B. J. Upton, CF, Tampa Bay Rays
First things first, Upton played 48 games at second base before settling in at centerfield for the rest of 2007. For fantasy purposes, that undoubtedly gives this speedster 2B eligibility for 2008.
That could boost his fantasy value in drafts where a majority of owners feel that there’s positional weakness at second base. In the Fantasy Baseball Champ list of second basemen, however, we’ve got Richie Weeks, a player with great potential, listed at ninth. Plus, Howie Kendrick and Dustin Pedroia are listed behind Weeks. So the argument for positional weakness becomes weaker.
For that reason, we’ll have to look at Upton’s statistics solely on their merit. It is worth noting that Upton batted .345 as a second baseman and only .278 as an outfielder, which is what he’ll be in 2008. Of course, one could also look at the situation as Upton batting .320 before the break, and .285 afterwards. Or is it that he batted .266 at home versus .335 away?
It’s hard to tell where exactly Upton will land in between those splits, but we will predict that he will fall in the upper half of the splits, given that he’ll only turn 24 in the 2008 season and will have decent experience under his belt.
Bottom line: He’s the third best “second baseman” in the draft, but he’s not exactly Chase Utley value yet.
Projection: 90 R, 25 HR, 90 RBI, 28 SB, .305 AVG
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