Forget Corey, what about Nomar?

[imb]

There's no guarantee that Upton will be among the handful of Bulls selected for promotion by Tampa Bay when the major-league roster expands on Sept. 1 and after Durham's season ends on Sept. 5. Neither is there a guarantee that Upton will begin the season with the Rays in 2006.

 

The Rays have a team option for 2006 on Julio Lugo at $4.95 million, with a $100,000 buyout. Even if the Rays choose the buyout route, Lugo would become arbitration eligible and -- unless he is traded -- is likely to remain the starter at shortstop.

 

Upton was non-committal when asked Tuesday if he would prefer to change positions (third base? outfield?) if it meant a quicker path back to the majors.

 

"I don't know," Upton said. "Obviously, I want to be in the big leagues. But I do want to play shortstop."

How about trading for Upton, then? :D

 

Going to finish with over 50 errors at short this year. 50 errors! I love him as a hitter, but he may need to play somewhere that the ball doesnt go.

[sonofsamiam]

I'm in the camp that says re-sign Nomar for a low base with incentives. The guy was really hitting great until the back thing.

 

Speaking of which -- why has no one made anything of the fact that being hit by Tavarez was what caused the injury? I was sure at the time that it was a purpose pitch. Tavarez comes in, plunks Nomar (and it isn't close), immediately leaves. Of course, TLR could say that he was bringing in King for the lefty match-up, but I felt that was just a built-in excuse at the time.

 

I dunno, maybe I just had the Cardinals, ESPECIALLY Tavarez and LaRussa. Anyone else feel that the HBP may have been intentional?

 

I read a Nomar quote where he said that the HBP made the back hurt more, but it was already bothering him.

 

I've never been on the Nomar bandwagon, and it seems fairly obvious that this guy's body has become a glass jaw. Has he ever truly been the "every day" shortstop for the Cubs? I certainly wouldn't re-sign him.

 

I thought it was the other way around -- he got hit in the back, and then the back was further tweaked when he leapt for a line drive.

 

Either way, I see what you're saying. However, I think we forget what we have here -- one of the best hitting shortstops in the last 40 years or so. Yes, he's battled injuries since '03. But he just turned 32, and the MLB has had many instances of players who lost significant time to injuries and still came back strong.

 

I just think a cheap contract laden with incentives is worth the risk, presuming Cedeno is his true backup, and not Neifi. Which of course is a totally unrealistic presumption. :cry:

[danonwaveland]

Sign Furcal now! He fits right in with our offense. He just hit into a potential double-play, but beat the relay. Imagine how many more games we would have won if Walker, Ramirez, et. al., were a bit faster, turning their double plays into fielders' choices.

 

I just can't believe how many times we've had first-and-third with none out, then had a strikeout followed by a dp. It makes me sick.

[UK1679666180]

There's no guarantee that Upton will be among the handful of Bulls selected for promotion by Tampa Bay when the major-league roster expands on Sept. 1 and after Durham's season ends on Sept. 5. Neither is there a guarantee that Upton will begin the season with the Rays in 2006.

 

The Rays have a team option for 2006 on Julio Lugo at $4.95 million, with a $100,000 buyout. Even if the Rays choose the buyout route, Lugo would become arbitration eligible and -- unless he is traded -- is likely to remain the starter at shortstop.

 

Upton was non-committal when asked Tuesday if he would prefer to change positions (third base? outfield?) if it meant a quicker path back to the majors.

 

"I don't know," Upton said. "Obviously, I want to be in the big leagues. But I do want to play shortstop."

How about trading for Upton, then? :D

 

It would be more likely that his little brother re-enters the draft after a year of JUCO and the Cubs select him after teams bypass him. Not that I would'nt mind seeing Justin and BJ!