Will Upton be traded? Only time will tell. (Photo Courtesy: Yardbarker.com)
This is my first D’Backs blog here on Rantsports and I am happy to be here. It is my goal throughout the offseason to give the very latest all the Diamondbacks moves going forward. This will be a very important offseason for this team if they expect to compete for a playoff spot in the coming years.
I’ve been a fan of this team since their inaugural season back in 1998. I can still remember the very first pitch thrown by Andy Benes against the Rockies of that year. In its brief existence, this organization has had a number of great moments with the culmination being Luis Gonzalez’s bloop single off of Mariano Rivera in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series that gave the state of Arizona its first professional sports championship. Hopefully there will be many more great moments in the coming years.
When looking at the current roster, there are several things that you have to like. There are a lot of young positional players, some of whom haven’t even hit their prime years yet and there are some good young arms in the rotation. There are also several things not to like. The young hitters strike out at historical levels, the rotation lacks a true number one guy and the bullpen is a complete disaster. With Kevin Towers in as the new GM, expect him to try and address those things over the next couple of months. He is one of the best baseball minds in the game, so there are no reasons why he couldn’t turn this thing around.
This offseason has gotten off to an interesting start. The lone signing so far was Geoff Blum, a veteran bat off the bench, who will also spot start at first and third. One of the major problems with this team the past couple of years has been their lack of good veteran hitters off the bench, so the Blum signing makes a lot of sense, even though he is getting up there in age.
The Blum signing, however, has been overshadowed by the trade talk of Justin Upton. Just a few weeks back, the organization began entertaining offers for their 23-year-old right fielder. Many D’Backs fans are wondering why the organization is even thinking about trading a guy who has the talent like Upton has, who hasn’t lived up to his full potential yet.
When examining the reasons why they would be looking to trade him, several come to mind. The main one could be that they don’t believe he will reach his potential and they point to his brother B.J. as an example. They could also be concerned with his injury history after he missed the entire last month of the season in 2009 with a bum shoulder. The organization might also feel that Upton strikes out too much and by trading him, it might help out the team’s strikeout problems.
Whatever the reason, the trade talk is real. Trading the face of the franchise to a fan base that has suffered the last two years would be a tough sell, but it appears there is a good chance that Upton could be elsewhere next spring. It might be time for D’Backs fans to start embracing that.
Buy Arizona Diamondbacks Tickets | Buy Arizona Diamondbacks Apparel[...] Home › MLB › Introduction and a quick examination of the roster [...]
One Rant to “Introduction and a quick examination of the roster”