Justin Upton

Justin Upton, welcome to Antelope!











Antelope Crusaders trade - J Cantu(26f), T Gwynn(10f), R Belliard(4a), R
Spilborghs(1a), Ramon Troncoso (1a)

~to~

Rio Linda Dittoheads - for J Upton(42a), D Eckstein(1a), G Kottaras(2a), L Nix(10c), C Narveson(10c)

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Made another deal, this one probably being the last of any real note. It put me at the in-season salary cap maximum and I don't have anything left of high value for next season... so, yea... this is probably it.

The one real trading chip I had left was Jorge Cantu. Still had that because I made the last minute decision to extend his contract at the pre-draft deadline. I really like Cantu... a clean-up hitter (batting behind a batting champ) in the middle of his prime (28 years old). He's a solid 30hr/100rbi/.285 hitter. At $26 that's a very solid value.

Was able to turn him into Justin Upton. He's only 22 and he's already a pretty good bet to post the numbers Cantu does... he hit 26hr/86rbi/.300 last season. He also stole 20 bases... making him clearly the more valuable hitter. Being so young, he could fall off those numbers (even dramatically)... or improve them (again, even dramatically). Far less stable than Cantu. He's been solid thus far in 2010 though, so I'm betting he doesn't decline and does indeed turn out to be an upgrade.

I also was able to dump Tony Gwynn. Had to clear his salary to make the deal work, and was glad to be rid of him. He stole 8 bases for me, which was great... but he just doesn't look like a major league hitter to me. He's rapidly losing playing time and might well be headed to 5th OF status. Ronnie Belliard had to go too because of salary cap reasons. Little sorry to see him go... as I could see him ending up with some real value if he becomes a starter (which is possible).

Ryan Spilborghs... a 4th OF with decent skills... and Ramon Troncoso... a middle reliever with seemingly few skills... also went.

Besides Upton I also picked up a few other players. David Eckstein has no power or speed to speak of, but he should get 500 ABs with 50 RBI/Runs, which will help. Lance Nix does have good power and he plays a decent amount (300ish ABs). He's not much in batting average, but have to think I'm okay there.

Also added Chris Narveson. Don't know how long he'll last. He is in the Brewers starting rotation right now and he is a good StrikeOut pitcher. But, he's not very good with ERA and Ratio and could be pulled from the rotation with another bad start or two. We'll see... I probably stick with him as long as Milwaukee does.

The last player I got was George Kottaras. Got a big break there. Shortly after the deal was made, the Brewers announced the Greg Zaun was likely out for the year with a shoulder injury. Honestly figured that was 15 day deal and he'd be back and fine. But, Kottaras becomes the new starter (it looks like)... so that works out. While he is at Corner-Infield on my roster (he played a game at 1B), he obviously is Catcher eligible which creates roster flexibility.

I wouldn't have claimed Juan Castro had I known Zaun was going to be out for the year (or at least a few months)... as he becomes a close to worthless reserve when Jimmy Rollins comes back from the DL. My offense is solid though. I have 14 everyday players... 6 of whom are legitimate MVP candidates. Can hopefully live with Juan Castro.