The Rays have won in their arbitration case over B.J. Upton, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. The 25-year-old will make $3MM in 2010 rather than the $3.3MM he was seeking.
Upton had a down year offensively in 2009, hitting .241/.313/.373 with 11 HRs. The center fielder's glove was still strong however, as he posted a UZR/150 of 11.8.
With this decision going in their favor, the Rays are now an unblemished 5-0 in arbitration cases, 4-0 under executive VP Andrew Friedman.
I really don’t think that’s something to brag about. Congrats, Rays, you were able to convince a 3-person panel that BJ Upton isn’t good enough to warrant more money. That’s what every young player wants to hear. This is why teams should always settle near the midpoint.
If Upton has another mediocre season at the plate, I fully expect him to be traded.
Last season he was injured in spring training rushed back, and never really put it all together. Upton is well thought of, but he will have to improve both his play on the field and his level of maturity. I would not be suprised if he has a breakout year.Go Rays.
If Upton didn’t play like absolute garbage last year, this wouldn’t even be an issue. I hope they were able to convey that more eloquently than I did. I’m sure they would have liked to have had to pay him $3.3M IF he actually deserved a raise of that caliber.
That’s not the point though. If they continue to give the extra 300k to these kinds of players, they will look like a pushover organization, and every player would know they could ask for a little more money and get it. I’m glad the Rays didn’t let the player step all over them and stood up for what they thought was the right amount of money.
P.S.- I accidentally liked the comment
The owners get to step on the players for six years. And if the player has talent he gets to step on the owner.The results is the cost of tickets, parking, food and beer.
They beat a guy out of three hundred thousand but come free agency do not look for a home town discount. Payback is a bear.
I don’t care what the difference in price is or anything. I know that if teams consistently went your route and gave the players the extra money, they would start taking advantage of that newfound power. They already get paid their full salaries even if they miss a entire season due to injury. The players have it better than you might realize, even in arbitration years. Also, I don’t see him holding a grudge against the organization for this at all, but if he does, it’s not the organization’s fault. The reason they won the hearing is because their price tag was deemed more appropriate, and he should respect that decision.
The result for Upton from losing 300k is not being able to buy his own boat now. Boo-hoo. It works both ways buddy.
It is a free market for players after 6 years. Upton was not paid the extra three hundred thousand because a nuteral third party looked at the numbers and said he was not worth it. If he becomes a star he will make loads of money, even if he just becomes a journeyman type of player no one will pass the hat for him. Any team who wants to keep a player happy would at least make an attempt at finding middle ground with there players.The rays are a team that watches every cent, and have no interest in signing any of there stars as they enter free agency. They want to get talented young players who can produce for them and then be traded off for prospects. I am not saying it is wrong. There are plenty of teams that sign free agents to large contracts only to see the player injured the majority of the time or just not preform up to the level they played at prior to the big money.I am sure if the Rays fall out of the pennant chase, Carl Crawford will be moved for prospects. Teams like Boston, And the Yankees sign players to long term monster contracts. They win a World Series but they also get stuck with injured players. At the end of the Day it is a business and owners are going to run there business to make a profit.
I agree… it may not look like much but that extra $300,000 from a team like the Rays is like the Yankees giving an extra $3 million.
The Rays have one of the front offices in Baseball. Certainly one of the top 5 best run organizations in Baseball.
I assume you meant “one of the best front offices..”. One issue being is that a good front office finds a way to avoid arbitration and keep a good working relationship with its players. Actually going to arbitration shows cheapness and a lack of negotiation skills.
The Rays are a great franchise. But that is due to excellent player development and drafting. It has nothing to do with their tight purse strings.
They’ve never lost an arb case. That’s called confidence.
Fighting their starting CFer over 300K seems more like stupidity to me.
I think its the other way around. What if that 300K is eventually used to sign a player to a minors deal or in the draft.
And a rich CF fighting his team over 300k seems like stupidity to me
too bad they don’t measure front offices in how many arb cases they win but in how many WORLD SERIES they win.
Hahaha! Yes, the Rays are in fact “one of the front offices in baseball.” :p
You can blame BJ’s Agent for letting it go this far. I’m sure he felt BJ can’t lose and the extra 300K is more money in his pocket.
Didn’t upton say a while ago that it really didn’t bother him who won or lost this case? They were that close on dollar figures it wasn’t that big of a deal.
So… The Rays are that tight that they can’t throw their starting CFer the extra 300K he was after? Is 300K enough of a savings that its worth possibly alienating one of your young cornerstones?
“While teams can continue to negotiate with players right up until their arbitration hearings, the Rays’ self-imposed policy is to conclude their negotiating by the numbers filing deadline. The exception to this post-filing numbers deadline is to negotiate a multiyear deal.” – from the Rays MLB.com beat writer.
So it’s not a question of being tight. That’s their policy, and absent a multi-year deal (which wasn’t in the cards here), no exceptions. Both sides know this going in.
Seems to be working pretty well for the team.
Self imposed policy is a flimsy fence to hide behind.
From where i sit a $2,565,000 raise looks more than fair for the year B.J. had.Hope he
realizes some of that potential we’ve seen flashes of,on a consistant basis in 2010.
That’s called sticking to your guns.
Upton had a bad year, and also has a bad attitude. He also is highly regarded and it is time for him to grow up and put it all together. The money will be there for him, but for now he needs to worry about his game. 3 million seems fair.
Your not getting it Crusty..He didnt EARN it..I think he knows he had a down year and he has plenty of time at his young age to break the bank one day..IF he deserves it..3mil is nothing to B***h about…
2011 I wouldn’t mind seeing a Outfield of Kemp, Ethier, and Upton. Moving Ethier to LF and Kemp to RF. Tell Upton his power is not needed and let him leadoff. Oh boy.
The Dodgers have Matt Kemp in center and he is way ahead of upton. Next year Carl Crawford will be on the market. He would be perfect replacing Manny in left field. I am not sure the dodgers would have the money to sign him you can always hope.
I highly doubt that this hearing will have any effect on Upton potentially re-signing with the Rays. Like 99% of other players, it will be about the money, not some silly arbitration hearing from the past.
happy its out the way you hear about potential but when it comes to arbitration you dont get paid on that look at lincecum and how much he made i dont expect upton to be traded they have to look into trading crawford hopefully to a nl team imagine crawford kemp either im not a dodger fan but that outfield would be the best in the game the rays can get a few prospects it works out when manny is a free agent they can resign c.c. long term but i hope tb can keep pena long term he would have had the home run crown if there were one for 09 if he were healthy he tied but he is an allstar to me im excited for the season its gonna be intresting teams are getting stronger the season is usually won at the trade deadline
thanks 33..a couple periods or commas next time would help…
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
“A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (that is, complete sentences) are joined without appropriate punctuation or conjunction. It is generally considered to be a grammatical error, though it is occasionally used in literature and may be used as a rhetorical device. An example of a run-on is a comma splice, in which two independent clauses are joined with a comma without an accompanying coordinating conjunction. Some grammarians exclude comma splices from the definition of a run-on sentence, though this does not imply that such usage is acceptable.
A run-on sentence does not mean a sentence is too long; longer sentences are likely to be run-ons only when they contain more than one complete idea. A run-on sentence can be as short as four words—for instance: I drive she walks. In this case there are two complete ideas (independent clauses): two subjects paired with two (intransitive) verbs. So long as clauses are punctuated appropriately, a writer can assemble multiple independent clauses in a single sentence; in fact, a properly constructed sentence can be extended indefinitely. There are novels that consist of only one very long sentence, such as Gates to Paradise.”
…. a very “novel” post. Thank you.