B.J. Upton to sign with Atlanta

[Rich the Giants fan]

I don't put much stock in Saber having watched him grow into the player he is i just gotta say i disagree and to the Batting line i think that is in part because the Rays hitting coach (Derrick Shelton) Sucks and if the Braves hitting coach is good and can work with Upton i think BJ will become a 30/30 player with a .290+ BA

If I'm Atlanta and I'm paying him that much, I certainly hope so, cuz those career averages just won't cut it. I'm not gonna hold my breath, however.

[RaysFan_98]

If I'm Atlanta and I'm paying him that much, I certainly hope so, cuz those career averages just won't cut it. I'm not gonna hold my breath, however.

15mill a year is Fair i believe for the tools BJ Has. I am grateful he decided to go to the NL And not pull a Crawford and go to a divisional rival.

[Blue387]

I'm enjoying getting advice on stupid player moves from Mets and Pirates fans.

The Braves should sign Chone Figgins to leadoff, yeah!

[Yaz]

It's fascinating to see a 4 tool player called mediocre. There have been dozens of bigger MLB contracts given to older, slower, corner outfielders with half the arm of Upton. There's still upside as I wouldn't bet against him hitting .300 again with his new hitter-friendlier ballpark. If he hits .250 every year though it'll be a great deal for the Braves.

Bet on this:

BJ Upton will have 5 straight 30/30 seasons for the Braves with a 35/35'er to start if off in 2013.

(My new signature)

[Buczilla]

I wonder how much a 28 year old Lloyd Moseby would make in these times.

[dominik]

Times have changed. while the average person had little salary increases and constantly has to fear his job getting moved to asia or another low wage country baseball salary went up a ton. 15 millions was a ton a few years ago but now that is what you have to pay for a solid but not star player. even average players now command 5 millions easily. I think the braves are overpaying slightly but not much. for such a player you will usually have to play 12+ millions today. Not that this is a healthy developement but that's reality in today's baseball.

[GiambiJuice]

For what it's worth, Upton is one of only 2 players in Baseball with 20+ HR and 30+ SB in each of the past two seasons. The other is Ryan Braun.

He also has the distinction of being one of only 6 players in history to hit at least 7 home runs in a single postseason.

[Buczilla]

Times have changed. while the average person had little salary increases and constantly has to fear his job getting moved to asia or another low wage country baseball salary went up a ton. 15 millions was a ton a few years ago but now that is what you have to pay for a solid but not star player. even average players now command 5 millions easily. I think the braves are overpaying slightly but not much. for such a player you will usually have to play 12+ millions today. Not that this is a healthy developement but that's reality in today's baseball.

There were I believe 22 every day players in MLB who took home $15M or more this past season. When it comes to the OF, most of those were bad deals to begin with....Wells, Crawford, Lee, Soriano, Hunter, Bay(1 through 6). Ichiro, Holliday and Hamilton were the only other OFers to bring home $15M or more.

For what it's worth, Upton is one of only 2 players in Baseball with 20+ HR and 30+ SB in each of the past two seasons. The other is Ryan Braun.

He also has the distinction of being one of only 6 players in history to hit at least 7 home runs in a single postseason.

Last edited by GiambiJuice; Today at 01:38 PM.

Of those players who qualify, this is where Upton falls over the past two seasons....

.244 BA, 110th
.315 OBP, 103rd
.441 SLG, 60th
.756 OPS, 78th
.328 wOBA, 80th
110 RC+, 66th
7.5 WAR, 44th

Upton hasn't been one of the top 40 every day players in the baseball for about 5 or 6 years.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

It seems many teams still view B.J. Upton through the "great tools" glasses. Coming out of high school Upton was highly regarded. He was the #2 overall pick in the 2002 draft. Scouts and other baseball people drooled over his tools. He and his brother Justin were considered the new generation of African-American baseball superstars. Here were two kids that chose baseball over basketball and football. Baseball America ranked Upton the Rays' #3 prospect in 2003 and #1 in 2004.

2003
BJ Upton BA 2003.JPG


2004
BJ Upton BA 2004.JPG

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Here is a John Sickels reports from 2003 and 2004.

BJ Upton-Sickels report.JPG

BJ Upton-Sickels report 2004.JPG

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For several years the Rays kept Upton at shortstop even after it was obvious he wasn't going to make it defensively as a shortstop. Upton reached the majors quickly. He has shown glimpses of greatness (the 2008 post season for example) but he's never really put it together. But because of his great tools team will give him a chance in the hopes Upton will develop into the star player most everyone thought he would be.

[GiambiJuice]

There were I believe 22 every day players in MLB who took home $15M or more this past season. When it comes to the OF, most of those were bad deals to begin with....Wells, Crawford, Lee, Soriano, Hunter, Bay(1 through 6). Ichiro, Holliday and Hamilton were the only other OFers to bring home $15M or more.



Of those players who qualify, this is where Upton falls over the past two seasons....

.244 BA, 110th
.315 OBP, 103rd
.441 SLG, 60th
.756 OPS, 78th
.328 wOBA, 80th
110 RC+, 66th
7.5 WAR, 44th

Upton hasn't been one of the top 40 every day players in the baseball for about 5 or 6 years.

Yeah, I don't disagree with you. I was just highlighting some positives and I prefaced it with "for what it's worth".

[Rich the Giants fan]

It's fascinating to see a 4 tool player called mediocre. There have been dozens of bigger MLB contracts given to older, slower, corner outfielders with half the arm of Upton. There's still upside as I wouldn't bet against him hitting .300 again with his new hitter-friendlier ballpark. If he hits .250 every year though it'll be a great deal for the Braves.

Bet on this:

BJ Upton will have 5 straight 30/30 seasons for the Braves with a 35/35'er to start if off in 2013.

(My new signature)

Upton's career line at home is .252/.336/.422 - 2048 PA
His career line on the road is .258/.335/.422 - 2015 PA

I don't see him getting significantly better just because he's in Atlanta now. He's got pretty consistent splits.

[Buczilla]

Yeah, I don't disagree with you. I was just highlighting some positives and I prefaced it with "for what it's worth".

I was more so adding on to your post, not necessarily responding.

[RaysFan_98]

It seems many teams still view B.J. Upton through the "great tools" glasses. Coming out of high school Upton was highly regarded. He was the #2 overall pick in the 2002 draft. Scouts and other baseball people drooled over his tools. He and his brother Justin were considered the new generation of African-American baseball superstars. Here were two kids that chose baseball over basketball and football. Baseball America ranked Upton the Rays' #3 prospect in 2003 and #1 in 2004.

2003
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2004
[ATTACH]116966[/ATTACH]

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Here is a John Sickels reports from 2003 and 2004.

[ATTACH]116967[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]116968[/ATTACH]

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For several years the Rays kept Upton at shortstop even after it was obvious he wasn't going to make it defensively as a shortstop. Upton reached the majors quickly. He has shown glimpses of greatness (the 2008 post season for example) but he's never really put it together. But because of his great tools team will give him a chance in the hopes Upton will develop into the star player most everyone thought he would be.

BJ has a cannon of an arm he has matured a lot and has grown this last season he put it all together IMHO.

[GiambiJuice]

BJ has a cannon of an arm he has matured a lot and has grown this last season he put it all together IMHO.

He had a sub-.300 OBP though. Not exactly putting it all together IMHO. His best seasons were in 2007 and 2008 as a 22 and 23 year old. He used to get on base at an excellent rate. I don't know what happened to him.

[RaysFan_98]

He had a sub-.300 OBP though. Not exactly putting it all together IMHO. His best seasons were in 2007 and 2008 as a 22 and 23 year old. He used to get on base at an excellent rate. I don't know what happened to him.

I am just saying what i have seen through the years and this year towred the end mid-season he was putting it all together. I think his batting line stats are due to the crap hitting coach we have IMHO