Braves donate Justin Upton to Padres for prospects

[The Chosen One]

Ehhhh. I just watched Walker pitch.

Unless he changes his mechanics this could be Matt Harvey TJ surgery written all over it.

[zitothebrave]

Ehhhh. I just watched Walker pitch.

Unless he changes his mechanics this could be Matt Harvey TJ surgery written all over it.

PRetty much every pitcher in baseball has TJ written all over them. THe re-emphasis of velocity has led to a lot of guys with more violent mechanics. In Walkers case it's the slow slow fast thing he does. There's no reason to stop mid-mechanics if you're doing it right.

WQhen you watch, Ryan, Seaver, Maddux, etc. They never stop their windup. It wastes massive amounts of power. My concern over walker isn't that he's a TJ case, my concern is he may be a Tommy Hanson case. That being said, we won't know until it happens. Until they he's an impressive young talent.

[BedellBrave]

No, its trading 2 excellent players who have 1 year left on their deals for future assets.

A point hard for some to wrap their minds around I suppose.

[thethe]

A point hard for some to wrap their minds around I suppose.

Apparently some people would rather see one more year of their favorite player and only get a late first round pick in return. Thats not how I want my baseball team run.

[yeezus]

Apparently some people would rather see one more year of their favorite player and only get a late first round pick in return. Thats not how I want my baseball team run.

Apparently some people would prefer we sign another aging vet to another poor contract instead of investing in our young, potential stars. That's not how I want my baseball run.

[thethe]

Apparently some people would prefer we sign another aging vet to another poor contract instead of investing in our young, potential stars. That's not how I want my baseball run.

You need to start rooting for another team if you are going to get upset every time they won't give 22-26M to a player.

Its strange to me that people believe that the Braves could afford Heyward considering the other albatross on the team.

And its not just signing an aging player, its signing him plus getting young high ceiling talent.

[yeezus]

You need to start rooting for another team if you are going to get upset every time they won't give 22-26M to a player.

Its strange to me that people believe that the Braves could afford Heyward considering the other albatross on the team.

And its not just signing an aging player, its signing him plus getting young high ceiling talent.

Every time? What are you talking about?
I might start rooting for another team if this organization continues to make bonehead decisions.
Too many albatross contracts! Let's add another! Come on down, Nick!

[BedellBrave]

Apparently some people would rather see one more year of their favorite player and only get a late first round pick in return. Thats not how I want my baseball team run.

And they'd bitch when he was gone ("should have signed him") and we are left with a draft pick. A no win situation for these fans with the budget restraints that the Braves are operating with.

[BedellBrave]

Apparently some people would prefer we sign another aging vet to another poor contract instead of investing in our young, potential stars. That's not how I want my baseball run.

Sign an aging vet + get two young pitchers +....

[COGPK]

We got Miller, Jenkins and Markakis for Heyward and Walden. So far, so good.

[MadduxFanII]

seems like national writers are saying 6 yrs of walker is too much to give up for 1 year of Jup

Then we just have to rely on Zdrucinek having less sense than national writers. I'm optimistic.

[Hawk]

I think most fans (those of us who don't blindly approve of every move the Front Office makes) just want to see the team win.

[Enscheff]

I think most fans (those of us who don't blindly approve of every move the Front Office makes) just want to see the team win.

This year, or over the next decade? I think it's pretty clear that had Heyward and JUp been kept for a run at the 2015 season, the Braves were going to be VERY bad for a VERY long time after they both left as FAs.

Converting those 2 short term assets into long term pieces is the key to the Braves organization being competitive for the next 5-10 years.

[bravesnumberone]

Given that it is still very early, once Justin is traded, that's two of our three best hitters gone and only one decent bat to replace him.

Yeah, we'd have great young pitching to keep us from being a bad team, but if we're not getting some serious offense, then all we'll be doing in 2017 and 2018 is getting back to where we're losing in the NLDS.

That's why some of us are very concerned.

I guess the thought of trading our two best outfielders and hardly even bothering with serious extension talks, while keeping the suck that is BJ, is annoying at best.

[Chico]

With the Mariners trading Saunders for Happ they have opened up that RF spot and solidified their rotation, and with the Braves signing Johnson and Markakis have made Upton and Carpenter available. This makes a lot of sense for both teams to get something done. It's also noteworthy that with Happ they'd have 3 lefties projected in the rotation. Maybe we're going after Paxton, which would allow us to flip Minor to a team like the Red Sox or Cubs for hitting.

[thethe]

This year, or over the next decade? I think it's pretty clear that had Heyward and JUp been kept for a run at the 2015 season, the Braves were going to be VERY bad for a VERY long time after they both left as FAs.

Converting those 2 short term assets into long term pieces is the key to the Braves organization being competitive for the next 5-10 years.

Not sure how this isn't understood and embraced by Braves fans.

[bravesnumberone]

With the Mariners trading Saunders for Happ they have opened up that RF spot and solidified their rotation, and with the Braves signing Johnson and Markakis have made Upton and Carpenter available. This makes a lot of sense for both teams to get something done. It's also noteworthy that with Happ they'd have 3 lefties projected in the rotation. Maybe we're going after Paxton, which would allow us to flip Minor to a team like the Red Sox or Cubs for hitting.

I'm picturing the board exploding when we trade Minor for Cespedes.

[mcollier]

I don't want Cespedes, but I don't mind trading Minor in the right deal. Maybe we could pry Mookie Betts away from the BoSawx?

[UNCBlue012]

I'm picturing the board exploding when we trade Minor for Cespedes.

Well... Peraza 2B, Markakis RF, Freeman 1B, Cespedes LF?, Gattis C, CJ 3B, Simba SS, BJ CF. Not TERRIBLE.

[Hawk]

I think it's pretty clear that had Heyward and JUp been kept for a run at the 2015 season, the Braves were going to be VERY bad for a VERY long time after they both left as FAs.

There's not really anything remotely 'clear' about that, though.

It curiously undervalues the draft picks we would have received, and discounts the fact that the Braves would have been flush with cash in 2016/2017 (dropping the commitments due to Justin/BJ/Jason/Uggla combined with a sizable increase in payroll headed into the new ballpark) for snagging some prime free agents.

I don't disapprove of the plan to trade Heyward/J. Upton, although I think it's been poorly executed so far. But it was really quite far from the only solution.