Bench Player to Star Player?

[Breakwood]

Bench utility player that came up clutch a few times as a Devil Ray, then slowly became a cornerstone of the defense, became a fairly consistant hitter, and made an All-Star Game. Er'body loves Zobrist down here.

Zobrist is an awesome choice, because of his versatility at many positions and has became a major cog in the Rays offense. Zorrilla is also one of my favorite Rays players as well.

Ben Zobrist is a star?

[Raysfan12]

Bench utility player that came up clutch a few times as a Devil Ray, then slowly became a cornerstone of the defense, became a fairly consistant hitter, and made an All-Star Game. Er'body loves Zobrist down here.

Zobrist is an awesome choice, because of his versatility at many positions and has became a major cog in the Rays offense. Zorrilla is also one of my favorite Rays players as well.

Ben Zobrist is a star?

He was a 2009 MLB All-Star and he's just so underrated compared to Evan Longoria.

[Fox]

I'd say Marco Scutaro for the Giants this past season. I don't think many expected him to have the postseason that he had (World Series MVP.) I know I didn't think much of it when he was acquired from the Rockies.

[FiddySicks]

I'd say Marco Scutaro for the Giants this past season. I don't think many expected him to have the postseason that he had (World Series MVP.) I know I didn't think much of it when he was acquired from the Rockies.

NLCS MVP. Pablo won World Series MVP.

[raysox]

I was saying Zobrist as a league wide star, but he has done his dues and earned a valid roster spot on the team.

[BigBubba]

Jose Bautista

I still find it fishy that he went from 13 home runs to 54 home runs in one year....

He was tested 16 times for PEDs last year (or 2011, can't remember).

EDIT: Whoops. Didn't even realize the date of his post.

[MDGP]

This thread is Boston Red Sox trade heaven.

1988, Baltimore picks up Brady Anderson (Not the point) and minor leaguer Curt Schilling, who becomes a starter for the Orioles right away. Obviously, Curt was no slouch and has had an arguably Hall of Fame Caliber career.

1990, at the trade deadline, the Houston Astros sent pitcher Larry Andersen to the Sox and nabbed third base prospect Jeff Bagwell. For the Sox, Bagwell was third on the depth chart and third base, and with Mo Vaughn at first, had no shot at playing. By 1991, Bagwell was a starter for the Astros and well on his way to a Hall caliber career.

Oh, what the 90's could have been.

One more...

2006, Marlins give the Red Sox Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell for prospect/sometimes bench player/sometimes starter Hanley Ramirez AND pitching prospect Annibal Sanchez. Those two players started pretty much right away, and have been pretty darn good.

[Joshawaggie]

David Ortiz. Got as far as platooning at DH with the Twins, but his style at the plate wasn't the "twins way", and he ended I in Boston.

[bosrs1]

Tom Brady was the backup to Drew Bledsoe that filled in during an injury and won the Super Bowl.

His favorite target Wes Welker was a Chargers cast off too.

[WizKid]

I'm not sure if this guy has been named yet but I think Doug Williams should be on this list. He went from third string QB for the Redskins to a Super Bowl MVP in the same season. If that's not a come up, them I don't know what is.

[bosrs1]

Bench utility player that came up clutch a few times as a Devil Ray, then slowly became a cornerstone of the defense, became a fairly consistant hitter, and made an All-Star Game. Er'body loves Zobrist down here.

Zobrist is an awesome choice, because of his versatility at many positions and has became a major cog in the Rays offense. Zorrilla is also one of my favorite Rays players as well.

Ben Zobrist is a star?

He was a 2009 MLB All-Star and he's just so underrated compared to Evan Longoria.

He's not a "star" though. Not a name most fans would know.

[raysfan24]

Bench utility player that came up clutch a few times as a Devil Ray, then slowly became a cornerstone of the defense, became a fairly consistant hitter, and made an All-Star Game. Er'body loves Zobrist down here.

Zobrist is an awesome choice, because of his versatility at many positions and has became a major cog in the Rays offense. Zorrilla is also one of my favorite Rays players as well.

Ben Zobrist is a star?

He was a 2009 MLB All-Star and he's just so underrated compared to Evan Longoria.

He's not a "star" though. Not a name most fans would know.

If your a baseball fan you know who he is.

[bosrs1]

Bench utility player that came up clutch a few times as a Devil Ray, then slowly became a cornerstone of the defense, became a fairly consistant hitter, and made an All-Star Game. Er'body loves Zobrist down here.

Zobrist is an awesome choice, because of his versatility at many positions and has became a major cog in the Rays offense. Zorrilla is also one of my favorite Rays players as well.

Ben Zobrist is a star?

He was a 2009 MLB All-Star and he's just so underrated compared to Evan Longoria.

He's not a "star" though. Not a name most fans would know.

If your a baseball fan you know who he is.

I'm a huge baseball fan. No clue who he was until you mentioned him. Couldn't even have told you what team he played for.

[B@ltim0r3R@v3n5]

I'm sorry but why would anybody start thabo sefoloshia over James harden let only trade James harden away and keep thabo

[FiddySicks]

Bench utility player that came up clutch a few times as a Devil Ray, then slowly became a cornerstone of the defense, became a fairly consistant hitter, and made an All-Star Game. Er'body loves Zobrist down here.

Zobrist is an awesome choice, because of his versatility at many positions and has became a major cog in the Rays offense. Zorrilla is also one of my favorite Rays players as well.

Ben Zobrist is a star?

He was a 2009 MLB All-Star and he's just so underrated compared to Evan Longoria.

He's not a "star" though. Not a name most fans would know.

If your a baseball fan you know who he is.

I'm a huge baseball fan. No clue who he was until you mentioned him. Couldn't even have told you what team he played for.

He's one helluva ball player. I don't follow the AL as much as the NL, but Zobrist is a scary guy to have to face.

I'm sorry but why would anybody start thabo sefoloshia over James harden let only trade James harden away and keep thabo

Money. I don't think many people think that Harden wasn't the best option, but when you're already paying a guy like Durant, it's just hard to find the financial flexibility to pencil in a guy like Harden too. It was a tough choice to deal him away, no doubt. But there's only so much money to go around.

[Kramerica Industries]

Ben Zobrist's value comes from the fact that he is an above-average defensive player at numerous different positions, and he's also a pretty solid hitter to boot. Excellent all-around player. But I think describing him as a scary guy to face (at the plate, presumably) is a bit much. As someone who watches probably 100+ Rays games per season, including 18 head-to-heads against my favorite team, I've never quite trembled in my boots when Ben Zobrist was at the plate. That honour usually belonged to Carlos Pena, or one of the schmucks like Sean Rodriguez and Elliot Johnson.

[Jigga]

I'm sorry but why would anybody start thabo sefoloshia over James harden let only trade James harden away and keep thabo

Straight cash, homey.

OKC traded Harden because Harden wasn't going to accept what OKC was willing to give him. OKC wasn't going to give Harden the salary he wanted. Simple as that.

[NEW.ERA]

Martin St Louis.

Anyone who is a Lightning fan will obviously back me on this. Passed over at every level of hockey, because of his size (5'9") He settled in at the University of Vermont, very solid College career led to nothing in the NHL till the Flames got a hold of him. Played extremely well in the AHL and finally earned a spot with the NHL club, was playing with Theo Fleury to start, someone who knows what St Louis went through being of the smaller stature. After Al Coates was fired, the new heads didn't seem to like where St Louis fit into the Flames system, even though he never played terrible.

He was subjected to the 2000 draft, again went unclaimed. So he signed with Tampa Bay a team he felt was the best fit for him. 13 years later and a giant middle finger to the Calgary Flames organization and the rest is history.

[rmackman]

Wes Welker in San Diego/Miami

Matt Geiger started out as Rony Seikaly's backup, later started, and became the main center for a good 76ers team down the road.

Ryan Grant as a NY Giant before being the starter in Green Bay

[dfwabel]

Wes Welker in San Diego/Miami

Matt Geiger started out as Rony Seikaly's backup, later started, and became the main center for a good 76ers team down the road.

Ryan Grant as a NY Giant before being the starter in Green Bay

Grant and Geiger were never All-League players in a season. They are not stars and never were.