Braves donate Justin Upton to Padres for prospects

[BRule]

THIS REBUILDING AND STOCKPILING PLAN FITS SO PERFECTLY WITH THE MARKAKIS SIGNING WOOOOOOOOOOO

[MadduxFanII]

I would be so much more on board with this and the entire re-build if we hadn't given Markakis that silly contract.

[weso1]

I'm pretty happy with the deal. I guess I wasn't expecting a ton for Upton since he's only got one year left. But I think Coppy bought low on Fried and came away with a couple of players at least that have a decent chance to start for us in the outfield and infield. Obviously a deal for an absolute stud prospect wasn't going to happen, but I think this is the next best thing.

[mcollier]

BJ Upton is very athletic. Glad he is still on the team.

I am REALLY trying to be positive, here, but I wonder if the pressure of playing on a team with his more talented brother got to BJ. Is it possible that his game improves now that Justin is gone?

I know I am grasping at straws. I am trying to find a reason to have any hope at all for the Braves in 2015.

[chop2chip]

Which statement counts as the second part? The TOR potential being lower? That's just the natural consequence of being an A-ball pitcher with control problems. There is a loooooong way between those guys and acedom, and the vast majority of them don't make it. Tacking on the 20% chance he doesn't even make it back to his original abilities only makes it worse.

Well if he gets back to what he was before, as you qualified, then isn't he just as likely as before to reach his potential?

Even without the injury, it still is unlikely he reaches his potential, but aside from the 80% success rate with TJ he seems just as likely to reach that as before. Unless you think there is added risk for lost time, but even then there isn't much evidence that is even true.

[Millwood1Hitter]

I have to say that I have been a big supporter of Hart and the FO and agreed with the premise to tear this thing down and rebuild for the future, specifically 2017 and beyond by replenishing the minor league system and a few other moves to fill in with MLB talent or veterans to fill positions of need in the present and the future, all the while taking some chances on guys that had down years and rebuild their value and possibly contend in the short term or move for more pieces.

All this being said, color me unimpressed by most of the moves that have been made so far. Hope that it works out though.

[Julio3000]

I think there's a cryptic message here. "Max Dorian Fried" is an anagram for "Ordain Max Fredi." Hopefully we're saving money to extent our manager.

[zbhargrove]

To what extent must one go to extend a player? See the difference????

Board joke... how have you not gotten this by now?

[Dalyn]

I think there's a cryptic message here. "Max Dorian Fried" is an anagram for "Ordain Max Fredi." Hopefully we're saving money to extent our manager.

He probably wishes they would've let Wren fire him right about now.

[rico43]

Ah. I understand. You have to admit, this is a disappointing haul after speculating that Hart was masterfully playing the field to get max value out of Justin. And that's on top of the overall confusion regarding the Mukaki Rebuild. We still have EVERY problematic player, our cuntrod manager, and we've lost our best offensive player and our player with the most potential. This has every chance of spiraling into a decade of frustration.

DECADE? Unbelievable. You were obviously not around during the last actual decade of frustrtation (1980-90).

[Enscheff]

I am REALLY trying to be positive, here, but I wonder if the pressure of playing on a team with his more talented brother got to BJ. Is it possible that his game improves now that Justin is gone?

I know I am grasping at straws. I am trying to find a reason to have any hope at all for the Braves in 2015.

Haha, it's going to be pretty tough to be a Braves fan in 2015, and probably much longer. The return for JUp was awful, and the Braves will be fighting the Phils for last place next year. Fried is injured with a #2 ceiling, and none of the other guys in the package have any real shot at being serious contributors for a championship caliber club.

I have no idea how Hart was unable to get one of Renfro or Liriano for JUp. It's not like the Padres need both in the system now that they have 30 corner OFers on the MLB roster.

Most underwhelming trade I've seen as a Braves fan since 1991.

[COGPK]

This is not unlike the Teixeira deal. only we get the prospects. Nobody knows how the players will do. But, if ONE of them is decent, it is better than one year of Upton for 14 million on a team that finishes third.

[Metaphysicist]

Well if he gets back to what he was before, as you qualified, then isn't he just as likely as before to reach his potential?

Even without the injury, it still is unlikely he reaches his potential, but aside from the 80% success rate with TJ he seems just as likely to reach that as before. Unless you think there is added risk for lost time, but even then there isn't much evidence that is even true.

He will have lost two crucial years of development and have an arm that is more likely to break down again.

[Metaphysicist]

This is not unlike the Teixeira deal. only we get the prospects.

In the same way that pumpkin pie is like corn pie.

[Dalyn]

DECADE? Unbelievable. You were obviously not around during the last actual decade of frustrtation (1980-90).

Ending the season 3rd for a decade might not be as frustrating as ending it in the cellar for a decade, but it will still be frustrating. And I said a CHANCE, which this clearly has.

[mcollier]

Haha, it's going to be pretty tough to be a Braves fan in 2015, and probably much longer. The return for JUp was awful, and the Braves will be fighting the Phils for last place next year. Fried is injured with a #2 ceiling, and none of the other guys in the package have any real shot at being serious contributors for a championship caliber club.

I have no idea how Hart was unable to get one of Renfro or Liriano for JUp. It's not like the Padres need both in the system now that they have 30 corner OFers on the MLB roster.

Most underwhelming trade I've seen as a Braves fan since 1991.

I've followed them since the summer of 1990, and it's the first time I have not felt optimistic about a season. I may save the $130 next year too, and watch them on ESPN and the Fox networks a few times.

[dak]

Quantity vs quality. The Braves are barren of minor league depth and they wanted to fill it back up as quickly as possible. I think that is the wrong approach. They should have targeted players with high upside that could make a major impact. None of these guys do this unless they hit their 1% ceiling.

I generally agree with the quality over quantity theorem, but context is required. Getting a top 10 prospect like Tijuan Walker back alone for Justin would have been a better return, IMO. For the record, I have never felt that 1 year of a 3 WAR player at $14.5m was worth a top 10 prospect. However, if you judge the Braves' 4 player return against, say, the #25 or #50 propsect, I think it's more or a toss-up.

I think the Braves got a fair return, and it's a return that works better for them than some other teams given the nature of their system.

[chop2chip]

Keith Law PRIOR to 2014, Padres top 10:

3 - Fried
6 - D. Petersen
11 - J. Petersen

Padres 9th best system overall.

Obviously things change over the course of a year, but that sounds okay. Not great, but a realistic return for a 1 year rental.

[thethe]

Keith Law PRIOR to 2014, Padres top 10:

3 - Fried
6 - D. Petersen
11 - J. Petersen

Padres 9th best system overall.

Obviously things change over the course of a year, but that sounds okay. Not great, but a realistic return for a 1 year rental.

FOr a one year rental I think thats a pretty damn good return.

[Enscheff]

This reminds me of one of those Murph trade proposals where he is trying to get a stud player from another team and just starts tacking on more and more fringe prospects until the sheer weight of all those bodies makes up for the lack of talent.

We all laugh at him, but this time the Braves are on the **** end of a Murph trade...