Tag: B.J. Upton (Page 2 of 3)

      B.J. Upton likely to miss Opening Day

      March 22, 2009 /

      The AL Champion Rays will likely be missing one of their stars when the regular season starts in April.

      UPDATE 1: Center Fielder B.J. Upton, who suffered a bruised bone when hit by a pitch in a minor league game yesterday, said he will have to take it easy for the next couple of days. He said the setback probably firms up the target date for his return to the lineup as the regular season home opener April 13. There was an outside chance he could have returned from off-season shoulder surgery for the season opener April 6 at Boston.

      This injury is unlikely to sideline Upton very long. Fantasy owners should monitor the situation, but he’ll be fine over the long haul.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      2009 Fantasy Baseball Preview: Outfielders

      March 10, 2009 /

      All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

      The great thing about addressing your outfielder positions on draft day is that there are so many to choose from that chances are if you don’t like one facet about a certain player (i.e. age, inexperience, he plays for the Red Sox and you’re a Yankees fan, etc.), you can move on to one of the many other choices available.

      Conversely, with so many players to choose from, you’re liable to stick your head in an oven in order to avoid having to decide between which outfielders will explode and which will wind up on your league’s wavier wire after making you suffer for the first couple months of the season.

      The nice thing about having so many choices for outfielders is that you can draft certain players to fill certain needs. As your roster starts to take shape on draft day, if you desire more power, then there are plenty of outfielders that can address that specific need. If your team is lacking speed, there are outfielders that you can target to rack up stolen bases. And if you were able to draft for both speed and power in previous rounds, then adding a couple outfielders that can hit for average will only help you in the long run.

      That said, if you’re smart, you’ll pinpoint the outfielders that can do it all. Sure, they might not excel in any one area, but over the course of the season if you can land a guy that can spread out his production in home runs, RBIs, runs and average, it will do wonders for your team in the end. After all, balance is key in fantasy baseball and after you land your studs early on, you’re going to need to complete your roster with players that can produce in all areas.

      With a huge pool of outfielders to choose from, there are plenty of players that will give you the balance you’ll need all season. We’ve picked out a few below (that you’ll find in both middle and late rounds), so take a look and keep an eye on them come draft day. And for the sake of not insulting your intelligence, we didn’t list any of the outfielders in our top 15 (see the rankings below). There’s no sense waxing poetically about Ryan Braun, Grady Sizemore and Matt Holliday when you already know what they can do.

      Alex Rios, Toronto Blue Jays
      Rios flashed power in 2007 and speed in 2008 and if he can put everything together this season, 2009 could be a very good year fantasy-wise for the Blue Jay right fielder. If Rios falls into your lap after the top 15 outfielders come of the board, you probably won’t be disappointed. He should close in on a .290 batting average, 20 home runs, 100 runs and 90 RBI, all while stealing 25 bases. When we talk about finding balance in outfielders, Rios is exactly what we’re talking about.

      Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels
      Vlad might not be the player he was a couple of years ago, but don’t be the one that passes on him because you’re worried about his age. He’ll still hit over .300 and chip in 25-plus home runs, 100-plus RBIs and 85-plus runs. He won’t steal any bases, but he doesn’t strike out much and he’ll likely finish with a slugging percentage around .530.

      Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers
      Ordonez is another player that you might pass up due to age, but don’t forget that he hits in the same lineup that features Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson and Gary Sheffield so he still has a ton of value fantasy-wise. Similar to Guerrero’s production, Mags will hit over .300, drive in over 100 runs and finish with 20-25 home runs if he can stay healthy. And much like Vlad, Ordonez won’t give you anything in the stolen base department but he’ll finish with a slugging percentage in the .520-range and score 80-plus runs.

      Shane Victorino, Philadelphia Phillies
      If this guy can stay healthy, he’s going to be a hell of a fantasy player and could be in store for a solid season. Victorino lacks elite power, but he’ll still hit 10-plus dingers, score 95-plus runs and hit in the .280-range. He won’t knock in many runs, but he’ll make up for it by stealing 35-plus bases and add 7-plus triples.

      Jermaine DyeJermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox
      If Dye comes close to what he did last year (.292-34-96-96), then you’ll be more than happy to add him as your second outfielder. Dye loves hitting at U.S. Cellular and while he won’t hit for average like Vlad or Mags will, he’ll produce seven to 10 more dingers. The only disadvantage of drafting him is that he obviously doesn’t have much upside. He is what he is at this point in his career, so don’t expect better than what he produced last year, which certainly isn’t bad by any means but there’s not much to get excited about either.

      Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays
      By this point, everyone knows the book on Wells; if he can stay healthy, he has the capability of being a top 20 pick, but you can draft him as a top 30 pick. If avoids the injury bug, he’ll close in on .285, hit 20-plus home runs and score 75-plus runs. He doesn’t offer much in the RBI category, but he’s always knocking on the door of a huge season and worth a look if other owners in your league avoid him like the plague on draft day.

      J.D. Drew, Boston Red Sox
      This guy terrifies us, as well as he should terrify you. But there’s no doubt he can hit and in that lineup, Drew will have the opportunity to knock in close to 80 RBIs, score 80-plus runs and hit close to 20 dingers. He’ll also sniff .285 and chip in 30-plus doubles. The only problem, of course, is that he’s always a stubbed toe away from landing on the DL and he’s already complaining about his back. Be afraid…be very afraid. Still, there’s no doubt Drew offers a ton of value late in your draft.

      Hideki MatsuiHideki Matsui, New York Yankees
      There will probably be a point during your draft when you see Matsui’s name staring you in the face and you might be tempted to pass. Depending on what round it is and how your draft has shaken out to that point, Matsui could be a great low risk, high reward player. He’s coming off knee surgery, but he also will see plenty of time at DH this season with the Yankees, which hopefully will keep him healthier. If he does stay healthy throughout, there’s no reason he can’t hit .300 with 15-plus home runs and chip in 80 RBI and 80 runs.

      Xavier Nady, New York Yankees
      We’ll give you the bad news first; Nady plays in an awfully crowded outfield in New York and you have to be concerned about guys like Melky Cabrera stealing his at bats. But the good news is that he’s in a contract year and could flourish hitting in a stacked lineup. (Although A-Rod is set to miss up to 10 weeks so that certainly doesn’t help.) Nady will likely close in on .280, hit 20-25 home runs and score 70-plus runs. You could do a lot worse late in the draft.

      Fred Lewis, San Francisco Giants
      Lewis is a sleeper and could be a great value late in your draft following a breakout year of sorts in 2008. He’ll move into the third spot in the lineup sandwiched between Edgar Renteria and Benglie Molina, thus having the opportunity to score close to 90 runs while sniffing a .280 batting average. Unfortunately he probably won’t rack up a ton of RBIs, but he’ll more than make up for it with 20-25 stolen bases and he’ll even chip in 10-15 home runs and 10 triples. Not bad for a late round pick.

      1. Grady Sizemore, CLE
      2. Ryan Braun, MIL
      3. Carlos Beltran, NYM
      4. Carlos Quentin, CHW
      5. Alfonso Soriano, CHC
      6. Carlos Lee, HOU
      7. Josh Hamilton, TEX
      8. B.J. Upton, TB
      9. Carl Crawford, TB
      10. Matt Holliday, OAK
      11. Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
      12. Nick Markakis, OAK
      13. Matt Kemp, LAD
      14. Manny Ramirez, LAD
      15. Jason Bay, BOS
      16. Alex Rios, TOR
      17. Shane Victorino, PHI
      18. Nate McLouth, PIT
      19. Vladimir Guerrero, LAA
      20. Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS
      21. Curtis Granderson, DET
      22. Magglio Ordonez, DET
      23. Adam Dunn, WAS
      24. Jermaine Dye, CHW
      25. Corey Hart, MIL
      26. Bobby Abreu, LAA
      27. Ryan Ludwick,
      28. Jay Bruce, CIN
      29. Vernon Wells, TOR
      30. Raul Ibanez, PHI
      31. Johnny Damon, NYY
      32. Hunter Pence, HOU
      33. Brad Hawpe, COL
      34. Torii Hunter, LAA
      35. Chris Young, ARI
      36. Milton Bradley, CHC
      37. Lastings Milledge, WAS
      38. Andre Ethier, LAD
      39. Pat Burrell, TB
      40. Jayson Werth, PHI
      41. Conor Jackson, ARI
      42. Xavier Nady, NYY
      43. Nelson Cruz, TEX
      44. Justin Upton, ARI
      45. Fred Lewis, SF
      46. Mark DeRosa, CLE
      47. J.D. Drew, BOS
      48. Coco Crisp, KC
      49. Rick Ankiel, STL
      50. Adam Jones, BAL
      51. Shin-Soo Choo, CLE
      52. Carlos Gomez, MIN
      53. Cameron Maybin, FLA
      54. Hideki Matsui, NYY
      55. Willy Taveras, CIN
      56. Denard Span, MIN
      57. Elijah Dukes, WAS
      58. Adam Lind, TOR
      59. Mike Cameron, MIL
      60. Juan Pierre, LAD
      61. Jason Kubel, MIN
      62. Jack Cust, OAK
      63. Randy Winn, SF
      64. Jeremy Hermida, FLA
      65. Felipe Lopez, ARI
      66. Travis Snider, TOR
      67. Mat LaPorta, CLE
      68. Chase Headley, SD
      69. Jose Guillen, KC
      70. Michael Bourn, HOU
      71. David DeJesus, KC
      72. Gary Sheffield, DET
      73. Ryan Spillborghs, COL
      74. Ryan Church, NYM
      75. Ty Wigginton, BAL
      76. Aaron Rowand, SF
      77. Brian Giles, SD
      78. Eric Byrnes, ARI
      79. Michael Cuddyer, MIN
      80. Ken Griffey, SEA

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Young Rays show resiliency in Game 2

      October 23, 2008 /

      James ShieldsThere’s a pretty damning stat out there for teams that drop the opening game of the World Series. The team that was victorious in Game 1 has gone on to capture 63 of the last 103 Series, including 10 of the last 11.

      So following their 3-2 loss in Game 1 Wednesday night, one could understand why the Rays would feel pressure to come away with a win over the Phillies in Game 2 on Thursday. Not only were they battling history, but also major inexperience considering their roster is filled with youngsters who have never played in the postseason, nevertheless the World Series.

      Not that it was necessarily a must win, but Tampa Bay did come out of Game 2 with a win as they held on to beat Philadelphia 4-2 after mounting a 4-0 lead after the fourth inning. B.J. Upton went 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI to lead the Rays, while starter James Shields pitched 5.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing seven hits and striking out four.

      Considering there aren’t any significant stats that apply to Game 2 victories, the Rays’ win might not attract much attention outside of the fact that they have now tied the best of seven series at one game apiece. But being down 0-2 would have been incredibly difficult to overcome, especially when you factor in that Tampa isn’t used to playing in Philly in October.

      After losing Game 1 to the more experienced Red Sox in the ALDS, the Rays rattled off three in a row before squandering a 7-0 lead in Game 5 and then dropping Game 6 at home. Coming back after losing Game 1 was impressive, as well as showing the guts to win in Game 7 when they had lost all of the momentum. So it’ll be interesting to see if the young Rays can continue to show how resilient they are this postseason after facing some adversity. Their Game 2 victory Thursday night was huge.

      MLB

      Appreciate how the Rays got here

      October 20, 2008 /

      Tampa Bay RaysForget the magical, out-of-nowhere season for just a second. Instead, take a moment to appreciate how the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays got here.

      No big name free agents. No blockbuster trades. No big payroll. The Rays’ built their success through years of phenomenal drafting, patience, and unlike most MLB teams, had the foresight to resist overspending on overpriced talent.

      The Rays’ roster is littered with examples of how a baseball team should build success.

      Take Matt Garza, the starting pitcher who limited the Red Sox to just two runs in 13 innings in the ALCS. He was the top prospect in the Minnesota Twins’ organization entering the 2007 season, and the 21st-best prospect in Major League Baseball according to Baseball America. But he couldn’t crack the Twins’ starting rotation out of spring training and the team began to grow impatient. The Twins felt that they could get a quality bat in return for their star prospect, and they eventually did.

      In the 2008 offseason, Minnesota packaged Garza along with Jason Bartlett and Eduardo Morlan, and sent them to Tampa for Delmon Young, Jason Pridie and Brendan Harris. And while Garza only had a smattering of success in the regular season this year (he went 11-9 with a 3.70 ERA), he saved his best work for Boston in the postseason and wound up earning the ALCS MVP.

      But the Garza trade was just one of many intelligent moves that the Rays have made throughout the years to get them where they are now.

      There’s B.J. Upton, who has quickly become one of baseball’s best centerfielders at age 24. The Rays drafted him with the second overall pick in 2002 and after a couple of years in the minors, he made his debut in early August of 2004.

      B.J. UptonUpton didn’t rot behind an overpriced veteran free agent because the Rays felt that they needed to spend big to win. The club allowed him to play and develop his game at the major league level and obviously the moved paid off, because he’s become a crucial part of the team’s championship run, belting seven home runs so far in the postseason.

      Before Upton, there was Carl Crawford – the Rays’ second round pick in the 1999 MLB Draft. The team took the same approach with Crawford as they did Upton, and allowed him to slowly develop in the big leagues. But really, there was nothing slow about Crawford’s development since he became the eighth player to record 1,000 hits and steal 250 bases before turning the age of 27.

      Against Boston in the postseason, Crawford tied an ALCS record with five hits in one game, going 5-5 in the Rays’ 13-4 Game 4 victory. He also scored three runs, stole two bases and drove in two runs.

      The Rays’ draft success doesn’t end with Crawford and Upton, either. Evan Longoria (the third overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft) made the 2008 All-Star Game and is the frontrunner for AL Rookie of the Year after batting .272 with 85 RBI and 27 home runs. He also almost single-handedly beat the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS by belting two home runs in his first two at bats.

      The team also drafted starters James Shields and Andy Sonnanstine, who each of have notched postseason victories. In fact, Sonnanstine has won both of his postseason starts, which is incredible considering he’s making his playoff debut.

      Of course, it’s impossible to talk about how the Rays have successfully built their roster through sound drafting and decision-making and not talk about Scott Kazmir.

      While the mainstream media chooses to focus on Garza, Upton and Crawford this postseason (and rightfully so), it’s easy to forget that Kazmir has been the rock of the Rays’ youth movement since he arrived in Tampa following a trade with the New York Mets in 2004.

      July 30, 2004 is a day most Mets fans would like to forget. That’s when their team traded Kazmir and minor league pitcher Joselo Diaz to the Rays for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato. Little did the Mets know that they had just traded away a front-of-the-rotation starter for practically nothing.

      Scott KazmirSince the trade, Kazmir has gone 47-37 with a 3.61 ERA, which might not seem that impressive. But remember that before this season the Rays were consistently bottom feeders in the AL East. Kazmir has often won in spite of his team, not because of it. And to put it mildly, he’s been absolutely fantastic as the team’s ace.

      There are more Rays that deserve mention and praise, such as Dioner Navarro, Akinori Iwamura and Gabe Gross, but surely those players will prove how they’ve helped turn this team from nobodies into title contenders when the World Series kicks off Wednesday night.

      The bottom line is that the Rays did it the right way. That’s not to say that every team that spent more than Tampa and who didn’t make the World Series did it the wrong way, but there should be a greater appreciation for a club that is knocking on the doorstep of a championship and spent just over $43 million to do so. (Even the Rays’ World Series counterparts, the Philadelphia Phillies, spent over $98 million on their payroll – 13th most in all of baseball.)

      The Rays were patient in building their success and now are reaping the benefits. While it’s exciting when a team makes a big splash in free agency or pulls off a blockbuster trade, there’s just something about one waiting their turn and winning with youth.

      Instead of bitching about how they can’t compete with how much the Yankees and Red Sox spend, more teams in smaller markets should take a cue from the Rays and be patient. Of course, not every team can draft and trade as well as the Rays have over the years, but it’s obvious they’re better off trying to build through their farm system than dishing out huge contracts to just one or two players and hoping a couple of individuals can win in a team sport.

      MLB

      Rays to Red Sox: ‘Welcome back to earth’

      October 14, 2008 /

      As Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe notes, the Tampa Bay Rays have brought the Boston Red Sox and their fans crashing back to earth after crushing the BoSox 9-1 to take a 2-1 ALCS lead.

      Tampa Bay RaysWe were kings of the world, universally hated by sports fans across the land. Life was a nonstop sequence of banner hoistings and ring celebrations. We grew arrogant, cocky, entitled.

      And the Red Sox, winners of two of the last four World Series and favorites to repeat in the fall of 2008, find themselves trailing the once-laughable Tampa Bay Rays, two games to one, in the American League Championship Series. The Rays, deemed not ready for prime time playoffs by David Ortiz just a couple of days ago, routed the indomitable Jon Lester, 9-1, at Fenway Park yesterday. Who’s the scaredy cat now?

      This is not to overreact to the Red Sox’ plight. The Sox last year trailed the Indians, 3-1, in the ALCS, then roared back to win the next three and sweep the Rockies in the World Series.

      But yesterday’s lopsided loss to the Rays stunned a Nation still reeling from the Patriots’ Sunday night debacle in San Diego. Suddenly Big Papi is Big Popup. Boy Wonder Jacoby Ellsbury is 0 for his last 20 and has fans begging for Coco Crisp. Josh Beckett, Mr. October of this century, is serving more meatballs than Bertucci’s. Jason Varitek looks as though he might calcify in mid-swing. Terry Francona has forfeited his hardball Mensa membership and is hearing words he never heard in the Bible.

      Upton’s blow was one of two homers in the third, and the Rays weren’t done hitting tape-measure shots. Boston fans hadn’t seen this many long bombs since Sunday night every time Philip Rivers looked in the direction of Deltha O’Neal. Tampa tattooed the Sox for four homers in Game 3, giving Joe Maddon’s Way Back Warriors seven home runs and 18 runs in two games. Ouch.

      As Shaughnessy points out, the Red Sox have been down before and battled back. But it’s hard not to chuckle a bit when the big bad “Red Sox Nation” get their asses handed to them at Fenway when a club making its first postseason appearance in the history of their franchise. Still, this series is far from over and Lester had been fantastic before Game 3. I wouldn’t bet against the Sox making the series even in Game 4.

      MLB

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