Quote:
Originally Posted by HometownHero
The Braves better hope Upton can hit away from Chase Field or this trade will hurt them, last year Prado had a better OPS+ 114 to 107. I like this deal from the D-Backs side if they get the extension signed like they expect.
It opens up some money dropping Upton and Chris Johnson contracts. They had too many OF and needed a good 3B now they have one in Prado who is a +23 at 3rd vs Johnosn who is a -41 and now a good hitter in Martin Prado gets to hit in a hitter park and make more trips to Coors while not being too effected by LA, SD and SF due to not relying on power but average.
The Braves now lose Chipper and his line of .287/.377/.455/.832 form 112 games and turn to a Johnson and Juan Francisco platoon which is a major downgrade. Chipper walked 57 times and stuck out 51 in 387 AB while in 2012 Johnson had 528 AB and walked 31 times to 132 SO and JF added 11 walks and 70 K's in 192 AB. Also while on the lost walks and fewer SO train last year Prado had 58 walks to 69 SO while J Upton had 63 and 121 and the loss of Bourn takes away walks while keeping the SO rate high with BJ Upton replacing him so that will no doubt be an issue for Atlanta next year.
Randall Delgado is about to turn 23 and already has 24 starts under his belt with a ERA under 4, and was a Top-50 prospect before losing his status due to service time. Got another good SS prospect as protection on Gregorius, a innings eater #4 which has value especially with as much as SP is getting and a young raw infielder.
Atlanta added some name value getting the Upton's but they haven't improved their team unless playing together make's then both better on the field. Seattle was the better trade from a prospect POV but when Upton vetoed the trade it hurt their options and still came out nice with 2 MLB players and 3 prospects for a played they wanted to moved badly which should be a red flag on Upton. So if any of these 3 prospects make it to the majors or get moved for a MLB player Its a win for the Snakes getting 3 big league players for one.
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Good breakdown of the trade. I tend to agree with you, but Uptons age is a big factor for me. Here's why- entering his 25 year old season, he theoretically still has room for improvement. If the Braves get him at his near 900 OPS level like he played at ages 21 and 23, this is a good trade for them. If he does get better, you're possibly looking at a guy OPSing around 950 to 1000. Of course that point is moot if you're correct about the eagerness to trade him being a red flag.
I'm pretty sure I also saw Rosenthal mention that one of the prospects they got was someone the Tigers wanted, and they were going to flip him for Porcello.