Melvin Upton rumor from Peter Gammons

I'm not really sure about the veracity of this. Gammons really doesn't get around on the fastball any more.

At the very least, I'd say the timing is curious. He's been far more productive in the last month than he has been. Why now? Perhaps Mel is a bargain at $5m and the GM is looking for a deal and wants to depress the price?

If he makes just a little more contact, I like him in Atlanta. When he's hitting, he hits the dog**** out of the ball. Love his speed.
 
Gammons hasn't really been on anything for several years now (other than likely a ton of medication); I'd take what he says with a grain of salt... and then ignore it completely.
 
Only way any team takes on BJ Upton is if the Braves pay close to 100 percent of his remaining contract.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
Only way any team takes on BJ Upton is if the Braves pay close to 100 percent of his remaining contract.
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Not true at all.

BJ has been much better in the past couple months.

And who replaces BJ, Schafer whose dogcrap?
 
Heyward said:
Not true at all.

BJ has been much better in the past couple months.

And who replaces BJ, Schafer whose dogcrap?
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This is about as well as BJ will do the rest of his career. No power and minimal batting ability all together. The only GM who would pay BJ Upton 15 something million a season has already done so.

Nobody is bailing Wren out on his latest bad contract.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
This is about as well as BJ will do the rest of his career. No power and minimal batting ability all together. The only GM who would pay BJ Upton 15 something million a season has already done so.

Nobody is bailing Wren out on his latest bad contract.
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You're probably right, but you know Mel had an OBP of .385 his first 1200 at bats in the league, right?

Not saying he's capable of that now, but he's capable of more.

BJ is an interesting case. He, and his brother, are very sensitive introverts, I think. He stays in his own head and I think it hurts him. And he's sensitive, though he would never let on publicly - that would mean he isn't "hard." He performs better when he feels wanted and appreciated, and his manager gave him some grace - no other way to say it - by bumping him to leadoff, and he's responded better than anyone thought he could.

I think there's more in there. Fredi might be the right manager for him, and our very forgiving media might suit him, as well.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
This is about as well as BJ will do the rest of his career. No power and minimal batting ability all together. The only GM who would pay BJ Upton 15 something million a season has already done so.

Nobody is bailing Wren out on his latest bad contract.
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One more thing. Regarding Wren and his "latest bad contract" - Mark Bradley is right. There's a difference between a bad decision and a bad result. Uggla just lost it. No way that should have been that bad a decision. While right now The BJ contract looks bad, what if he goes .260/.330/.470 with 25% Ks, 30 bags, 100 runs and good defense the rest of the way?

That's incremental progress, but achievable, I think. And then the deal looks OK. Not a bargain, but you don't get those in free agency.
 
I can't think of any team who would take B.J. considering what's left of his contract and the production he has made in the life of that deal so far.
 
CrimsonCowboy said:
I can't think of any team who would take B.J. considering what's left of his contract and the production he has made in the life of that deal so far.
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No, it's a bad bet. But he may be better for us going forward. He's hit a lot of balls hard, particularly in the last six weeks. Makes a bit more contact, he's a useful player. Probably not a $15m player, but a nice player.
 
Even during the playoff run of the 90s, Gammons was way off or way late on most important news. Smoltz especially could tell you stories.

Don't know how true it is in 2014, but Dave Nightengale was much more dialed into the Cox/Schuerholz/Kasten think tank.
 
I don't buy it. There's so many reasons that this doesn't make any sense right now. Sounds like Gammons trying to stir things up.
 
GovClintonTyree said:
One more thing. Regarding Wren and his "latest bad contract" - Mark Bradley is right. There's a difference between a bad decision and a bad result. Uggla just lost it. No way that should have been that bad a decision. While right now The BJ contract looks bad, what if he goes .260/.330/.470 with 25% Ks, 30 bags, 100 runs and good defense the rest of the way?

That's incremental progress, but achievable, I think. And then the deal looks OK. Not a bargain, but you don't get those in free agency.
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It was a bad decision to sign BJ Upton to this contract. From the get go I said this.

He had two good seasons in 07 and 08. Essentially his first two seasons in the big leagues. I think one of his last seasons in Tampa he hit like 27 homers, but the average and OBP were pretty awful. I think it's safe to say his best years happened when he cracked the bigs. He hasn't had even an average season since then. Anyone expecting him to return to the 08 BJ Upton was kidding themselves. His production levels have dropped almost annually since then. Trending down like he has should not surprise anyone.
 
CrimsonCowboy said:
I can't think of any team who would take B.J. considering what's left of his contract and the production he has made in the life of that deal so far.
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I think he is a good buy low candidate for an AL team. BJ's problem isn't physical, its all mental. I could see a team like the Jays paying a few mill to see if they can get him going. As seen with Bautista one minor fix can make a big difference.

I don't think they would make a move like this without a plan for someone other than Schafer to play cf. Maybe Gattis to left.
 
Heyward could play center. I doubt they want him to do it long term because of wear and tear, but he'd probably be fine for half a year.

So Heyward to center, Upton to right, Gattis could play left, Bethancourt/Laird catching.

I doubt they're trying desperately to unload him though. Maybe they made some inquiries, but that's not the same as being desperate. Maybe if they're lying about Gattis's injury and it really will prevent him from playing catcher, but hasn't he already been doing so in the minors?

I still don't believe it though.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
It was a bad decision to sign BJ Upton to this contract. From the get go I said this.

He had two good seasons in 07 and 08. Essentially his first two seasons in the big leagues. I think one of his last seasons in Tampa he hit like 27 homers, but the average and OBP were pretty awful. I think it's safe to say his best years happened when he cracked the bigs. He hasn't had even an average season since then. Anyone expecting him to return to the 08 BJ Upton was kidding themselves. His production levels have dropped almost annually since then. Trending down like he has should not surprise anyone.
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He had a poor 2009. But from 2010-2012 he had WRC+'s of 107, 113, and 108. Those are above average seasons. Nobody was expect BJ Upton from 2007. They were expecting the BJ Upton from 2010-2012. And that was a pretty good player. Above average hitter, good defender, and great base running. Sign me up.
 
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