Two sides of the coin

Tampa Bay inherits two very young, very gifted outfielders who each had distinctly different 2011 seasons. Justin Upton first appeared as a teenage phenom for Arizona in 2007. In 2011 Upton demonstrated where his talents can take him by pounding 31 homers to go along with 21 steals. He was named to his second N.L. All-Star team and earned the Silver Slugger Award for his efforts. Jason Heyward debuted as a twenty year old and had an All-Star 2010 season with the promise of better things to come. Well 2011 was far from what many had pictured for Heyward. First came the nagging injuries, which led to altering his approach to the plate and the next thing you know the season is over and the final stats were not pretty. As the 2012 season approaches I feel pretty good having these two in the Rays clubhouse. Being an optimist I would like to think that I have 10 years of production ahead of me from this outfield duo. If Justin and Jason can both put together strong campaigns in 2012, the middle of the Tampa Bay lineup will be looking pretty good.