The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded disappointing outfielder Carlos Quentin to the Chicago White Sox for first-base prospect Chris Carter. The 26-year-old Quentin, a former first-round pick with excellent minor-league credentials (.313/.413/.527 in nearly 1600 PA), never got his career rolling in Phoenix (.230/.316/.425 in about 450 PA), due in part to injuries.

Nate Silver ran a piece the other day at Baseball Prospectus re-examining his earlier look at the 50 most valuable long-term commodities in baseball. He offers thoughts on biggest risers (including Justin Upton, about whom he correctly notes that “age is everything, and for a 19-year-old to come this far this fast is very special”), biggest fallers (comparing Jason Bay’s career path to that of Bobby Higginson), and his “very preliminary, off-the-cuff, subject-to-change, pre-PECOTA Top 20″ for next year.
Read the full article for all the details, but here are Silver’s projected top pitchers for 2008-2013. See if you can figure …read more

Well, okay, maybe not worlds. But with the way Justin Upton is destroying pitchers, it’s only a matter of time before he sets his sights on the planets.
B.J.’s little brother, the first pick overall in the 2000 draft, is batting .325/.386/.775 in 11 games at Double-A Mobile since being promoted from Visalia. He hit “only” .341/.433/.540 in 32 California League games.
Wait, here’s the scary part: Upton is 19 years old.
Uh, I could make pretty mean arm farts when I was that age. Not that there’s anything wrong with arm farts, but wow. Presumably Upton can’t maintain his current pace (.450 …read more