Braves donate Justin Upton to Padres for prospects

[chop2chip]

I'll preface this by saying that my preference was 100% to extent Justin. I don't know why we didn't, I'm sure it could've been done.

However, as far as the trade goes, I really don't know what you guys expected. Someone mentioned it's similar to the package we sent FOR JUp, but I don't agree at all. That package included an up-and-down ML player that needed a contract (Prado) and two INFs outside the BA top 100 (at the time, think Drury might be in now) for three (3) years of Upton. We just traded ONE year of Upton for a more desirable package than that.

If we weren't going to extent him, one year of Upton does us no good except a comp. pick, and to say that comp. pick is worth more than any guys in this deal is a HUGE stretch. Like, a stretch the most flexible gymnast can't make.

I also thinks this betters our situation with CJ. If he starts hitting and a contender wants him, it's easy to deal him now. If he's terrible again, I really think we will DFA him and roll with Peterson or Kubitza.

Prospects is a numbers game. Even really highly-touted prospects flame out (MANY people are down on Wil Myers right now, for a plethora of reasons). The four guys we just got all have good-to-great upsides. Our farm is very well re-stocked and it was barren before this off-season. I'm still not a fan of the Heyward trade, because I personally would have made every effort to extent him because I think he will take off value-wise. However, other than extenting Justin, this is probably the 2nd best outcome, IMO. I trust our guys if they really like Fried, which they clearly do.

Well put.

The worst part of the trade is that we can't keep who we are giving up. That's disappointing.

[CyYoung31]

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

Well, apparently Fredi has more input on personel now...yeah...

[dak]

What makes him significantly better than Pastor?

I'm admittedly just starting to learn about all these prospects, but from everything I'm reading, Jace is a better hitter, better defender, and better baserunner than Pastornicky.

[Metaphysicist]

Look guys....Max Fried is a top flight pitching prospect. The guy could be special. it sucks he's out this year but he has clear front line potential and will come quick once he's healthy. If he didn't get hurt there's a very good chance we don't get a guy like him for a rental.

I disagree that Fried will "come fast." He lacked a lot of polish before he got hurt; essentially, I see his absolute best case time table as this:

2015: out all year
2016: split between A+/AA (this is optimistic for a recovery year with a guy who hasn't pitched above Low-A)
2017: AA/AAA
2018: AAA/MLB

So we are talking about a dude who is gonna be useful 4 years down the road, if at all.

I'm happy to have him, but we should be realistic here.

[yeezus]

And all those that were begging for Taijuan Walker: Would I have taken him? Yup. Is he a sure bet? Far from it. Still walks a lot of guys, and has had injury issues of his own in the past. Again: Fried would not have been available if he were healthy. That's not something we can just throw away. Lucas Giolito had TJ a couple years ago and has completely regained, actually IMPROVED, his prospect status. Fried has similar upside and is a similar scenario to Giolito a few years ago.

[yeezus]

Another thing I will complain about, though: this makes the Markakis deal, which made no sense at the time, make even less sense and I didn't think that was possible. I wish we didn't sign him, and it makes me question this FO that we did.

[Deester11]

And all those that were begging for Taijuan Walker: Would I have taken him? Yup. Is he a sure bet? Far from it. Still walks a lot of guys, and has had injury issues of his own in the past. Again: Fried would not have been available if he were healthy. That's not something we can just throw away. Lucas Giolito had TJ a couple years ago and has completely regained, actually IMPROVED, his prospect status. Fried has similar upside and is a similar scenario to Giolito a few years ago.

Very scary. I'm agreeing to your sensible posts today! Now about the message board naysayers......meh.

[Metaphysicist]

Seriously? My guess is 0 MLB scouts/evaluators would agree that Fried is equal to Scott Diamond.

Yeah, that's... a bad comparison. To say the least.

[yeezus]

I'm admittedly just starting to learn about all these prospects, but from everything I'm reading, Jace is a better hitter, better defender, and better baserunner than Pastornicky.

Yes, he is across the board better than Pastor.

[yeezus]

Our strategy a couple offseasons ago was to build with power hitters, mmmboppers. Looks like we're shifting to mmmslappers.

[Metaphysicist]

Fried has similar upside and is a similar scenario to Giolito a few years ago.

Mmm... I don't think it is accurate to say that Fried has similar upside to Giolito. They were teammates in high school and no one every got confused about which guy was in the running for going first overall in the draft.

[yeezus]

Mmm... I don't think it is accurate to say that Fried has similar upside to Giolito. They were teammates in high school and no one every got confused about which guy was in the running for going first overall in the draft.

Giolito has better upside, but I would still say overall their upsides aren't far off, and Fried is a lefty.

[yeezus]

I really need to take a **** but my office internet goes off in 5 minutes and I can't miss this stuff.
Appreciate my dedication.

[holden]

It's crazy how ridiculous the posters on this board have gotten. It's sad to see this site going downhill as fast as it is. Very few people have anything intelligent to say, and nearly everyone just complains.

What are you talking about? I see plenty of intelligent discussion about the merits of the trade. Not being thrilled doesn't make it dumb.

[emk418]

A very underwhelming deal. Obviously high hopes for Fried and Dustin, not as much for the other 2.

In a deal with the padres, Renfroe would have been a requirement with Fried.

Respectfully....I completely disagree. Two of my favorite pieces in this are Jace and Mallex. But Fried is obviously the ultimate deciding factor in the deal.

[Hawk]

Jon Morosi
@jonmorosi
One AL exec's reaction to A.J. Preller's moves: "Exactly what the Padres needed."

[emk418]

Another thing I will complain about, though: this makes the Markakis deal, which made no sense at the time, make even less sense and I didn't think that was possible. I wish we didn't sign him, and it makes me question this FO that we did.

Agreed. I'm fine with the rebuild and fine with this trade as long as Fried is healthy. Even though I like Markakis and think he's a solid addition....he makes no sense in a complete rebuild.

[yeezus]

Jon Morosi
@jonmorosi
One AL exec's reaction to A.J. Preller's moves: "Exactly what the Padres needed."

They were dead and needed a shot in the arm.
They got a shot in a heart, like in Pulp Fiction.

[bravesnumberone]

Another thing I will complain about, though: this makes the Markakis deal, which made no sense at the time, make even less sense and I didn't think that was possible. I wish we didn't sign him, and it makes me question this FO that we did.

This is my chief complaint with this trade. Hart does not have a consistent vision. We've traded two of our best players to build back up what was destroyed. But we have yet to eliminate neither any of our real problems and we are wasting a four year contract on someone who doesn't fit what we are supposed to be going for here. Also I think a guy like Gattis could have brought someone back that would help us immediately.

[Metaphysicist]

I gotta break from the the groupthink here. I don't mind the Markakis signing. $10m is ashtray money these days, and somebody's gotta play in the outfield. Markakis is a decent bet to be a solid enough dude out there, and I'd like to not be God-awful across the board as we rebuild.

If $10m is the difference between us being contenders in 2017, then it wasn't gonna happen anyway.