Melvin

A

ATLBraves247

Arizona Fall Leaguer
Apparently he's found his stroke again, just watched him smash a walk off homer to beat the Yankees. After the game, Dontrelle Willis (Mr. Terrible Mechanics) said he hung out with him and he's finally healthy. He claimed during his time in ATL he didn't get along with coaching staff and received less playing time. I feel like ATL gave him every chance to succeed, seems kind of low of him to say that.
 
Three walk off home runs this season for Melvin Upton now
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He sucked in ATL, and they waited plenty long for him to figure things out.
 
ATLBraves247 said:
Apparently he's found his stroke again, just watched him smash a walk off homer to beat the Yankees. After the game, Dontrelle Willis (Mr. Terrible Mechanics) said he hung out with him and he's finally healthy. He claimed during his time in ATL he didn't get along with coaching staff and received less playing time. I feel like ATL gave him every chance to succeed, seems kind of low of him to say that.
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He's paid to play, not to necessarily get along with the coaching staff. He stunk and then pouted about it. Good riddance.
 
50PoundHead said:
He's paid to play, not to necessarily get along with the coaching staff. He stunk and then pouted about it. Good riddance.
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While all of this is true. He's not the first guy to be brought in, perform poorly, and then go back to hitting at previous levels once on another team. Just sucks that this keeps happening.
 
thewupk said:
While all of this is true. He's not the first guy to be brought in, perform poorly, and then go back to hitting at previous levels once on another team. Just sucks that this keeps happening.
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I think the thing with Melvin has to be put in context. In 2013, he got off to a horrific start. Schafer happened to have the best three months of his career while Melvin was struggling (and a bit banged up if I recall) and Fredi went with the hot hand until Schafer got injured and came crashing back to Earth.

Melvin was just a bad signing. More the length of contract than the annual AAV, but Wren bid against himself for a second-tier guy. Good for him that he's performing now, but he's paid to play baseball and not whine about the coaching.

And it's not just the Braves. There are countless examples of guys improving after a change of scenery. What I find hilarious is that Melvin is absolutely lapping his more heralded younger brother across the board this season.
 
thewupk said:
While all of this is true. He's not the first guy to be brought in, perform poorly, and then go back to hitting at previous levels once on another team. Just sucks that this keeps happening.
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Who are you referring to? I can only think of Melvin and Melky. Melky is known to have taken PEDs. I'm not sure what to say about Melvin. He basically sucked from day one. That's more of an indictment on him if anything.
 
ATLBraves247 said:
He claimed during his time in ATL he didn't get along with coaching staff and received less playing time. I feel like ATL gave him every chance to succeed, seems kind of low of him to say that.
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Despite all the setbacks to the organization that this whole ordeal caused, finding it hard to believe that he's making any complaints. In fact, he had been quoted as not blaming anybody but himself for his (lack of) performance. Good for him at turning things around now.
 
Wren bid against himself for a second-tier guy.
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BJhad averaged 4 WAR a season coming into free agency, I wouldn't call that "2nd tier" he sucked with us, that's not up for debate, but it's tough to blame anyone but BJ as GM's aren't psychic.
 
Knucksie said:
Despite all the setbacks to the organization that this whole ordeal caused, finding it hard to believe that he's making any complaints. In fact, he had been quoted as not blaming anybody but himself for his (lack of) performance. Good for him at turning things around now.
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Dontrelle stated this right after the game on fox sports 1. I didn't imagine that.
 
bravos4evr said:
BJhad averaged 4 WAR a season coming into free agency, I wouldn't call that "2nd tier" he sucked with us, that's not up for debate, but it's tough to blame anyone but BJ as GM's aren't psychic.
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When we signed him, he wasn't a top drawer guy and Wren gave an extra year and what is estimated as an additional $2 MM AAV over other bidders to get him signed. Bad move. Even with contract inflation, Melvin wasn't worth that. Add to that our fiscal constraints and I still count it as one of the most inexplicable moves made by Wren.
 
50PoundHead said:
When we signed him, he wasn't a top drawer guy and Wren gave an extra year and what is estimated as an additional $2 MM AAV over other bidders to get him signed. Bad move. Even with contract inflation, Melvin wasn't worth that. Add to that our fiscal constraints and I still count it as one of the most inexplicable moves made by Wren.
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Actually he was the #1 CF'er on the market and was worth, at the time of his signing, around $24m AAV due to his prior performance. We may have paid more than other teams offered, but considering his age, AAV and prior numbers , nobody who follows this stuff closely was alarmed by the deal. It looked like a pretty good deal at the time especially since he had yet to turn 30. I think some of this criticism is revisionist history. How was any GM to know he would fall off the map like that? Lately he seems to have righted the ship, and maybe that's because playing with his brother messed him up, or the team messed him up or Fredi sucks as a manager...etc Yes Bj underperformed (and that's putting it mildly) but, AT THE TIME IT WAS SIGNED, there is no way it was a bad deal.

edited to add: between 2007-2012 seasons (his 6 with the Rays) BJ was tied as the 4th most valuable CF'er in baseball amd 30th overall, that's a top tier guy
 
You can WAR this thing to death, but Melvin was not a top-tier guy and even if he were, Wren tacked on an extra year and went $2 MM AAV beyond what anyone else offered. Wren went beyond the market to sign Melvin. To say otherwise is revisionist history. If Melvin would have been judged to be worth more, someone would have matched or exceeded what Wren offered because Wren was operating within tighter budget constraints than either the Phillies or Nats, supposedly the two other teams in hot pursuit of Melvin.
 
chop2chip said:
Who are you referring to? I can only think of Melvin and Melky. Melky is known to have taken PEDs. I'm not sure what to say about Melvin. He basically sucked from day one. That's more of an indictment on him if anything.
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Reggie Sanders and Bret Boone belong on this list.
 
thewupk said:
While all of this is true. He's not the first guy to be brought in, perform poorly, and then go back to hitting at previous levels once on another team. Just sucks that this keeps happening.
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Does that not happen on every team?
 
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