http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4180 Recent articles about BJ Upton en-us I refuse to link to the original piece, so you'll have to take my word for it that someone actually wrote (and hence, believes) that Harry Leroy 'Roy' "Doc" Halladay is bloody over-rated. I submit to you the fragile introspections that brewed following the sight of such baseless criticism of one of baseballs' finest. Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:56:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298122 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/298122 Screaming Sports' Billy Smith checks in on some of the mega-hyped offseason stars, as well as the not-so-hyped offseason stars. Who is living up to it? Who isn't? And who is coming out of left field? Billy has all of those answers for you. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:32:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292099 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292099 Over the past several years teams have been looking more and more toward the future of the franchise instead of today. The "Win Now" mentality is waning and a youth movement has begun. Below we have several teams' profiled and broken down to show the climate change in Major League Baseball. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:33:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291164 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291164 The Tampa Bay Rays have taken the AL East and all of baseball by storm. They are attempting to go from worst-to-first as has happened only a few times in the past. But the Rays remind us...remind us A LOT...of another media darling that took the sport by storm. See how similar these two teams really are... Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:51:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285703 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285703 Prompted by a few questions on the subject, I decided to do my own version of the AL East player debates. Solely focusing on the three best teams—record-wise at the midway point—in the American League East, here are my picks for the top players at each position among the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:04:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285261 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285261 ATLANTA, GA–A "heartbroken and disgusted" Jair Jurrjens arrived at the ballpark Wednesday after disovering late Tuesday night that he'd been traded away by rapacious fantasy baseball owner John Tain. Tain, the owner… Read more Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:36:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285225 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285225 I am a diehard Yankee fan, pinstripes in my blood. But the Tampa Bay Rays are for real, and it is throwing my world off. Today is July 1. July 1 and the best record in baseball belongs to the Rays. I can't even write that without cringing a bit. The worst part is, as the Yankees are attempting to regroup, use players from within the system, and get younger, the Rays have already done it, and are winning with it. They drafted well, picking up players like Andy Sonnanstine, Delmon Young, B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, Josh Hamilton, Elijah Dukes, Jason Hammel, Jonny Gomes, James Shields, and Evan Longoria. Young was traded to get Matt Garza. And also their was the raping of the Mets in the Scott Kazmir deal. Bringing in veteran relievers Dan Wheeler, Al Reyes, Troy Percival and Trever Miller, has helped anchor a solid bullpen that isn't hurting the young rotation. More so the team believes in themselves, they believe they can win against any opponent, anywhere. All of the credit goes to Joe Maddon and his coaching staff, for telling these guys they can win, and then making them believe it. Case and point, the Red Sox. The "favorite" for the World Series this season, they have struggled against Tampa, having been swept earlier this season and having lost last night to end June. I don't know what it is but these Rays are just plain throwing the baseball world for a loop. And I like it. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:58:26 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284719 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284719 Fantasy expert Tim Williams reviews AccuScore's top 20 stolen base options for the remainder of the season, and gives you five teams who can't stop people on the base paths. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:23:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281816 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281816 With baseball season now nearly three months old, Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon has decided it's time to examine some early fantasy All-Stars. He continues this mini-series with a look at fantasy catchers and center fielders, who, as you may have guessed, are led by the Rangers' Josh Hamilton. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:49:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278373 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278373 Fantasy expert Tim Williams reviews AccuScore's top 20 stolen base options for the remainder of the season, and finds several excellent sources for stolen bases in the outfield and at second base who you can get for a cheaper price than Carl Crawford or Brian Roberts. Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:08:26 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276475 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276475 Another article jumping on the Rays bandwagon, from a NY Post writer no less. If you had to pick 15 players from the Rays and Yankees roster, what would the breakdown be? Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:35:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/273501 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/273501 The Pittsburgh Pirates haven't exactly had the best luck when it comes to the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. In fact, in 2002, the Pirates took Bryan Bullington over Prince Fielder, Cole Hamels, B.J. Upton, Khalil Greene, Scott Kazmir, Curtis Granderson, among many others... Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:12:00 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/273427 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/273427 The mystifying Sidney Ponson rebounds from a pair of mediocre outings to deliver his first complete-game victory since April 24th, 2005 - and against his former club, no less. Thu, 22 May 2008 15:08:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/269784 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/269784 Justin Upton may have the biggest upside of any D-backs player. He talked with Ken Rosenthal about tapping into that limitless potential. Fri, 09 May 2008 18:49:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265335 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265335 The Tampa Bay Rays (formerly known as the Devil Rays) are shocking everyone by contending in a very deep quality American League. How have they done it and can they continue to contend towards the end of the season? This is definitely a topic to look at closely. As of now the Rays are 16-14. They have a sea of good young players and have gotten rid of the bad apples like Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes. They are 4th in the AL in SB at 28, 6th best ERA at 4.04, 3rd in OPS at .687, and fourth in WHIP at 1.31. The Rays are letting guys like B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford, Eric Hinske, and top-tier prospect Evan Longoria swing the bat and they have done well. But can they hold it up for the entire season? Probably not. They are young which means inexperience in a playoff hunt, plus they are in the American League, which is very deep and up to 9 teams have the ability to make the playoffs. I would be shocked to see them win more than 80 games. They have only had one 70 + win since 2002. But this is a team to watch over the years that should be seriously contending by 2010. It is interesting how they have changed so drastically (even though saying this is a bit premature) once they shed the name of the DEVIL Rays. Sun, 04 May 2008 11:46:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263306 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263306