Tagged: Justin Upton

All-Star Snubs

Last night, the AL and NL All-Star were revealed on ESPN. There were plenty of very worthy candidates to make each squad, but some other very worthy players were left off the rosters. This blog post will focus on the players that were snubbed off each respective league’s roster.

American League snubs:

Closer Fernando Rodney- Rodney deserved to be in the American League bullpen. This was the snub that baffled me the most. Rodney leads the American League in both saves (25) and games finished (35). He anchors the Mariners bullpen, which has the lowest ERA in baseball at 2.47. Rodney has a lower ERA than 3 out of the 4 closers picked for the AL squad. 

Starting pitcher Chris Sale- Sale wasn’t picked to be an All-Star based on the fact that he missed some time due to injury earlier in the season. The White Sox starter has still compiled a 7-1 record and a miniscule  ERA of 2.16. Sale is 8th in the AL in strikeouts and 4th in pitching WAR. If he had even innings pitched, he would be 2nd in ERA and 1st in WHIP in the AL. He still has a chance to make the roster as 1 of 5 players to vote on for the AL’s final roster spot.

Second baseman Ian Kinsler- Kinsler is having a fantastic 1st half of the season for the Tigers. He leads all AL second basemen in slugging percentage (.480). Kinsler is 2nd among all AL second basemen in: at-bats (354), runs (60), hits (107), home runs (11), RBI (45) and on-base percentage (.819). 

Second baseman Brian Dozier- Dozier leads the American League in runs with 63. He also leads AL second basemen in home runs with 12. Dozier’s batting average is kind of low to be an All-Star (.234), but he would be another great representative for the hometown Twins.

Shortstop Erick Aybar- The shortstop of the Angels is putting up a 1st half of the season. He leads all AL shortstops in: RBI (45), slugging percentage (.414) and triples (3). Aybar is also top 5 among shortstops in: at-bats (3rd), runs (4th), hits (2nd), doubles (4th), home runs (4th), batting average (4th) and on-base plus slugging percentage (2nd). 

Starting pitcher Rick Porcello- Porcello has been the ace of the Tigers’ staff in the 1st half. He Porcello is 2nd in the American League in wins with 11. Porcello is another candidate to be voted on for the final spot on the AL roster.

Starting pitcher Garrett Richards- The Angels’ starter is 3rd in the AL in wins (10), 8th in strikeouts (119), 8th in pitching WAR (3.0), 5th in WHIP (1.07) and 6th in ERA (2.71). Richards is also tied for 3rd (14) in quality starts among AL starting pitchers. Richards is another pitcher to vote on for the AL’s final roster spot.

National League snubs:

First baseman Justin Morneau- Morneau has revitalized his career at Coors Field. He is also completely healthy for the first time in years. He leads all NL first basemen in RBI with 59. Morneau is top 5 among NL first basemen in: at-bats (5th), hits (2nd), doubles (3rd), home runs (5th), batting average (2nd), slugging percentage (3rd) and on-base percentage (5th). He is one of the five players to vote on for the NL’s last roster spot. 

Third baseman Casey McGehee- McGehee has bee one of the best stories of the first half. Last season, He played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific Coast League. McGehee signed a lowly publicized deal with the Marlins during the off-season. Casey leads all NL third basemen in: hits (108), RBI (53), batting average (.320) and on-base percentage (.389). McGehee is another player to vote on for the final NL roster spot.

Outfielder Corey Dickerson- Dickerson has one less home run than All-Star starter Yasiel Puig in 128 less at-bats. If Dickerson had enough at-bats, he would be 2nd in the league in batting average, 4th in on-base percentage, 1st in slugging percentage and 2nd in on-base plus slugging percentage. The Rockies should have brought up this talented outfielder earlier in the season, so he’d have a better chance of making the team.

First baseman Matt Adams- Adams leads all NL first baseman in batting average (.328). That is the 3rd best batting average in the National League. The Cardinals’ first baseman is 5th in the NL in slugging percentage (.522).

Third baseman/second baseman Anthony Rendon- The Nationals’ infielder is tied for 5th in the league in runs with 60. Rendon is 2nd among third base qualifiers in RBI (50), slugging percentage (.483) and on-base percentage (.823). He is one of the five players to vote on for the last NL roster spot.

Outfielder Justin Upton- Upton leads all NL left fielders in: home runs (17), RBI (50), batting average (.273) and slugging percentage (.503). Upton has more home runs than all of the Nation League’s starting outfield. The Braves’ outfielder is one of five players to be voted on for the final NL roster spot.

 

 

 

 

 

Rambling Reaction

  • Justin Upton and Chris Johnson were traded to the Braves for Martin Prado, Randall Delgado and 3 minor leagues. Upton got his wish granted to join his brother B.J in the Braves outfield. Jon Heyman of Foxsports tweeted that after this move the Braves and Nationals are the two best teams in the Nation League. Upton had a pretty average season last year. He batted .280 with 12 home runs and 67 RBIs in 150 games.
  • I don’t really see how this move makes all that better.  Upton has put up and down numbers. Starting in 2009,Upton hit 26, 17,31 and 17 home runs in each respective year. The same inconsistent numbers occurred in RBIs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Upton could either hit 31 home runs or have home runs numbers in the teens.
  • It also seems like the Braves give up too many players to acquire Upton and Johnson.  Upton has  accumulated 309 games,1146 at-bats, 326 hits, 63 doubles, 9 triples, 48 home runs, 155 RBIs, 212 runs, 39 stolen bases, 247 strikeouts, 122 walks and a .284 batting average over the last two seasons. A player with similar stats was traded this winter. The player with similar stats to Upton is Mariner outfielder Mike Morse. Morse has accumulated 248 games, 928 at-bats, 276 hits, 53 doubles, 1 triple, 49 home runs, 157 RBIs, 126 runs, 2 stolen bases, 223 walks, 52 walks and a .297 batting average over the last two season. Only one player was needed to acquire Morse.
  • The Mets sign pitcher Marcum to a one year deal. Marcum was 7-4 with an ERA of 3.70 in 21 starts last season for the Brewers.
  • I really like this signing by the Mets. Marcum has put up solid career numbers pitching home games in hitter friendly parks like the Rogers Centre and Miller Park. This will be the first time Marcum will have a chance to have home games in a pitcher friendly ballpark. Even with the fences moving in at Citi Field, Marcum should have a very productive season with the Mets. He will need to stay healthy but I expect big things from Marcum next season.
  • I realize that I did not address the Upton trade from a Diamondbacks prospective. Prado will be a very solid contributor next season. He provides flexibility with being able to play a couple of outfield and infield positions. Prado will be the starting third baseman next season for the snakes. I think that Prado will be an upgrade over Chris Johnson. Randall Delgado should have a chance to battle in spring training for the 5th spot in the rotation.
  • There were a slew of minor leagues deals agreed upon yesterday. The Mariners agreed to a deal with catcher Ronny Paulino. Paulino appeared in 20 games with the Orioles last season. He will be looked upon to fill the role of backup catcher until prospect Mike Zunino is ready to take the role.
  • The Rockies agreed to a deal with catcher Yorvit Torrealba.  Torrealba appeared in 59 games between the Rangers, Blue Jays and Brewers. This will be Torrealba’s second stint with the Rockies. He will be in a competition to become the backup catching during spring training. The Yankees agreed to a catcher with first baseman Dan Johnson. Johnson appeared in 14 games last season with the Chicago White Sox. He will fight for a bench role with the Yanks in spring training.

Will Justin Upton be Traded?

Last summer it became apparent that the Diamondbacks were shopping  Justin Upton. He was not traded this summer so the hottest rumor going around baseball is will the Diamonbacks pull the trigger on a deal this winter. The Diamondbacks are said to be looking for a SS or 3B and a young pitching prospect. It sounds like a rather steep price for a player that is coming off a disappointing season. Upton posted an average of .280 with 17 home runs and 67 RBIs.

A couple of days ago the Diamonbacks said that they were not going to trade Upton unless they were blown away by a deal (According to a post on MLBTradeRumors.com). Upton is still under team control for 4 more years so that would be tempting for a team in need of outfield offense. There are numerous teams that are in need of outfield offense. The Rangers would be the team with the best chances of acquiring Upton. With the arrival of SS prospect Jurickson Profar incumbent Elvis Andrus become expendable. Another team would have the prospects to make this trade would be the Seattle Mariners. But the team is no longer a candidate because of being on his no trade list. The Braves could be another trade partner but are not going to part with top shortstop prospect Andrelton Simmons.

There could be a darkhorse team that comes in and blows away the snakes with a great offer. The Royals could be such a team. They have a bunch of great young talent in their organization so they maybe willing to part with a Mike Moustakas or Alcides Escobar to acquire Upton. As of right now it appears that the snakes will hold onto Upton.