Derrick Turnbow for BJ Upton?

[bthurley19]

Watching Cold Pizza this morning on ESPN and they have Steve Phillips do an "extreme makeover" of the Devil Rays. One of the blockbuster trades he said he would do was to trade Derrick Turnbow for BJ Upton. When I first heard him propose this I thought good deal for the Brewers but where is would he play. 3B is going to be occupied by Braun very soon and Upton was terrible at SS, not to mention the Crew is more commited to JJ. Still would be nice to obtain a former number one draft pick with great speed for a pitcher who was terrible in the second half last year.

 

Upton's Stats: STATS

[deeswan]

If Tampa would do that deal, Melvin should be on the phone with them right now. To me this is just more evidence why Steve Phillips is on TV and not a GM anymore.

[don1481]

Wow.

 

Turnbow for Upton? Sign me up.

 

Anyone think Upton could man an OF spot? An OF of Upton, Hall, Hart would be interesting to say the least.

[Invader3K]

I'm thinking Turnbow will probably be traded, if not now, by the All-Star break.

 

This thread should probably be in the trade rumor forum, I'm guessing.

[don1481]

So what do you think we could get for Turnbow, Invader?

 

And yes - this should be in the trade rumor forum.

[Invader3K]

Hard to say exactly. I wonder how much damage his terrible second half did to his reputation. I mean, he was an All Star closer last year, though.

 

I can't believe some team wouldn't take a chance on him, or that we couldn't get a trade similar to the Kolb for Capellan one a couple years ago. The Brewers don't really need any more prospects ... 3B is Milwaukee's most glaring hole right now.

[TheEndless7]

When I heard Steve Phillips say that I thought "Yea I'd do that, immediately, but Steve, this is why you aren't a GM anymore."

[sbrylski]

Another reason why I don't watch Cold Pizza.

[dadofandrew]

Isn't Upton one of the top prospects in the game? The DEvil Rays are not even close to competing in the AL East, they need to build slowly and correctly, not by dealing youth for a guy who may be OK or may not.

[colbyjack]

It's possible that the D-Rays might lose their patience with Upton. He's not one of the top prospects in the game only because he has more than 130 big-league ABs, and despite his big-league struggles he still has the talent to explode.

 

I agree that Upton would be a perfect long-term fit in CF for the Brewers, and he is somewhat without a position in Tampa Bay. Every spot in the OF is already taken (unless they move one of Crawford or Baldelli) and the IF is starting to get rather crowded as well, particularly when they picked up Akinori Iwamura this offseason. If Longoria opens the season at the big-league level, that would squeeze another IF spot away from Upton, and last year's Cal League MVP, Reid Brignac, could reach AAA by the end of the year.

 

I'm not sure if Turnbow would get it done (and I thought the same thing about Phillips), maybe if he bounces back, but as far as I know the D-Rays are committed to young fireballer Seth McClung to be their closer of the present and future.

[apereira2222]

BJ Upton is generally considered a project. He has obvious talent, but it is still a work in progress. He would not be of much help to the Brewers this year unless they did decide to try and move him to the outfield. Third base is going to be kept warm by whoever until Braun is ready. Plus I don't see the D-Rays doing this for just Turnbow.

[brettac1]

An infield of Fielder-Weeks-Upton-Braun would have the groundball pitchers on the team overjoyed.

 

I don't think there's a GM in the game that wouldn't trade Turnbow for Upton. Even Bill Bavasi.

 

There's no way the Rays would do this, they have a pretty smart front office nowadays.

[vacin8r]

This is interesting. I know there is no way theyd trade upton for turnbow straight up. but if we threw in carlos villanueva i bet they would bite. uptons numbers were hurt by some nagging injuries last season and could definately improve in time. make the deal, play upton at 3rd until braun is ready then move him to the outfield. I could like the 2008-2010 lineup of:

upton

weeks

fielder

hall

braun

hart

estrada(until salome or sumthin better comes along)

hardy

pitcher

 

im not keen on trading villanueva per se, but i am an upton fan despite his shenanagins in the past and i think it would help the team overall.

-don

[Boy Jeenius]

2 major league arms for a top prospect? Disagree big time.

[berniebrewer4life]

IF this were to happen(which it won't), i would move Bill Hall back to SS and Upton to CF. Keep JJ as a backup, or trade him for some prospects. How much does Upton make? I would think less than Turnbow, so it would be a bonus to the salary as well. However, a setup guy for a top prospect? In a heartbeat.

[UWRyan428]

Why not let Upton be a utility guy for a year, then put him where he fits next year, like we did with Billy? And by the way, if memory serves me correctly, Upton was the second overall pick, Justin was the top pick. But if we put BJ at third with Graffy until Braun came up, and then let him spell JJ with late game subs to Counsell, it wouldn't be so bad. And with Yo coming up quickly, and Zach Jack stirring, CV the Younger may get squeezed out sooner rather than later. Imagine the nugget that Melvin would extract with that haul. I could see BJ and Edwin Jackson (Maddux could be just what the former Dodger needs to boost his confidence, and turn him into the frontline starter he was once projected...and yes, I saw his numbers the last few years, but he could have the long relief role, and basically hang out with Castro and CoCo and LEARN!) Nevertheless, I would love to see BJ donning the Retro Blues this season, and I am still of the belief that D-Bow the T-Bow doesn't B-Low.

[mothershipconnection]

And by the way, if memory serves me correctly, Upton was the second overall pick, Justin was the top pick.

Yup, drafted behind Brian Bullington.

[pitchleague]

I know the guy is young, but Upton right now is on the career path to becoming the next John McDonald--a career backup infielder.

 

I'm willing to give the guy some more time as he is only 23 (or thereabouts) but until he starts playing like a #2 overall pick, he's just a Joe Average. (kind of sounds the same way some people feel about another #2 overall, Rickie Weeks)

[BrewCrewForever]

Upton for Turnbow. Makes you at least ponder it. But Upton is a SS/3B. We have both of those spots filled with young guys (Hardy/Braun). If we didn't have Hardy or Braun I think it would be nice.

[UWRyan428]

But why couldn't we turn him into a cross between Chone Figgins and Bill Hall (circa first half, last year). He has speed and power, and a trade would have to humble him a bit, at least enough to realize his best chance for seeing the green of MLB is to play wherever and whenever.

[Past Member]

This would be a fun trade to make for the Brewers, but no GM in their right mind would trade Upton for Turnbow. Turnbow is done. He has no control, and when he does have control, its right down the middle, which he then proves the theory: The harder you throw it the further it travels out of the park when hit. His mechanics are downright awful. I think at best he is a situational guy in the 6th or 7th innings. BJ Upton on the other hand, despite his attitude problems, has the highest upside of any player in MLB right now, in my opinion. If we somehow did get Upton, I would not care if he played SS or 3B or even 2B, get that guys bat in the lineup wherever it fits.

[splitterpfj]

Closers are weird, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Turnbow bounced back. Look at the careers of Doug Jones, Todd Jones and Jose Mesa....these guys had seasons were they were absolutely awful, only to bounce back and be highly effective again, sometimes it happens.

 

Would I deal Turnbow for Upton, yes, right now. I wouldn't do it to ditch Turnbow, but to get the younger, more versatile player. If Upton can ever figure out a defensive position, he offers more to a team than a guy who pitches an inning at a time. A closer would have to be an all-time great to keep me from dealing him.

[Big Reed]

as far as being a project goes, Upton has gotten significant at bats at the major league level in two seasons. he's not really a project anymore. and TB's options are about to wear out. This will be his year to either break out and become a star, or be forever labeled as a bust.

 

Tampa has no room for him in their outfield. And they thought so much of his infield defense, that they imported a japanese third baseman, and traded for a shortstop late last year. I've heard tampa was thinking about playing upton at second. they already have cantu there.

 

Clearly Upton is a man without a job.

 

I wouldn't hesitate trading turnbow for him. i'd also throw in one of our overhyped pitching prospects before they become like every other brewer prospect and blow out their arm. Rogers or Jones or parra or hendrickson and turnbow for upton? sure....

[UWRyan428]

Reed, did no one tell you? It's Spring Training time, a time that is filled with optimism. Also, the law of averages says that sometime in the near future, one of our pitching prospects is going to pan, probably more.

[Big Reed]

i get very tired of people who are always optimistic in the Spring and then become depressed in the fall and bring up 10,000 excuses for losing. Guys like me saw all of those faults and addressed them in the past Spring..I get tired of saying "I told you so." it's as if you were brainwashed by the brewers' front office spin in order to sell tickets. give me a person who is always optimistic, or is always realistic, and i can relate to them much better.

 

i'm being very optimistic that all of our pitching prospects are healthy and that melvin can find a fool of a gm to take them off our hands before they get injured again. I know that's not true. As i speak, several are still not going to be healthy this year.

 

loking at our current pitching staff at the major league level and their contracts and their age, i see no reason to keep guys like hendrickson, parra, jones and rogers. We have Guys like jackson, Yo and villenueva that are worth keeping. it's time to get rid of some pitchers who do not project to make an impact for our team.

 

That's why i'd love to ship a couple to tampa bay for upton. the tampa bay GM doen't want old guys with big contracts. and he doesn't need anymore outfielders. he wants young pitching prospects. That's why i say give him a couple of ours for upton, and then sit back and see what Upton can do.

 

Who would you rather have? Parra or Upton? Rogers or upton?

 

we haven't had a guy with Upton's attitude in a brewer uniform since gary Sheffield. I' m sad to say with talent comes attitude. but sometimes you can turn attitude into a positive. I say with Upton, it's worth the risk. I'm sure he wants to be better than his brother - or at least be a starter..

 

if a guy like me is ever positive or close to being positive about something,, you know it's a good thing. even Eyore smiles once in a while.