Rays Upton has surgery on left shoulder. Tampa Bay center fielder B.J. Upton had surgery on his left shoulder this week and the Rays expect him to be ready by opening day.
Dr. James Andrews did the surgery Tuesday, Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.
“We don’t have too much of an update other than to say we expect him to be ready during spring training and be in a position to be in our opening day lineup,” Friedman said during a conference call Wednesday.
Upton played much of the season with a sore shoulder – he throws right-handed – that affected his offensive production. He batted .288 with seven homers and 16 RBIs for the AL champions during the postseason.
The 24-year-old hit .273 with just nine home runs in 531 at-bats during the regular season.
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Athletics claim 2B Chen off waivers.
The Oakland Athletics claimed second baseman Yung Chi Chen off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old prospect had spent the last five seasons in the Mariners organization. In 2008, he made 47 starts at second base and 20 at third with Tacoma of the Pacific Coast League before suffering a season-ending right knee injury.
Before tearing his meniscus, Chen batted .249 with three home runs and 25 RBI in 69 games with Tacoma.
He competed for Chinese Taipei in the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
