Comments on: Justin Upton and Overrating Prospects

By: AlvarezRiverBall

AlvarezRiverBall — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:05:00 +0000

Edwin Jackson made his debut at age 19. Does that mean Taillon won’t be as good as Edwin Jackson? lol

By: dcn3569

dcn3569 — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:11:00 +0000

Or the trade could be a bust.

By: Andy Prough, CFE

Andy Prough, CFE — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:13:00 +0000

I don’t know if it’s really overrating Marte to think that he might end up being nearly as useful to the Bucs as the .270 career hitting Upton. And it’s not really overrating Marte to say that Upton may not be worth $43 million over the next 3.5 years if all he’s going to do is hit .270, 60-80 RBI per season, and possibly hit 25 home runs in one or two of those seasons. Upton is getting a huge amount of credit for being a 2-time all-star, but we are seeing that all-star status is incredibly watered down in recent years, with 1-in-8 regular MLB starters going to the All-Star game in 2012. I think Arizona is the team desperate to find themselves a dance partner to rid themselves of Upton’s contract before the back-end escalators kick in in 2014-2015, when they will owe him nearly $30 million. If so, why should the Bucs give up their best prospects to take on Arizona’s financial logjam, without significantly more production? In the end I think you will see Upton moved to another team, and possibly for less than Marte + Taillon; Arizona simply doesn’t have a lot of leverage here – other GM’s must be aware of WHY Arizona wants out from under that deal.

By: mikez09

mikez09 — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:13:00 +0000

I see 4 prospects the Pirates shouldn’t trade: Marte (obviously our best position player), Taillon & Cole (top of the rotation stuff) and …wait for it….Tony Sanchez….the reason I see Sanchez as untouchable is because the Pirates don’t have any catching prospects in the entire system that look like they could possibly be a starter until you get all the way down to Mathiesen. And he is so far away that you never know what could happen with him. Barajas might have one more mediocre year left in him and McKenry isn’t the answer. Sure we all like him but he is a solid backup at best. His increased power numbers this year have only convinced me that he could be a backup. Before the power materialized I thought of him more as AAA depth for the major league team…

By: VRR Cards

VRR Cards — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:32:00 +0000

The closer it gets to midnight the more the chariot looks like a pumpkin. In other words, when a guy is about to get called up the scrutiny escalates.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:25:00 +0000

I agree with all of that except for the final bit. There haven’t been any potential game changers come in like Marte since Hurdle’s been coaching. What, are you talking about Mercer? That really makes your argument seem credible; to compare Marte and Mercer.

By: Stephen Stasa

Stephen Stasa — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:22:00 +0000

Forget about just away from Arizona, he’s below average overall this year. His OPS+ is just 98. You can say a change of scenery will make a difference but that’s a really big gamble to take with what you’d have to give up (in both prospects and cash). Especially since his career OPS at PNC Park is .790 with 0 HRs in 35 ABs. And it’s not like those ABs came mostly when he was struggling (like in his rookie year) either, 10 and 11 of those came in 2009 and 2011, his two best years in the majors. Granted, that’s still a small sample size, but it fits with the logic of going from a 329-376-402 left-to-center park to a 325-389-410 park. Absolutely no way I give up Taillon or Marte for him.

By: Steve Dimmick

Steve Dimmick — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:06:00 +0000

I think they gave Pedro / Barmes / Barajas enought time, why not Marte? I think they gave Barmes too much! Maybe they dont want to put too much pressure on SM being in the playoff race.

By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:01:00 +0000

I’m not going to knock him for trying to lowball AZ.

By: Kirk Weaver

Kirk Weaver — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:41:00 +0000

Don’t forget now his is only 24 years old and the old change of scenery adage that in this case may just be what the dr. ordered