I am going to have to admit, I am pretty tired this morning.
Last night was the playoffs of my Team Trivia league, and it was a long night for a Tuesday.
Like the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, we finished in second place and earned a silver medal.
While we didn’t accomplish our ultimate goal of finishing first, I will take solace in the fact that we finished ahead of a team that had a girl who was on Jeopardy! on their squad.
As a matter of fact, the girl (Amy) was on Jeopardy! the last two nights! We were watching her on Jeopardy! last night as the trivia was going on.
I think she tried to use it as an intimidation tactic, but it was all for naught. My team had the focus of a member of the Cobra Kai dojo.
Sticking with teams from the snake family, the Arizona Diamondbacks were playing a game of trivia of their own yesterday. The trivia question was should we sign OF Justin Upton to an extension, and how much should we give him?
How about that for a segue, kids?
The Diamondbacks answered that question rather quickly. The answer was yes and $51.25 million.
According to multiple sources, the Diamondbacks signed Upton to a six-year, $51.25 million contract extension yesterday. The deal buys out two free agent years for Upton.
I am sure the money will be broken out over the six years in different ways, but this deal averages out to around $8.5 million a year for Upton. I think this is a pretty fair deal for both sides.
Upton, 22, had a breakout year last for the Diamondbacks. In 138 games, Upton hit .300 with 26 home runs, 30 doubles, seven triples, 20 stolen bases, and an .899 OPS and played solid defense, posting a 7.4 UZR in right field.
What’s pretty interesting is that Upton’s breakout year of 2009 is eerily similar to his brother’s breakout season of 2004.
B.J. Upton (who I wrote about yesterday ) hit .300 with 24 home runs, 22 stolen bases, 25 doubles, and an .894 OPS in 129 games in 2004. As Kramer would say, “You just blew my mind.”
Of course, the Diamondbacks are hoping Justin takes a different path than B.J. has since his breakout season. If Justin Upton takes his own path and becomes a perennial MVP candidate like I think he will, then this deal will be a steal for the Diamondbacks.
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