs have a history of calling for players to return from injuries before they’re ready. 

Brandon Webb anyone?

While Drew has not played in any games this season for the snakes, his replacement, Willie Bloomquist, has played admirably well in his absence. Bloomquist is currently batting .283 with 10 RBIs and 21 runs scored.

Drew is a career .270 hitter who offers more RBIs, but isn’t missed as much as he could be right now.

Justin Upton’s situation, on the other hand, has been more alarming.

“I think Justin is an enigma at this point,” Kendrick said, “I know he had an injury. It was something of a nagging injury, but he’s played…He’s certainly not the Justin Upton he has been in the past, and we would expect of him. He’s 24 years old. It’s time for him to be a consistent performer, and he’s not been that.”

Upton has the tools to be the next Barry Bonds. Not the steroid fueled Bonds, the Pittsburgh Pirate Bonds. The problem is, he’s just…well, not.

Kendrick hit the nail on the head; right now, Upton is an enigma. His .243 batting average isn’t exactly leaving opposing pitchers shaking in their boots.

The D’Backs need their stars. They need them healthy and committed. Right now, that is something the team can’t say with confidence that they have.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Arizona Diamondbacks: Chris Young’s Hot Start Helps Cover Justin Upton’s Injury

On Monday, we listed five National League players who needed to have a big week. One player not included on the list, as pointed out by Matthew Peary in the comments, was the Arizona DiamondbacksJustin Upton

The D-Backs’ star right fielder has no home runs or RBI in the team’s first 10 games while batting .212/.350/.273 with 10 strikeouts in 40 plate appearances. As Peary said in his comment, that’s not what you prefer to see from an MVP candidate, which Upton most certainly is for Arizona.

But as it turns out, Upton might not just be slumping. He may be hurting. 

Fox Sports Arizona’s Jack Magruder reported via Twitter that Upton will see a hand specialist and undergo an MRI exam to check out a nagging thumb injury that has him out of Tuesday’s lineup. D-Backs manager Kirk Gibson said Upton going to the disabled list was “not out of the question.” 

Fortunately for the D-Backs, they have the outfield depth to cover Upton’s absence in the short-term. Signing Jason Kubel as a free agent was one of the more perplexing moves of the offseason. Now, bringing him to be the starting left fielder doesn’t look so bad. 

Gerardo Parra, the outfielder squeezed out of the starting lineup with Kubel’s signing, takes over in right field. The D-Backs’ outfield won’t miss a beat defensively. Though Parra has mostly played in left and won a Gold Glove for his defense there last season, he’s played 60 games in right. 

Unfortunately, Parra isn’t quite the hitter Upton is, especially from a power standpoint. So Arizona’s offense will suffer there. Last season, Parra hit a respectable .292/.357/.427 with eight home runs, 46 RBI and 15 stolen bases. This year, with diminished playing time, he’s batting .316/.350/.474 in 22 plate appearances. 

However, Chris Young has been doing his best to make up for Upton’s struggles. The centerfielder is off to a scorching start, batting .405/.500/.892 with five homers and 12 RBI. His 1.392 OPS is second only to Matt Kemp in the majors.

The key to his adjustment thus far, as Magruder and ESPN’s Buster Olney both wrote about, is being more relaxed and swinging in a rhythm rather than abruptly jumping at the ball from a standstill. 

Obviously, the D-Backs are a far better team with Upton in the lineup. Gibson joked that he’d rather have his superstar than outfield depth. No team could sustain losing an MVP-caliber player for a long period. But for now, that depth will help Gibby’s team stay at or near first place in the NL West until Upton’s injured thumb heals up.

 

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Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


2012 Is Perfect Storm for Diamondbacks Right Fielder Justin Upton

In 2011, the Arizona Diamondbacks had their big breakout year. Their right-fielder also had his big breakout year in 2011 and looks poised to build on the season in which he finished 4th in the NL MVP voting. Justin Upton has finally put together the season that Diamondback fans have been waiting for since he was called up to the majors at the ripe age of 19. The 2012 season seems to be shaping into the “perfect storm” for the Dbacks superstar.

When the Diamondbacks won the NL West last season they insured one thing: that the entire city and state would benefit from the win by gaining national attention. Going into training camp last year you would have been hard-pressed to find a team less relevant to the national spotlight. Similarly, Justin Upton was coming off of a disappointing year; where he took a step back from his All-Star season the year prior. Now in 2012, the attention has definitely taken a shift to the Diamondbacks and specifically Justin Upton.

Justin Upton is positioned to put together the type of year that defines a career, and in this case, potentially defines a Hall of Fame career. A step forward from last year would put him alongside the Albert Pujols and the Alex Rodriguez‘s of the league in terms of star power. It would be the year that he gave the Diamondbacks their national identity, which would parallel with what hometown favorite superstars Steve Nash and Larry Fitzgerald have done for the Phoenix Suns and the Arizona Cardinals.

This year will be filled with nothing but high-expectations for the Diamondbacks and their superstar to surpass, and Diamondback fans just can’t wait!

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


5 Fantasy Baseball Players That Will Go 30/30 in 2012

In 2011 four players hit 30 home runs and stole 30 bases. 

  • Matt Kemp (39/40)
  • Ryan Braun (33/33)
  • Jacoby Ellsbury (32/39)
  • Ian Kinsler (32/30)

Considering Ryan Braun will play at most 112 games this season, I don’t see him being a repeat offender. The speed will always be there for Ellsbury, but only 20 home runs in 1,688 plate appearances prior to 2011. I don’t buy another 30 home run season for Ellsbury. 

These are the guys you need on your fantasy roster in 2012 to capture the elusive HR and SB categories. 

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New York Yankees Trade Jesus Montero: Ranking MLB’s Top 20 Young Impact Hitters

The Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees swapped Michael Pineda and Jesus Montero Friday night, in a trade that boiled down to a trade of two organizations’ most polished future stars.

It all began with a tweet, from Jerry Crasnick of ESPN: “The  are moving closer to a trade for a young impact hitter, two baseball sources confirmed.”

The details swirled forth relatively quickly from there, but for a few minutes, that left interested parties wondering: To whom could such a tweet refer? Who, in the game today, constitutes a “young impact hitter”?

Every source one would consult on the issue might give a different answer, of course, but it seemed safe to assume that player would have some MLB experience, however small an amount, and obviously, that his ceiling would be as a top- or middle-of-the-order batter.

Not that many such guys exist, of course; that’s what makes Seattle’s acquisition of Montero special. Of those who are out there, though, here are the 20 best “young impact hitters” in baseball today.

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Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers Is MLB’s 2011 NL MVP

Ryan Braun is this year’s NL MVP.

Other players might be in the discussion, namely Matt Kemp, Prince Fielder, Joey Votto, Albert Pujols and Justin Upton, but at the end of the season Braun should be adding to a trophy case that already contains Rookie of the Year and three Silver Sluggers.

Braun, who is hitting .332, trails NL Leader Jose Reyes by just one point.

He leads the National League in On-Base plus Slugging percentage (OPS), baseball’s best measure of offensive output, at .987.  He’s one of just three plays in the senior circuit with at least a .400 On-Base and .550 Slugging Percentage (Kemp is just outside with a .399 OBP).  Only Votto (.985) is within 20 points of Braun.

Braun has put together such an incredible OPS through a balanced offensive attack. A patient slugger, he’s walked enough that his On-Base is 70 points over his impressive batting average.  He has 25 homers, 35 doubles and five triples, giving him 65 extra-base hits already – more than any of his potential MVP counterparts except for Upton (68).

Currently leading the league in runs with 93 and sitting fifth in RBI at 91, Braun should easily eclipse the century mark in both fields before season’s end.

Among this group, Pujols’s 51 strikeouts are the only total less than Braun’s 79.  Fielder (88) is the only other player under 100.

Of potential MVP candidates, Braun’s 31 steals trail only Kemp’s 37.  Braun, however, is a more efficient stealer than Kemp, stealing bags at an 86% success rate compared to Kemp’s 82%.  In fact, Braun’s rate is better than anyone in the top 10 in stolen bases except for Cameron Maybin, whose 32-for-37 barely bests Braun’s 31-for-36.

Braun is also the best hitter, and No. 3 batter for a Brewers club that has opened up an impressive 8.5 game lead in the NL Central.  The magic number to clinch their first division crown since 1982, when they were in the American League, is 16.  So with 23 games remaining and 24 for the division rival St. Louis Cardinals, any combination of 16 Milwaukee wins plus St. Louis losses will earn them a trip to the playoffs.  If the Braun-led Brew Crew plays just one game under .500 the rest of the way, St. Louis would have to go 19-4 just to force a tie.

The other players have all had tremendous seasons of their own, and each deserves some consideration, but ultimately none stack up to the season Braun has put together.

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Fantasy Baseball: Troy Tulowitzki and 5 to Stash in Your Keeper League

Keeper leagues add an entirely new element to fantasy baseball.

They put you even deeper into the position of a major league GM, forcing you to balance risk and reward. Anyone who has been successful in these leagues will tell you that there are three major factors in gauging the value of a player as a keeper—production, age and potential.  

These five guys give you all that and more.

 

Follow me on Twitter: @Nick_Marro

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