In EVERY sport there is always a guy whose present team may feel he is under performing/achieving. Out of the other teams in the league there is usually a team that will "give him a shot". What I mean is they feel that things may be different in a new situation or "we can change him". For what ever reason he is worth more to that team than others, even the present team he is on. I think it may be best at this point to "test the waters". The Rays will be getting something of value back. I think the time may be now before its too late while he still has some value/ability...potential for some.

Calm down BJ lovers, there were a few "thinks" and "mays" in that paragraph. Don't need this bs- I already have a wife

BJ Upton is going to be one of the headline free agents if not resigned. The free agent pool is going to be this offseason as I already have shown. Delmon Young is even going to get recognition for whoever he signs with. If that tells you anything.

no... but I'm good with it and lets leave well enough alone

Once or twice per season, Upton has a ten-game hot streak ... like right now ... where he's hitting .350 or some such ... compared to the previous ten games ... where he hit .150 and struck out 15 times in 30 at bats! Overall, in all ways, the guy's totality of work over the previous eight seasons has been distinctly mediocre in my opinion. When he's on one of his infrequent hot streaks at the plate ... he may help the team ... but the rest of the time ... he's hurting the team. He's absolutely at his worst when the game is on the line ... with men on base ... with men in scoring position ... and especially with two outs ... and if anyone watches another good team (besides the Rays) with any regularity ... it's easy to see how his play in centerfield generally compares poorly with the play of other good (and especially "elite") centerfielders.

It's moot, however, because for some reason or another, for better or for worse, he appears permanently connected at the hip to the Rays. It's unfortunate. For me ... him playing centerfield everyday is not much better than seeing Molina behind the plate or Howell in the bullpen.

Fuld runs better routes to the ball ... is quicker out of the box ... has a far quicker release on his throws ... and has far greater accuracy and range on his throws ... and ... if he was able to play everday and occupy the same spot in the line-up everyday ... I believe he would hit a consistent .265 or better ... would have far fewer strikeouts ... and would perform better with all the chips on the table ... while being as fast (or faster) and smarter on the basepaths than Upton ... plus ... he would lend a very definite personality and "go-go" image to the team ... which would probably put some extra fans in the seats.

In any event ... in my opinion ... the outfield would be perfectly fine without Upton and with Jennings in center and Fuld in left everyday. Obviously, however ... the RFO is fixated on Upton for better or worse ... and Fuld is out of commission ... so ... this is a dead issue.

I do believe the Rays will re-sign Upton BEFORE the season is over ... but ... should that not be the case ... it'll be interesting to see what kind of attention and valuation Upton generates in free agency.

Anyway, Upton brings nothing to the team that any other journeyman or average young centerfielder couldn't supply.

If Upton is around next season ... it won't be a "surprise"! But it will be a downer!

"Relying" on pitching and defense to win a game is a f-a-r better option than having to "rely" on Upton for offense ... or ... in fact ... far better than actually "relying" on Upton for ANYthing! Apparently you're not really familiar with Upton's situational statistics at the plate over the past eight seasons.

You know, they say that if you give a bunch of infants a typewriter and enough time ... they'll eventually type out the Bible!

All you do is troll about how every starter on this team is not good enough. If you were managing I am sure we would have a team made up of "try hards" and minor leaguers and be in last place.

This is real life not MLB The Show

You're full of - - - -, Ironhead!

(And, obviously, your reading comprehension skills leave something to be desired.)

IN FACT, this whole team is very little more than a team of VERY SUCCESSFUL "try hards" ... no truly bonafide "stars" ... and is composed, for the most part, of newbies, newcomers and never-beens ... much more so the case while its disabled list has been expanding up to ten!

Hey, Ironhead, T-R-Y to understand this: READ SLOWLY! The most logical replacement for B. J. Upton is Desmond Jennings ... and in case you're not familiar with him ... he's ALREADY on the team!

He is a devout BJ "h*ter" no matter how much he denies it and when he comes up with the ridiculousness that Fuld is better all around than BJ, just shows his real true feelings......
Anyone who is true baseball fan and really follows the game would not say Fuld is head over heels better than BJ.......Fuld is what he is, a reserve OF who can do some good things, but he will NEVER hit 25-30 homers, have 80-90 RBI or steal 40-50 bases and that is what the Rays need to have from their OF........To often tkrng allows his dislike for certain players on the Rays, Howell being another one, to get in the way of things and that is sad!....Forget that Howell is one of the leaders in the pen has an ERA of 2.14, a K per inning, and holding the opposition to a 2.3 tkrng thinks he's a loser and a waste and doesn't belong here....really sad!

Jennings has openly said he is comfortable in LF, prefers LF and that is where he will be........The next best CFer in the Rays system is in Class A right now and probably won't see the "show" until 2015, so you may have to put up with BJ a few more years!!!

Maybe ... but if so ... it's like I said ... staying with the miserable wife for the sake of the kids.

(And, if it's my team, and I'm writing the paychecks, and I tell the leftfielder that I want him to become the regular centerfielder ... and he says he doesn't want to do that ... then the next paycheck is his LAST paycheck from me!)

You and your "BJ hater" malarkey.

Your pants get as wet (or wetter) over Upton as Ironhead's do!

For the umpteenth time: I simply think Upton is a mediocre centerfielder, that he's always been over-rated, that he's currently overpaid, and that, over eight-plus seasons, he's never improved nor shown any special or "elite" abilities. (And ... for the record ... and among all the other players ... I think Molina and Howell are also very mediocre and bring nothing special to the team.)

Clearly ... Kemp, Gonzalez, Ellsbury, McCutcheon, Granderson, Hamilton, Stubbs, Jones and Victorino are better centerfielders all-around than Upton ... AND ... the Pirates are paying McCutcheon only $500k (and plenty of people consider him in the Top 5 among centerfielders) ... the Reds are only paying Drew Stubbs some $527k (and he's clearly ranked better than Upton) ... Victorino is earning only $3 million with the Phillies (and is ranked higher than Upton) ... and even Gonzalez (ranked second-best to Kemp by many) is being paid only $5 million by the Rockies ($2 million less than Upton) ... and some would certainly claim Adam Jones is better than Upton ... and he's at $6.15 million with the Os.

So ... I'd start putting a very healthy trade package together to dangle in front of, maybe the Pirates, in order to get McCutcheon ... or, maybe, for the Reds in an effort to get Stubbs ... if ... If ... IF ... I choose NOT to sign Upton out of free agency ... OR ... IF I choose to go along with Jennings preference to stay in left. And ... I'd bet the Pirates would be pretty easy to make a deal with. (?)

In any event ... the team wouldn't miss Upton one bit (and didn't while he was on the DL) ... and Molina and Howell bring nothing of significantly special value to the team that any number of other journeymen couldn't bring ... and couldn't bring at a higher level.

(And ... take care of that bleeding heart of yours! You sound like a forlorn social worker ... or a wimpering daycare center operator!)

pure drivel...

IN SPITE OF your "BJ Hater" malarkey ...

I'll give Upton credit for being responsible for his FOURTH game-winning RBI ... and this time ... it was actually the result of A REAL HIT!

I really had to chuckle out loud at the last one ... where he hit into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs ... and the guy on third scored! And ... of course ... the previous two were both sacrifice flies! So ... this one is due for some notice ... a real solid liner down the leftfield line ... scoring one of the new guy's (Thompson) who can really fly!

Of course ... he goes 10-12 games batting .130 and striking out in more than half his at bats ... then ... in his next 10-12 games ... he goes on a .350 tear and makes actual contributions to winning!

As I've said ... he's been far too INCONSISTENT ALL-AROUND ... for far too long ... to be considered one of the best centerfielders around ... and ... to his personal detriment as a ballplayer ... far too many people have endlessly over-hyped him ... and created extreme expectations of him that he just never seemed to have the wherewithal to meet. In my case ... comparing him to all the over-hyping and extremist expectations ... I see him as just not really good enough to match up to the advertising.

Beyond that ... from what I've seen and heard ... on the personal level ... he seems to be a pretty decent kid all-around ... and he certainly comes across in conversation as intelligent and very articulate. In fact ... while in his mid-20s ... we had a kid exactly like that!

So ... get off your "BJ hater" malarkey ... and all your "hater" schtick in general ... and realize that just like in the real world ... someone might perceive Obama has the savior of this country ... whereas others might see him as a socialist devil incarnate ... someone else might see Romney as an articulate, knowledgeable CEO ... whereas others might seem him as a male version of a stuttering, vacuous Valley Girl. I simply don't see Upton being as good an all-around baseball player as you do ... nor do I see him making any kind of irreplaceable contribution to the team ... and I have offered my particular reasons for coming to that conclusion. You are free to disagree ... but you are NOT FREE to label the opinion with which you disagree having been generated as the result of "hate".

Is everyone who might disagree with Obama's policies a "hater" or a racist ???

(AND ... by the way ... BOTH Thompson and Sutton most certainly had an impact today! Thompson can fly ... maybe even quicker than Fuld, Jennings, Upton and Johnson ... and Sutton has sure hit the ball well when necessary! It's awesome, baby! Hope they can remain around for awhile!)

keep guessing

Eggsactly!

As for Thompson, he was picked up because of his speed, almost 500 SB in the minors and I like his hustle and attitude....Sutton I am somewhat familiar with because of my following the braves and the guy is a lot like Keppinger, he can hit, gets the ball in play, doesn't strike out much and can play seven position proficiently and looked good at 3B today......Once again Andrew's trip to the "bargain store" has yielded some very nice values!

Who replaces Jennings in left then... Fuld... You really are clueless. Maddon and Friedman has built a contender, not a minor league team.

After, tonight Upton has resulted in 4 game winners. He has 16 RBIs in 30 games and he is hitting .300 now which is close to your beloved Kotchman's Average. So let's chalk this up, he is close to hitting what Kotchman did last year and already has 33% of the RBIs Kotchman had. And you call him a mediocre, non-impact player?

You really are clueless. Maybe Upton needs to hit .350 to be good enough for you, because you stand alone on Upton's mediocrity.