Arizona Diamondbacks Owner Rips His Players
The defending National League West champion Arizona Diamondbacks are off to a rough start this year. They currently sit four games under .500 with a 26-30 record. With the Diamondbacks nine games out of the division lead frustrations in the desert are mounting.
Arizona managing general partner Ken Kendrick went on a rant in which he took on shortstop Stephen Drew and right fielder Justin Upton in an interview on Prostopreps.com.
He questioned Drew’s commitment to returning to the field this season and calling Upton an “enigma.”
Drew is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment for Class AAA Reno on Thursday after suffering ankle and ligament damage last July 20.”I think Stephen should have been out there playing by now. I for one am disappointed,” Kendrick said.
“I’m going to be real candid and say Stephen and his representatives are more focused on where he is going to be a year from now than going ahead and supporting the team that is paying his salary. All you can do is hope that the player is treating the situation with integrity. We have our concerns.”
The Diamondbacks are paying Drew $7.75 million this season and the sides have a mutual $10 million option with a $1.35 million buyout for 2013, and it doesn’t sound as if Kendrick would be willing to pick up the option.
Drew’s agent Scott Boras said Kendrick’s suggestion that Drew was focused on free agency “makes no sense.”
Upton finished fourth in the NL MVP voting last season is now hitting .243 with five home runs and 20 RBIs this season.
“I think Justin is an enigma at this point,” Kendrick said on Prostopreps.com. “I know he had an injury. It was something of a nagging injury, but he’s played.
“He’s certainly not the Justin Upton he has been in the past, and we would expect of him. He’s 24 years old. It’s time for him to be a consistent performer, and he’s not been that.”



