Rays center fielder B.J. Upton has emerged as an alternative to those who won’t be able to acquire Carlos Beltran. According to a source close to Jen Royle, the Phillies and Rays could be working on a deal that would send Upton to Philadelphia.

Royle addsthat the Phillies insist they’re not interested in Upton, and adds that the Rays aappear to be  interested in Domonic Brown. Buster Olney of ESPN speculates that Philadelphia could be a great place for Upton, although his strikeoutscould be a problem for how the Phillies lineup functions.

Upton is under team control through 2012, but that only means that the team who acquires him will have to surrender more prospects.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.