B.J. Upton (Merged)

[raiders_umpire]

I'm not sure when this team will begin to take winning seriously...They seem more worried about saving a few bucks on player contracts, then putting the best possible team on the field and developing it to win.

Name one player besides Lugo that could of helped them now and in the future. Lugo also wanted a 4-5 year long term deal for more money then I and a lot of people believe he is worth.

You dont think Upton and Young and even Dukes isn't an upgrade over Damon Hollins, Russel Branyan/Ty Wigginton/Travis Lee/Johny Gomes (Who has been terrible)?

It's gonna take Young and Upton a little while to adjust to the majors anyway, why not start them early so they can adjust and begin building your core.

Yes I admit it has been frustrating to see Upton in Durham this year instead of Tampa, but you have to realize from a future stand point. We can not compete with New York, Boston, Toronto and Baltimore on the money level, but maybe we can build a strong enough farm system (ala Braves and Indians of the 90s) to compete year in and year out in a few years. Upton staying in the minors a good portion of the year has basically made Upton a Devil Ray one more year longer then he could have been. Due to his bringing up in 04, he could not be on the major league roster but so long this year, or his years value would have reached year #2 in the majors. Tampa has already signed Crawford and Baldelli for several years, and are working with Kazmir to get him a new 4 or 5 year contract, so the young players are in place. I imagine they will give it their all to sign the duo of Upton and Young as well (if they are interested in a long term deal in Tampa now). For us to win in the future, we will basically have to follow the Twins program of the last few years, develop from within. This is very doable, but you also have to remember we do have the Yanks and Sox in our division where as the Twins do not.

[Prooks25]

Yes I admit it has been frustrating to see Upton in Durham this year instead of Tampa, but you have to realize from a future stand point. We can not compete with New York, Boston, Toronto and Baltimore on the money level, but maybe we can build a strong enough farm system (ala Braves and Indians of the 90s) to compete year in and year out in a few years. Upton staying in the minors a good portion of the year has basically made Upton a Devil Ray one more year longer then he could have been. Due to his bringing up in 04, he could not be on the major league roster but so long this year, or his years value would have reached year #2 in the majors. Tampa has already signed Crawford and Baldelli for several years, and are working with Kazmir to get him a new 4 or 5 year contract, so the young players are in place. I imagine they will give it their all to sign the duo of Upton and Young as well (if they are interested in a long term deal in Tampa now). For us to win in the future, we will basically have to follow the Twins program of the last few years, develop from within. This is very doable, but you also have to remember we do have the Yanks and Sox in our division where as the Twins do not.

Yeah, but you know what, it becomes a double edge sword. Sure, you gain an additional year of them being on your team, but at the sametime, you are pissing off your players who are sitting around in the minors, deserving to be called up because of their performance. You are essentially stealing money away from the players (A potential FA Contract, pushing it off another year) by keeping them down. This inturn makes the said prospect upset, and could affect his ability on the field...and on top of it all, you know the guy is gonna bolt the first chance he gets, because you have treated him like horse poopy.