Upton, Longoria Have To Be Separated In Rays Dugout (Video)
BJ Upton, Evan Longoria June 27th. 2010, 3:28pmIn the Diamondbacks half of the fifth inning today, BJ Upton clearly lollygaged after a ball hit in the gap turning a double into a triple. Arizona would score two runs in the inning.
In the dugout after the half-inning, Evan Longoria approached Upton and appeared to be upset by the lack of effort. Upton then lost it, having to be restrained by Willy Aybar.
Here is the video via Timothy Burke and The Big Lead…
And to make matters worse, Upton proceeded to get picked off first base in the bottom half of the inning. Something we have seen far too many times.
We have tried to defend Upton in the past, but this one is indefensible. And it is nice to see Longoria letting Upton know that laziness is unacceptable.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Cork Gaines and Cork Gaines, Joe BucsFan. Joe BucsFan said: Watch it before Selig's nazis take it down. RT @RaysIndex: Upton/Longo video http://bit.ly/aVBCMB [...]
Letdown after letdown. It was really disheartening seeing that play, and then the pickoff just made matters so much worse. This team is throwing it all out the window, this Boston series is going to be a real indicator of how much fight they have in them.
And let’s keep in mind, Upton has been benched twice by Maddon for lack of hustle. This might be the third.
When your manager is benching, this goes beyond “everybody does it.”
Why wasn’t it done right then and there? He should have been pulled from the gam. Face it, the team has no intentions of bringing up Jennings, because it would start his clock, and they aren’t prepared to do that. You got all 3 OF spots now in a state of flux with Jennings being the one sure thing to take one of them.
What about the front office and what they will do? Do nothing, I suspect. The season is RAPIDLY getting away from them, and they need to stop this NOW if they are to even be relevant in the race!!! Where is the grit and depth?
They should have gotten rid of him last year when they realized he was a fluke. He is a loser, seriously a loser; he acts like it and plays like it. He needs to lay off the weed. Needs to be faithful to his 1 girlfriend locally and not have kids out of the relationship (obviously we know that isn’t the case).
The front office and Maddon have dropped the ball. Now we probably can’t get that much for him and that is a shame. He has always been like this and they turned their heads.
Thank god Longo being the winner he is will not stand for it. Will the front office actually do something? As much as good they have done, they have done some pretty bad decisions and here is another one.
It is a shame that a team looking for some direction is now having to baby, little Bossman. If Maddon was a man, he would have pulled Upton after Longo confronted him and since he didn’t; now Longo will question whether Maddon is committed to winning and him. That is the truth.
Cut the cancer out and have Jennings take his spot, trade him in a package with Blaylock and get something in return. And then sign Crawford I don’t care how much percentage of payroll he takes, he is winner. That is a trait that can not be quantitative.
Oh and more thing, how is a malcontent with a career .240 average even marketable. I bet Adidas is hating the way they are pissing their money away. I don’t understand what does he do that is soo great that you would want him in a commercial.
He is a great fielder that is nice, I can find a lot of great fielders. And for everything great that he does, he does this crap which reduces his defensive positive contributions.
john s obviously has no idea what he is talking about. bj upton is an amazing centerfielder.without this guy, we are a worse team. he will give 50 steals and just cuz he aint livin up to his unlimited athletic poitential, does not mean we should trade him for a sandwich, like the next commenter stated.simply, bj is the best centerfielder on earth.nobody is better than him at roaming the outfield.we have put ben zobrist there.zobrist is a good major leaguer but i am scared; i am nervous when zobrist plays center.john s, u just jealous cuz a)ur a fat piece of crap and wish u could be bj upton or b)u played baseball in high school or college and could not even hold bj’s jock.we are a worse team without bj.all those easy catches that he makes in the sometimes impossible environment of the trop are all attributed to bj’s legendary centerfield play.those catches are not easy at all. case in point, have u seen ben zobrist play outfield compared to bj? not even a contest.it’s like me and u if we got in a fight.im bj upton’s centerfielding skills and ur ben zobrist’s outfielding skills.i destroy u…
I’m usually his biggest fan but this is inexcusable. Even someone as biased as I am in support of him has to admit that his lack of hustle is indefensible. So sad.
I’ve been writing Cork now for weeks– this is the final straw! In two out of these last 3 games the Rays have 2 hits. That’s 2 hits! Even Longoria couldn’t hit Upton and Upton didn’t hit Longoria– punchless! When a player fails to drive in a run, it is the players fault. When a TEAM gets 2 hits in two of three games– it is the manager’s fault, plain and simple. I’m tired of this, tired of Upton falling asleep in the outfield, then falling asleep at 1st base. I’m tired of the positive spin Maddon puts on everything. This has been a spineless run of baseball this last month. This team is rudderless and leaderless. Solutions:
1. Front office needs to talk to Maddon, it’s time (to borrow a phrase) to Cowboy Up!
2. Sit Upton down for a week. He’s too old to baby now and forget about losing him. He’s lost already. Package him with Bartlett and get a high-character everyday player
3. Sign Crawford now. He’s the heart and soul of the team. Forget the new stadium because at this rate 10 people will be in the stands by Sept.
4. Trade Garza bring up Hellikson (Sp?). The Cy Young stuff was always a reach.
5. Winning changes everything– Go take 2 from Boston because if we don’t the Twins are there waiting to administer the coup de grace on the 2010 season.
John, I partially agree. BJ’s lack of hustle and attitude are out of control. A move might just be necessary. He has some value. Blaylock has none whatsoever. The rays have no chance at resigning Carl. Sternberg is not going to put more money into a losing investment. Plain and simple. I don’t know what has to be done, but it has to be done quick. One positive note is that the pitching and defense today was excellent outside of slothman Jr. It was good to see Wade get a great start under his belt.
When will you people realize that the rays aren’t going to pay Crawford! He is going to free agency. We will not be able match any big market teams offer! He is going to get around 16-20 million! The rays CANT sign him.
I am so tired of rehashing the Upton, Pena, bullshit Maddon, bad hitters thing… I’m glad it finally came to the fore front!
But you can Book one thing NOW:
The Rays will NOT make the playoffs with the current group of players (hitters) they have right NOW… plus Maddon directing!
Maddon can stick Upton/Pena up his a s s and they can all go to happyville together!
Way to go Longo….I’m proud of you!
Signed…. Rays fan forever…Losers I can’t stand!
KJ,
The Rays can sign him.
Sorry that is not the case. If they choose not too thats fine, lets trade him now then if its just going to be business. Crawford would bring a TRUCK LOAD of either ready now or blue chip prospects. Burrell’s money is already gone next year, they can give Crawford the next $8 million of Pat’s money. There is $18 million a year right there.
With getting rid of Upton, you don’t have to worry about arbitration money now. So you can get rid of Upton’s $5 mil next year, replace it with Jenning’s $345K or whatever it is. And then you don’t have to deal with the half-hearted headcase that Upton is.
Oh and they can let Pena’s $10 million walk and they have cut the payroll down to where they want and fit Crawford’s money in.
NOW with all that being said it would unbelievably risky to have someone taken in over 30% of payroll. Not the Rays way, I understand. But I would rather over-leverage my payroll then to baby a loser in Upton and have him be the reason for the clubhouse drag. The team would be better in the clubhouse and on the field.
If the team wants to field losers, like Upton; then to pay winners, like Crawford. Then you know what you are not going to get my money.
But if they know they CAN NOT keep Crawford, then trade him like Kazmir. You have his suitable replacement already waiting. He might not be as good in 2010 but if you are going straight by the money, then trade him.
You are going to get much more in return, than 2 first round picks.
Oh and also to save more money, trade Shields in the offseason and bring an additional boatload of prospects and call up Hellboy.
Man you got it all figured out don’t you. Why don’t you call freidman and tell him your master plan lmao. You made all my points for me. We will never overleverage the payroll. Not with our farm system. Secondly, in a few weeks if we are more than 5 games out and look to be falling farther, they will trade him like they did Kazmir.
We could trade him for a sandwich for all I care. Upton is a bum, I’m tired of his lack of effort and I’m tired of him underachieving. This is the guy EVERY YEAR we think might finally live up to the expectations. Year after year he lets us all down and proves that he’s a bust. He has shown flashes of being a superstar (’08 playoffs) but for the most part has been a non-factor.
The sooner he goes, the better. I don’t care who we stick out in center, because whoever they are I’m willing to bet they will produce more effort and better results than Upton.
It is obvious he has talent – and watching him play the field can be a delight when he is getting after it but incidents like today, both in the field and on the basepaths are all too common. You hate to give up on him but sometimes a change of scenery is needed. It is just so much more difficult with CC likely gone, that we will have to try to replace 2/3 the outfield.
This whole thing has became a mess. From the stadium now to the onfield product. Someone has to exert some leadership. It better be freaking Evan because he is going to be here the longest.
This is no fun, and let’s see some leadership from the front office to. If you anted up for Soriano, are you going to double down for more reinforcements?
Season’s over boys. Let the firesale begin. Bye bye Carl, BJ, Bartlett, Soriano, Wheeler, and whoever else.
[...] in the AL in OPS. That being said, the Rays need to find more consistency from the bats..BJ Upton. If you missed it yesterday, Upton nonchalantly jogged after a ball as it rolled to the wall turning a routine double into a [...]