Is it too early to give up on BJ Upton?

[JohnAdcox]

Is it too early to give up on him? Yes.
Is it too early to move him to the bottom of the lineup where he belongs? Absolutely not.

This.

[Hawk]

I'm willing to give him enough rope in the 2-hole to last through the first home stand.

[zbhargrove]

Superstar levels? One season above 30 home runs and he had never hit above .290 in a season. Please elaborate on what superstar numbers he has? Superstars are Miggy and Trout currently.

Shows how much you research... he actually hit .300 in 2009 and put up an .899 OPS... in 2011 he up up a .289 avg with an .898 OPS... if he did that every year with 20 SBs, he'd easily be a superstar, especially in the post steroid era. Since when do you have to hit over .290 to be a superstar? And in this age of baseball hitting 30 homers in a season or close to it is pretty impressive. He's not a superstar, no... but zito is definitely right that he has put up superstar like numbers when you factor in that he also has 20-30 SB speed. You say Miggy and Trout are currently superstars, you're right... but zito never said Justin was a superstar currently... just that he's put up superstar like stats in his career, which he has (but way to basically just look at Avg and homers to back up your conclusion).

2 All-Star games and a 4th finish in the MVP voting by the age of 26... how is that not impressive?

[thethe]

Shows how much you research... he actually hit .300 in 2009 and put up an .899 OPS... in 2011 he up up a .289 avg with an .898 OPS... if he did that every year with 20 SBs, he'd easily be a superstar, especially in the post steroid era. Since when do you have to hit over .290 to be a superstar? And in this age of baseball hitting 30 homers in a season or close to it is pretty impressive. He's not a superstar, no... but zito is definitely right that he has put up superstar like numbers when you factor in that he also has 20-30 SB speed. You say Miggy and Trout are currently superstars, you're right... but zito never said Justin was a superstar currently... just that he's put up superstar like stats in his career, which he has (but way to basically just look at Avg and homers to back up your conclusion).

2 All-Star games and a 4th finish in the MVP voting by the age of 26... how is that not impressive?

How is that superstar level?

[NinersSBChamps]

OMG, Justin is 10 times the player Prado is and its not even close... good lord. Last year was no contest... Upton was light years ahead of Prado and even less streaky.

In which ways? Prado is a better defender and can play multiple positions.

[jpx7]

How is that superstar level?

In which ways? Prado is a better defender and can play multiple positions.

This debate is really silly.

[yeezus]

In which ways? Prado is a better defender and can play multiple positions.

Really?
Prado was terrible for most of the year last year. We'd have been running in front of traffic if we had kept Prado instead of trading him for Upton knowing the deal could have been made and wasn't.
Some of you really only see what you want and make up your own facts. Prado was not better than JUp last year, and it wasn't that close.

[Teheran_49]

B.J. is done, I'm sorry but the guy can't even a hit a fastball down main street. I don't really get the Justin hate, he's a good player. Most hitters are streaky except the exceptional ones like a Freeman or Chipper. He may not be the .300/30/100 guy everyone has hoped for but he's still a .280/25/90 guy that plays very good defense in LF. Is he a mega star like Heyward or Freeman? No, but if he's your third best hitter in the line-up then that is more than fine. Who really is a better upgrade than JUp for LF? No one that we can afford. You don't need a perennial MVP at every position. We have two stars in J-Hey and Free and that's essentially all you need with some good players around them like Chris Johnson,JUp and Andrelton.

[NinersSBChamps]

Shows how much you research... he actually hit .300 in 2009 and put up an .899 OPS... in 2011 he up up a .289 avg with an .898 OPS... if he did that every year with 20 SBs, he'd easily be a superstar, especially in the post steroid era. Since when do you have to hit over .290 to be a superstar? And in this age of baseball hitting 30 homers in a season or close to it is pretty impressive. He's not a superstar, no... but zito is definitely right that he has put up superstar like numbers when you factor in that he also has 20-30 SB speed. You say Miggy and Trout are currently superstars, you're right... but zito never said Justin was a superstar currently... just that he's put up superstar like stats in his career, which he has (but way to basically just look at Avg and homers to back up your conclusion).

2 All-Star games and a 4th finish in the MVP voting by the age of 26... how is that not impressive?

All star games do not mean anything. It considers the first half of the season and that's all. Sure he had one impressive season where he got some MVP votes, but other than that he has been above average and nothing more.

[gilesfan]

You have to make that trade for Justin 100 times out of 100. He's younger and a better player. I love Prado as a player and the ability to play 2nd or 3rd and hit certainly help his value, but he's not on the level of Upton.

Having said that, Justin will likely never be a superstar and may not even be an all star. But, he's still a pretty darn good player.

[NinersSBChamps]

Don't know why there is so much dislike for Prado from some of you guys. Sure Upton's season was better than Prado's, but it wasn't so one sided like so many of you think

Prado had more hits, higher batting average, more doubles, more runs batted in, and 3 times less the amount of strikeouts. The throw in player in the Chris Johnson deal had better power and drew a good amount of walks. More homers and his slash line was higher save for batting average.

[Teheran_49]

Don't know why there is so much dislike for Prado from some of you guys. Sure Upton's season was better than Prado's, but it wasn't so one sided like so many of you think

Prado had more hits, higher batting average, more doubles, more runs batted in, and 3 times less the amount of strikeouts. The throw in player in the Chris Johnson deal had better power and drew a good amount of walks. More homers and his slash line was higher save for batting average.

I don't think there's hate for Prado as much as they're implying that JUp is a much better LF than Martin. I'd love to have Martin playing 2B and wish it was a possibility but it's not.

[yeezus]

Don't know why there is so much dislike for Prado from some of you guys. Sure Upton's season was better than Prado's, but it wasn't so one sided like so many of you think

Prado had more hits, higher batting average, more doubles, more runs batted in, and 3 times less the amount of strikeouts. The throw in player in the Chris Johnson deal had better power and drew a good amount of walks. More homers and his slash line was higher save for batting average.

Being real and going off facts does not equate to hate.
I loved Prado and his approach during his time here. If it's between he and Upton, the choice requires no hesitation.

[jpx7]

B.J. is done, I'm sorry but the guy can't even a hit a fastball down main street. I don't really get the Justin hate, he's a good player.

I think they're closely related, actually; even though those posters jumping on Justin wouldn't admit it, I think there's been a decent amount of fraternal bleed-over in terms of disappointment and disdain.

[Teheran_49]

I think they're closely related, actually; even though those posters jumping on Justin wouldn't admit it, I think there's been a decent amount of fraternal bleed-over in terms of disappointment and disdain.

I wonder how much it may bother Justin mentally that his bro is stinking it up as bad as he is. I know he wants to see his bro succeed but it has to weigh somewhat in his mind that his bro is just garbage at the plate.

[thewupk]

How is that superstar level?

In 2011 he had a wrc+ of 140 with a 6 war season. That is a superstar level year.

[VirginiaBrave]

Shows how much you research... he actually hit .300 in 2009 and put up an .899 OPS... in 2011 he up up a .289 avg with an .898 OPS... if he did that every year with 20 SBs, he'd easily be a superstar, especially in the post steroid era. Since when do you have to hit over .290 to be a superstar? And in this age of baseball hitting 30 homers in a season or close to it is pretty impressive. He's not a superstar, no... but zito is definitely right that he has put up superstar like numbers when you factor in that he also has 20-30 SB speed. You say Miggy and Trout are currently superstars, you're right... but zito never said Justin was a superstar currently... just that he's put up superstar like stats in his career, which he has (but way to basically just look at Avg and homers to back up your conclusion).

2 All-Star games and a 4th finish in the MVP voting by the age of 26... how is that not impressive?

The past is the past. BJ for whatever reason is not the player he was. He's not working out, but we are stuck with him.

[thethe]

You have to make that trade for Justin 100 times out of 100. He's younger and a better player. I love Prado as a player and the ability to play 2nd or 3rd and hit certainly help his value, but he's not on the level of Upton.

Having said that, Justin will likely never be a superstar and may not even be an all star. But, he's still a pretty darn good player.

Agree with this 100%.

[ChapelHillMatt]

I just find it amazing that people still talk about Upton like he is this elite player. He is what he is...a very good player but he isn't a superstar.

At least he's productive, I'm more confident in a pitcher hitting than I am BJ

[thethe]

At least he's productive, I'm more confident in a pitcher hitting than I am BJ

There is no debating this. Upton is just a big black hole right now. I was encouraged by his swings in the Spring but that doesn't mean a damn thing right now with him striking out every AB.