Justin Upton: The $22MM Disaster
This past offseason, the Tigers filled what was supposed to be a huge void in the left field slot by signing Justin Upton to a 6-year, $132.75MM contract.
That adds up to an annual average salary of $22.125MM per season.
Ouch. This wouldn’t sting so bad if Upton was actually a decent baseball player.
But at the moment, he’s anything but. For that kind of cash, he should be not striking out (on average) over 1 1/2 times per game, should be hitting over .300, and for a guy with some pop in his bat should be knocking a few balls over the wall, too.
Tonight though, against the Indians, he also showed that his baserunning skills are that of a fungus-covered tree stump.
Upton led off the 4th inning of tonight’s game vs the Indians by reaching second base via his 5th double of the year. Nick Castellanos followed that at bat by trying to advance and/or score Upton - and was successful - and singled to right field.
I’ll give Upton a hall pass on not scoring on a ball hit to the outfield... it was hit rather sharply and Upton instead stopped at third base.
So first and third, nobody out, and on a 1-0 pitch, the next batter James McCann hit a grounder to Juan Uribe at third...
Instead of taking off for home on contact, Upton, seen here stopping in his own tracks, instead watches Uribe collect the ball, have a quick glance at Upton, and start a routine 5-4-3 double play. Upton not only doesn’t score, but allows two outs to happen instead of perhaps one if Uribe suddenly decides that throwing home was a better idea than turning 2.
The next batter is Anthony Gose, who strikes out looking to end the inning.
No big deal, right? Except that former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber is on the mound... and he was flawless for the rest of his 4-0 complete game shutout win.
It’s early, and there’s still a lot of season left, but there’s a lot of money and resources being wasted on a guy who’s started the season battling to bat a mere .252, with 39 strikeouts and zero baserunning pedigree. For as much as he’s not getting on base, he should be taking advantage of the times he is.
Except that’s not working out so well thus far.
At this point, there are probably a few too many Tigers fans hoping that Upton opts out of his contract after next season...
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