New Atlanta Braves outfielder B.J. Upton finished the 2012 season as the No. 14 outfielder on the ESPN Fantasy Player Rater, but I'm guessing most people wouldn't even think of selecting him among the top 14 outfielders in a draft. After all, the guy hasn't hit as well as .250 for an entire season since 2008 and it's tough to make a good case, looking at his trends in strikeout/walk rates, that he's a reasonable candidate to suddenly do so in the future.
However, instead of focusing on what Upton did not do well the past four seasons for the Tampa Bay Rays, let's focus on the good, because there's plenty of it for fantasy owners. This fellow possesses a valuable and unique combination of power and speed, and it's time fantasy owners realize how undervalued that can be. Last season Upton slipped to late in the eighth round of ESPN standard league drafts, which was odd for someone who is durable and raising his home run total each season (since 2008). He's run a bit less the past two seasons, but he's only 28, in his prime and frankly, moving to the NL should be in the discussion for top-50 overall in 2013.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
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Eric Karabell
Eric Karabell is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He competed in his first fantasy draft in 1987, and chose Wade Boggs 11th overall. Karabell enjoyed his 24 home runs, which tripled Boggs' career high, and was hooked. (He also drafted Dale Sveum that year. Look up his career stats!) Eric has covered fantasy sports for ESPN since 2001, specializing in baseball and football.
Eric can be seen several times a week on ESPNEWS, hosts a national ESPN Radio show (Sundays from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET and is a weekly guest on numerous other shows. He appears frequently on ESPN.com's Fantasy Focus, is the host of the Baseball Today Podcast and contributes to ESPN The Magazine. He has also been honored twice as fantasy sports writer of the year by the Fantasy Sports Writer's Association, and this blog was named best fantasy baseball series for 2007.
Eric grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and accordingly, favors all Philly teams first, his fantasy teams second. He previously served as ESPN.com's lead NBA editor, and is a former Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer.