Chase Utley vs. BJ Upton

[djacks]

Is Upton the next superstar middle infielder? He has virtually identical number to Utley...is he ready to take over the top spot from Utley next year for best fantasy 2B?
AVG OBP SLG
Utley 0.3358 0.4143 0.5815
Upton 0.3309 0.4104 0.5651

Utley is hitting HR's at a pace of 1 every 23.47 AB's...Upton is at 1 every 19.21. Utley is a double machine though at 1 every 9.73 AB's vs 1 every 14.16 AB for Upton. I like Utley's lineup around him much, much better but Upton seems on the verge of being something special, especially considering he doesn't turn 23 until August 21st. Utley will turn 29 in December.

Thoughts?

[chipper]

I still think Roberts and Phillips may be more consistent and better options at least for next year.

[Snakes Gould]

bj upton is a great talent but its completely unfair to compair him to chase utley. for starters, upton's k rate is alarming. so alarming in fact that it would be impossible for him to maintain as high an average as hes had already.

upton will steal significantly more bases than your utley's, phillips, cano's though.

[Yoda]

I don't think the two are close right now although Upton is not short on talent. Unfortunately Upton will probably settle in CF so he won't qualify at 2B after next year.

[pokerplaya]

Utley is better, and by a fair margin. Until Upton learns some plate discipline, there is no contest.

[Fantasy Sports Genie]

I don't think the two are close right now although Upton is not short on talent. Unfortunately Upton will probably settle in CF so he won't qualify at 2B after next year.

That's really a big part of your answer I think. The current situation for Upton is about as good as you can get for a fantasy owner; he's playing all over the place, getting all sorts of eligibility. Going forward, I'd guess he gets fewer positions of eligibility, and the ones he's likely to stop playing are the infield positions, where he's most valuable.

I like the guy, but I'd be pretty amazed if he approached the value of Utley.

[BJSFAN123]

Yea doesn't even matter since Upton won't have 2B eligibility after 2008. Too bad really..

[jcook3127]

Well, I'm not even going to put Upton in the same sentence as the top second basemen on the board...but he's been a pleasent surprise this season...

One thing, besides Upton's K rate that is alarming, is his BABIP...Upton's batting average on balls in play is up over .420

Thats crazy...

Its also weird how all of a sudden Upton has become a valable fantasy player when before he couldn't stay in the bigs...maybe be figured it out overnight, but I will certainly be skeptical of him next season

To put him on Utley's level though is crazy...

PEACE

[Yoda]

I don't think the two are close right now although Upton is not short on talent. Unfortunately Upton will probably settle in CF so he won't qualify at 2B after next year.

That's really a big part of your answer I think. The current situation for Upton is about as good as you can get for a fantasy owner; he's playing all over the place, getting all sorts of eligibility. Going forward, I'd guess he gets fewer positions of eligibility, and the ones he's likely to stop playing are the infield positions, where he's most valuable.

I like the guy, but I'd be pretty amazed if he approached the value of Utley.

I think OF is pretty thin as well. I also believe that he will eventually be a 30-30 player. He is only 22.

[Lofunzo]

I don't think the two are close right now although Upton is not short on talent. Unfortunately Upton will probably settle in CF so he won't qualify at 2B after next year.

That's really a big part of your answer I think. The current situation for Upton is about as good as you can get for a fantasy owner; he's playing all over the place, getting all sorts of eligibility. Going forward, I'd guess he gets fewer positions of eligibility, and the ones he's likely to stop playing are the infield positions, where he's most valuable.

I like the guy, but I'd be pretty amazed if he approached the value of Utley.

Now, if we only knew someone at Yahoo that could make for some seemless eligibility transitions.