Comments on: Luis Gonzalez says that Justin Upton didn’t provide leadership to the Diamondbacks

By: dexterismyhero

dexterismyhero — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:27:50 +0000

Correct and then he did the Brady Anserson and went for like 48 homers…..

By: tomemos

tomemos — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:31:19 +0000

klj58′s comment says it all, though maybe not intentionally. People get really frustrated with phenoms being erratic in their first few years; the better they’re supposed to be eventually, the more frustrating it is when they’re not amazing now. If you’re not a Dwight Gooden right out of the gate, fans and managers grumble. People in Arizona got impatient waiting for Upton to develop into what he could be, whereas Prado is a known quantity (never mind that as he ages his numbers will rapidly decline). The smart money is on AZ and its fans regretting that impatience.

By: klj58

klj58 — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 19:52:17 +0000

I agree with your statements about his inconsitency and as a DBack fan since day one have been hoping for him to break out and live up to the promise. I have no inside information to know how hard he worked or tried, just know that the results haven’t been there.

As far as the article and Gonzo stating he lacked leadership. The only place I see that word is in Craigs headline. The way I read it Gonzo essentially said he wasn’t a good fit right now. In addition I am sure he provided this quote as an answer to a question that was asked of him by someone in the media. I don’t see how responding to a question is going out of the way to put down the former player.

By: dfpoor

dfpoor — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 19:30:35 +0000

Lance Gonzalez has no shame, none whatsoever.

By: allzeroes

allzeroes — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:20:59 +0000

Yeah, Luis Gonzalez is so right. Upton should have just used some PEDs like Gonzalez did, then he would have had the right amount of grit to fit in. Gonzalez got a lucky fluke hit to win a world series (over a drawn in infield) and has been living off that ever since. Hey Luis: Shut up!

By: brandedthefirst

brandedthefirst — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:14:45 +0000

Gritty was the 2004 sox .. Gritty and Roid to the gills, but Gritty nonetheless!!

By: stairwayto7

stairwayto7 — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:22:08 +0000

Was that before or after Gonzo roided up?

By: 2077james

2077james — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:29:57 +0000

He doesn’t pull the race card. If you’d taken the time to read on you’d know that.

By: dbacksfan1012

dbacksfan1012 — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 07:58:06 +0000

I am just ashamed of how this organization has handled the Upton fiasco. He is finally traded, and the D’backs still bad mouth his work ethic. Meanwhile, Upton has remained silent despite the criticisms made against him. I think we all know who really has the character issues…

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 07:56:08 +0000

Haha I just did too

By: dtoms

dtoms — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 06:41:28 +0000

I stopped reading when you pulled the race card.

By: imthedudedude

imthedudedude — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 05:12:59 +0000

Well u gotta provide the juice! Help him out like we all know you can gonzo, damn ROID MONKEY! Shut up

By: imthedudedude

imthedudedude — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 05:07:18 +0000

Shut up Gonzo, ROID MONKEY!

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 04:34:40 +0000

We’re all buying the fact that your’e a ####, though.

By: conjecture101

conjecture101 — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 04:33:48 +0000

Tell em about the “D-Back Way” Luis! Tell em about the syringes in those lunch pails.

By: aarondommin

aarondommin — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 04:06:06 +0000

Well I’m concerned with more educated fans than people spewing ignorant comments about race and stereotypes. Simple fact is upton has NOT improved each season. He has taken steps forward as well as backward these last few seasons. All the while his salaries go up to points where quite honestly he’s not worth 12-15 million a year. He may at some point in the future be but all the evidence up until now contradicts that. The “Sabermetric” community has contradicted themselves on this trade as most of the numbers comparing Prado and upton point to Prado being the more valuable asset yet these guys use upton’s age and potential to prove their points that the Braves won the deal.

By: vallewho

vallewho — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:56:57 +0000

Someone should ask Gonzo how he hit 57 HRs in 2001. True-grit, I guess.

By: tomemos

tomemos — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:47:41 +0000

Of course Prado has better WAR over the last four years, he’s 29. He’s exiting his peak while Upton is entering his–who do you think will have better numbers over the next four years?

By: stex52

stex52 — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:29:17 +0000

Basic snark. But nothing personal.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 02:23:36 +0000

The BoSox ruin everything! Truthfully, they are really in a category by themselves.

By: indaburg

indaburg — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 01:19:43 +0000

I’d go along with you, but the Red Sox alone destroy the NL-thing theory.

By: jamaicanjasta

jamaicanjasta — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:38:22 +0000

Asking and expecting are two different things and honestly leadership in large part comes down to personality. Maybe that’s not the role he felt comfortable in doing, and contract size/years wouldn’t change that. Instead of berating him for what he wasn’t maybe the focus should have been on what he was. Again, it’s not like he was a bum player.

By: jamaicanjasta

jamaicanjasta — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:32:20 +0000

Aaron, have you seen the Twitter and Facebook comments on this? Where some of the things DBacks fans have called him a ‘headcase’, ‘selfish’, ‘thief’ and ‘lazy’? Or even the comments on this topic mentioning how he’s ‘a punk without leadership skills’? Or frankly all of the comments coming from the team itself including using grit and blue collar as backhanded insults?

Many teams have traded star players that they may have felt didn’t fit their idea for the future direction of their franchise, but outside of Dickey and the Mets, I can’t recall a team in recent memory going so far out of their way to insult a former player. For example, all of this mention of ‘leadership’ or lack thereof, why does that matter for a guy who DID do well in Arizona. He may not have been the generational player I’m sensing DBacks fans expected him to be, but it’s not like he was a bum either.

By: aarondommin

aarondommin — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:20:09 +0000

The guy was a 5 year veteran with the richest contract on the team heading into the 2012 season. Asking him to be the leader comes with the territory.

By: aarondommin

aarondommin — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:15:30 +0000

I dont hear sour grapes from Dbacks fans at all. Martin Prado has had a better WAR than Upton over the last 4 years combined plus last year alone. Throw in Delgado for depth in the rotation and the fans I talk to are happy. Sure the Seattle offer was better but by all accounts they were overpaying and it was worth a shot to negotiate with them in case Upton really did want out of Arizona then that was his chance. This Upton fiasco grew to be a distraction and as management has said he wasn’t a leader in the clubhouse so what are the Diamondbacks actually missing in 2013 without Upton that they had in 2012 with Upton? .280/.355/.430 with 107 runs. Cody Ross will replace 90% of that. If Upton fulfills his potential more power to him. In six years in the desert it didnt happen.

By: cur68

cur68 — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:47:15 +0000

Kid’s there to play baseball not lead a marching band. Given his line over the 6 seasons of his career he’s done that baseball playing at a high level. He’ll get better as he enters his middle and late 20′s, too. I’m pretty sick of hearing from the D-Backs on this topic. They sound like they think they might have made a mistake and are trying to think up reasons why they didn’t. They’d have done better if they’d shut their fool heads about J-Up.

Meanwhile, he hasn’t said anything about any of this so far. I hope he continues to take the high road and let his bat do the talking.

By: jamaicanjasta

jamaicanjasta — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:03:32 +0000

The problem outside observers have with the Diamondbacks (both the organization and some of their more vocal fans) is that instead of just trading Upton and wishing him well, they’ve been sniping him 24/7 since the trade. Coupled with the anger from some D-Back fans expressed about Upton blocking the Seattle deal (why should he go to a team on his no trade list to help Arizona when apparently the organization didn’t think highly of him) just sounds like sour grapes.

By: kinggw

kinggw — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:48:50 +0000

The D’backs should just shut up. There is nothing they can say to make the deal plausible from their end. They did a nice job getting Prado, but the rationale behind dealing Upton stinks and is getting worse by the minute.

Leadership? I didn’t know teams counted on 24 year olds to provide leadership when there are several veterans over 30 on the roster. If true, that speaks more to a problem with Gibson and Towers than Upton or any other D’backs.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:46:50 +0000

Anyone who says “playing the race card” is, in fact, playing the race card.

By: aarondommin

aarondommin — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:40:30 +0000

Justin Upton never progressed the way EVERYbody expected. The media is interpreting that as the Diamondback organization is calling him a lazy player when in fact its clear they just wasn’t happy with him as a human. He IS moody, he IS inconsistent, he DOES make excuses for his lack of production (oblique, 2010, thumb in 2012) and just because he has a ton of potential the Diamondbacks were supposed to (starting in 2013) pay 8 figures for a player not living up to his potential AND not helping lead the younger guys? If Upton had another down year the organization was screwed owing about 30 million to this guy for 2014 and 2015 even though he’s had 1 really good season in 2011?