Well ... maybe Upton needs glasses!

Maybe the kid has ADHD or something ... I dunno'. Maybe the hitting coach su*cks ... I dunno'. Upton the baseball player is ... totally unscrutable. After eight-plus seasons ... he's just inexorably and inexplicably inconsistent.

(Frankly, I've stopped caring about it ... and I try to just ignore his presence and whatever he happens to do ... or not do. For me ... keeping him around all this time has been the equivalent of shoveling ---- against the tide.)

On the Sports show in the AM on 620 they say that Uptons next contract could be in the 90-100 grand area...Base on what Jones for Baltimore got...They rate BJ as good or better....They also said that the Rays won't compete and can't also the same for Shields..Watch for them to be gone when the teams still in contention come bidding before the trading deadline....As long as they get something I'm OK with that...Only thing there will be very little for you to argue with Arty except for a new Ballpark..LOL

You know, situational hitting stats don't lie ... so ... if a player isn't exceptionally good in those tight situations where and when the game is on the line ... if he isn't good ESPECIALLY "when it counts most" ... then I really wouldn't be interested in putting out that kind of dough to employ him. Different strokes for different folks ... but the only guy I might look to sign out of free agency is a youngish guy who is DEMONSTRABLY what I would call "a money player" ... the guy who almost invariably comes through when all the chips are on the table ... maybe a position player like a Reggie Jackson ... maybe a pitcher like Clemens or Ryan.

As far as the Rays go, they're taking in somewhere around $200 million annually. Obviously, they have recurring bills to pay ... BUT ... there's always a profit ... or a draw-down ... or a take-out ... or a pay-back to the partners ... and ... how much of that "excess" revenue they might decide to spend on signing a Shields, Upton or any other free agent ... is anybody's guess.

As far as I'm concerned ... if Neimann returns to his original form ... or ... if I feel Davis is better suited to return to starting ... and if I'm confident in Cobb, Hellickson and Moore long-term ... I'm going to let Shields go. Likewise ... Jennings ... already on the team and very inexpensivly so ... is the already-on-hand and automatic replacement for Upton ... so ... I'm going to let him go, too.

Shields becomes a free agent at the end of the 2013 season ... and Upton becomes a free agent at the end of this season ... so ... maybe Shields has some trade value now because he still has the rest of this season and next to go while under an existing contract ... but Upton doesn't have much trade value when he only has four months to go under his existing contract ... so ... if the Rays would seriously want to trade either instead of getting just compensatory draft picks ... it would seem they might have to first re-sign both to multi-year contracts. (???)

So ... who knows. Whatever they do, they do. We sure don't have any say in it.

Thanks for making those points...the intricacies of hitting with a man on first requires that every player on the team be a "student" of every "situation" and possible outcome should they be called upon to execute whatever play might be called. These guys look like they either forgot everything or never knew it in the first place.

Next week all you trolls will disappear when Upton is hitting again.

BJ's great defense to keep the O's off the board made up for his AB's!!!

Thats now 1 in a row..I have to say that...

Where are all the trolls now?

Why is it that everytime the Rays win, these people (the boo-birds) are no-shows on here? They only come out to nit-pick when things go badly. Why is it that they have nothing to say about Upton when he has a great day (He is leading the Rays, except for Longo, in hitting, leading the league in outfield assists, many spectacular, leading the league in steals) but denigrate him every time he strikes out or fails to make a spectacular catch? Why is it that a team with a third of its regular starters on the DL can be leading the Division and tied with the juggernaut Rangers for the best record in the AL and yet have a manager and coaches who are imbecles? These jerks are once again destroying this fan board, like their ilk did two years ago when I abandoned it for The Rays Republic, where the fans disagree but seem to know what they are talking about. I don't have to give any names here. You know who you are.

Don't you just hate it when they do that ??? AND how about that BJ Upton ? "WOW" what a day..That's how to take charge BJ...Re sign him now for 5-6 years ...He's the best....NSTFU....