Pondering Justin Upton in Atlanta
July 11, 2012 at 5:18 pm by David Lee under Atlanta Braves
Buster Olney tweeted a suggestion of Justin Upton to the Braves, starting with a package of Martin Prado and pitching. Keep in mind, this is only a suggestion and not an actual rumor.
The entire baseball community has been licking its chops and dreaming of having Upton in its lineup, and the Braves would certainly benefit from having a talent like that in the middle of the order, but the reality is trading the farm for Upton doesn’t solve the Braves’ problems. Maybe a year ago, but things change.
The Diamondbacks hinted that they would want quality major leaguers in return, as they are trying to win now, so a package starting with Prado and filling out with prospects may not be what they are looking for (if they are even trying to trade him in the first place). And yes, as Buster said in a follow-up tweet, Upton’s control would benefit the Braves in replacing Michael Bourn, but the Braves are attempting to win this year, and adding Upton to what is already the best outfield in baseball may not get them over the hump. If the Braves are serious about a playoff run, as they should be, the team’s resources need to go toward pitching.
And while Upton replacing Bourn would fill one hole, trading Prado would create arguably an even bigger one at third base. Prado should be considered the favorite to take over Chipper Jones’ spot after the season, but dealing him for an outfielder would leave a large hole at third. With no internal replacement, the Braves would be forced into another deal or sign a free agent. The top free agent third baseman this offseason could be Kevin Youkilis, with David Wright and Placido Polanco having options.
Upton is having a down year at .324 wOBA and .128 ISO, worth 1.2 wins, according to FanGraphs. At 24 years old, you certainly expect him to rebound, and I expect Upton to become one of the best talents in the game. So yes, consider me crazy for wanting to turn him down, and the Braves will probably wish they had him in the coming years. But, to me, it comes down to gambling with what the Braves have right now down the stretch for Upton’s future.
So does it make sense to trade Prado’s surplus value at third base for Upton’s future? If there was ever a talent worth gambling a year of contention for, it would be Upton. But I don’t see it happening because it solves nothing right now, and actually solves little next year.
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I replied to Olney’s tweet and said basically the same thing. The Braves OF is fine. What they need is a SP and a bench upgrade.
This trade doesn’t even begin to make a lick of sense. Why in the world would the Braves even entertain trading Martin Prado who is the only legit option we have to play 3B next season? Especially with weak 3B class in free agency this off-season? This trade would do nothing to help the Braves. It would just create more holes.
I really wish people like Buster Olney would think before throwing something this stupid out there.
I think the best plan for the Braves is to trade for Greinke and to sign him long-term and then re-sign Michael Bourn and then go after someone like a Josh Willingham in a trade or someone like him in free agency. There are plenty of outfield options in free agency this off-season.
Greinke is going to cost $20M/year and Bourn $15M/year. You just spend $35M of our $90M budget on two players.
plus the $12 million for Uggla. So that’s 47 of our 90M on 3 players. It would be hard to fill in the other 22 roster spots with 43M.
25 man roster. About half will make over a million. 13 make about league minimum. That gets you to about $7 million as a fixed cost. 8 arb eligibles and free agent bench player types average about $4 mil each. That’s $32 mil. That leaves you about $50 million for your big ticket free agent types. So those four players average $12.5 mil. That’s a reasonable roster construction considering the Braves payroll.
@Rory: Unfortunately most of that “big ticket FA” spending is already wrapped up in Hudson, Uggla, and BMac (combined about 25 mil). Resigning Bourn, Prado, and picking up someone like Greinke doesn’t exactly fit into that other 25 mill you mentioned in your budget.
I’m not in favor of re-signing Bourn or of doing anything that would require us to pay big bucks for a third baseman long term. Very soon we are going to need substantial money in the budget for Heyward, Freeman, Hanson, Kimbrel and possibly Beachy or another young pitcher. I would rather see these guys stay with the Braves.
Why would Towers want to trade him? Injury? Personality? Fatal mechanical flaw? Doesn’t make much sense, so I would expect other FOs to dig deep.
Wouldn’t including Martin Prado in that deal mean it would be detrimental next year, while not giving an upgrade this year?
In fairness to Buster Olney, virtually no recent trade rumor involving Martin Prado has made much sense and Justin Upton is at least a better start than Seth Smith or Delmon Young. It is interesting to consider, though, how differently we would have reacted to this rumor this past offseason.
I agree. I just don’t understand why Prado has been in so many trade rumors. All Prado has done is hit and play great defensive all over the field. What more do you want the guy to do? Why the Braves don’t seem to appreciate Prado I will never understand.
I mean this isn’t like he’s only done it one. He has done it for years. Since 2008.
Prado will be a free agent in a year and a half. He will likely never be better than he is right now. Why not sell high right now on a guy with limited club control left, and buy low on a guy with even more talent and more club control left?
Why not sign Prado long-term? What’s wrong with that?
last year Prado was terrible offensively. but I´m happy he´s bounced back and is a valuable piece of this team.
Prado also had a staph infection which pretty much sapped him of his strength. But 1 bad year. He was great in 2008, 2009, 2010 (AS) and this year (should have an AS).
Well, until and unless he is signed long term, you have to treat him like an expiring contract. Foolish not to
I agree that Prado is underrated. He and Simmons on the left side of the diamond would be an amazing defensive and (assuming we’ve seen the “real” Simmons offensively) offensively. Also (and its just my feeling) I think that Prado is so loyal to the Braves that he would sign a very team friendly contract.
My guess is Prado just doesn’t fit into the braves style of Play, he gets on base, he doesn’t strike out much, he’s willing to take a walk, he has plate discipline. Their team Philosophy is swing often and swing hard in case you hit it. Wren would be an absolute FOOL to trade Prado w/ a second basemen that is set to strike out 200 times, and is bad defensively. As you can guess I am for any trade that will result in Uggla striking out for another team. Sign Prado to a long term contract, and put him either Second or third.
This doesn’t really seem like a reply to my comment, however I don’t believe that you have your facts correct. Chipper has always been known for plate discipline. Bourn is batting .300 + and has over 100 hits. Uggla has walked more than any other Brave and despite a very low BA his OBP is decent. Simmons walks and hits for average. Heyward the same. Freddie strikes out a lot (but is young), McCann is on an uncharacteristic poor streak at the plate and you have to understand that though we hoped Uggla would have a higher BA, we wanted him to swing for the fences every at bat. We were looking for POWER, before his arrival the Braves didn’t have anyone who was hitting 25 + homers. He strikes out a ton, but will hit 30+ and have 85-100 RBI (that’s what we really care about). But yes keep Prado great defense and very solid offense.
Like it was pointed out in the first sentence of the article here, this is not a rumor, but a suggestion from Buster Olney, who has no affiliation with the Braves. The Braves probably aren’t shopping Prado, because they know his value. Someone that doesn’t keep up with all Braves, all the time might not understand his value and its relation to our backup plan at 3B this year and next.
But they have shopped him in the past (this last off season)and are yet to commit to him with a long term deal.
Hasn’t Upton long been one of the best talents in the game? Even when Heyward stunk last year, he was still one of the 10 best talents in the game. It’s converting talent into skill, talent into performance – especially repeatable and consistent skill and performance – that is the key with Upton and Heyward and any other underperforming supertalent like that.
I am just seeing if I can comment. Will delete.
Apparenly I can’t delete it. Sorry guys. Anyways, David, great post. I completely agree.
You’d basically be trading the next season and a half of Prado for the next three and a half seasons of Upton. Prado will turn 30 in a year and a half as his contract ends. Upton won’t turn 30 until 2 years after the remaining 3 and a half seasons of his contract ends. Honestly, with the financial constraints the Braves have due to ownership, the fan base, the television contract, etc., this is exactly the kind of Moneyballing flipping of talent the Braves are likely gonna have to engage in to remain competitive over the long haul. I’d hate to see Prado go, but you’d be selling high on Prado and buying low on Upton as well. If it won’t make much of a competitive difference this year, but allows them to remain competitive for the next three seasons, then you’d have to think long and hard about it.
Made some good points. I agree that it could be a huge buy low sell high opportunity depending on who we would have to send. The shortage of 3rd basemen in the FA class is something to think about though.
Upton makes waaaaaaaaaaaay more than Prado so you’re getting younger, more expensive, and more inconsistent without filling any actual needs. The Braves would go from having holes in LF and CF (or RF if Heyward moves to CF) to having holes at 3B and LF.
Upton
12:$6.75M, 13:$9.75M, 14:$14.25M, 15:$14.5M
Prado
12: $4.75M, 13 Arb 3 (7.5M-8.5M est) 14-15: FA
Not really way more $. Unless you look at the Free Agent years and in that case you would have to make a lot of assumptions.
It wouldn’t take much assuming. I see no way Prado gets anywhere close to $14 mil in FA. A 30-year old non-power hitting LF/3B? Prado has a lot of value, but much of it isn’t apparent unless you look at saber-type stats. And judging by how lots of GMs spend their money, I don’t think many of them pay attention to Fangraphs.
IMO Jason Kubel is a decent comparison for Prado when he is FA-eligible: 30 years old, several seasons with a wRC+ over 100, similar OBP and SLG. Kubel has more power, Prado is a better defender. Kubel’s deal with Arizona was for 2 years, $15 mil + a 1-year $7.5 mil option.
Even if you round up to $8 mil/year for Prado, that’s still $24 mil from ’13-15 instead of $38.5 mil. For a team like the Braves, that’s a lot.
Not a good comp IMO. Very different career paths. Kubel has never been worth 3WAR in a season. Prado has passed that mark 3 times. The arbitrators agree with me look at the difference in their salaries.
Kubel’s Arb Salary:
Arb 1 $1.3M Arb 2 $2.75M Arb 3 $4.1M
Prado’s Arb Salary
Arb 1 $3.1M Arb 2 4.75M Arb 3 using your estimate $8M
First guy that came to mind. Probably since we were already discussing a D’Back.
I don’t know nearly enough about arbitration, but Kubel made $5.25 mil last year. With that being his last before being granted FA, that to me seems the best number to work backward from.
Kubel’s Arb Salary:
2009 $2.75M 2010 $4.1M 2011 $5.25M
Prado’s Arb Salary
2011 $3.1M 2012 4.75M 2013 $8M (estimate)
Besides the final year, the numbers are comparable. And even if I’m way off-base and their arb-numbers aren’t comparable, I just don’t see Prado commanding much more than $8 mil/year as a FA. He doesn’t have any flashy stats (besides BA) that usually leads to big FA contracts. Highest HR total is 15, highest RBI total is 66, highest SB total is 11 (and counting), highest OPS is his current .839. What usually gets you paid in FA isn’t what Prado has. So regardless, I think Kubel’s Arizona contract is likely what Prado would get even if a little more.
You can’t just add in a free agent year when comparing players salaries earned in Arb or it skews the numbers. We could argue all day but the bottom line is that if Prado wanted to signed a 3yr $24M I believe he would be signed already. I would estimate one of his free agent years to be worth between $10-$12M. Who knows its all an assumption based on how he performs now until free agency which was my orginial point.
Those are actually some great points! As much as it would pain me to see Martin go, investing in the future would be nice….what would we do at 3B though??
If we traded an outfielder it should be Bourn (We most likely lose him after this year). Heyward hopefully could make the switch to CF (I believe he could), Upton in right. But that does not make us better this year just better in the long run.
I don’t know how that would make the Braves better in the long run. Who would play 3B in 2013? Juan Francisco? What a joke if it comes to that.
Try to swing a half-year rent-a-player deal, Bourn for prospects. Maybe make up for the 3 (potentially 4) All-Stars we sent away in the Teixeira deal.
Braves are going for a championship. They aren’t in rebuilding mode.
Prado goes to third, which he sure as hell better. LF is the easiest postion to fill. How about we give Bourn, Francisco and a lower tier pitching prospect or two for Parra and Upton. I think Arizona way underestimates Parra’s value using him as a 4th outfielder and they need a 3B and might buy into Francisco. Sets us up with youth and controllable affordable players in the future and improves our bench this year. Then we could use better prospects and money to secure Grienke in a trade. Money available from Chipper coming off the books, Lowe coming off the books and not trying to pay for Bourn.
I’m going to assume two things: 1) Arizona won’t be paying any of Upton’s contract, and 2) Prado would re-sign with the Braves if not traded.
Trading Prado for Upton means the Braves would pay approximately $18 mil more for the chance for better performance from an inconsistent player. Upton is due $9.75, $14.25, and $14.5 from ’13-’15. Prado has 1 more year of arbitration (he got just under $5 mil for this season) and is then a FA in ’14. There’s no way Prado even approaches the $14 mil mark on the open market. For a cash-strapped team like the Braves, Prado gives us similar production at a much lower price.
Both Prado and Upton are quality defenders, but Upton has never played any CF from what I can tell so this is a straight LF-for-LF swap. Trading for Upton completely eliminates any chance of re-signing Bourn so if that’s in the cards, this trade kills it. Even if we aren’t going to re-sign Bourn, we then have a hole in CF and a ton less money available to go get a new one.
Upton and Prado are both in their 4th full season as a starter. Including this season, both have posted WARs of 3+ 3 times. Upton is currently at 1.2 so unless his 2nd half is much better than his 1st, he is unlikely to top 3. Prado is already at 3.8 so unless he suffers a massive dropoff, he should be a 5-win player easily. In their 4 years starting, Upton has a 2.4-win advantage over Prado (15.4-13.0). By the end of this season, Prado could have that much closer based on how they’re both playing.
Upton’s only advantage is age. Everything else is either even or in Prado’s favor. Upton still has a ton of potential and a ton of talent, but if the Braves are gonna pay someone between $9 and $14 mil then they need to get a ton of production out of them.
BTW I’m aware Prado is Chipper’s likely successor at 3B, but either way trading Prado for Upton doesn’t solve any of the team’s problems. And it gives them less money to correct those problems.
You’re forgetting that you have two more years of club control over Upton than you would with Prado, which is an advantage. You’re also comparing Prado’s performance during his prime age seasons versus Upton’s performance in his pre-prime age seasons. What Prado can do after he becomes a free agent is irrelevant unless he gets an extension. If Prado never gets an extension, then you could always trade him away now and sign him back when he becomes a free agent.
True, but I would say Prado is more likely to remain consistent through ’15 than Upton is based off how they have performed; Prado has been fairly consistent while Upton has ping-ponged up and down. Upton is still going to be more expensive with only a slight uptick in value unless he turns it on in his prime years.
Two other factors being forgotten that I should’ve brought up in my original post:
1) This wouldn’t be an Upton-for-Prado deal; I’m fairly sure it would take more than that to obtain Upton. So the Braves would be losing more than just Prado.
2) Upton’s home/away splits are fairly large.
Home – .924 OPS, .237 ISO, .392 wOBA, 138 wRC+
Away – .744 OPS, .165 ISO, .326 wOBA, 94 wRC+
Considering he plays in a very hitter-friendly park 82 times a year, I’d be weary of his performance falling off when he doesn’t have that benefit.
You make good points. I’m also wary of guys who don’t realize their potential. You never know when they’re gonna turn the corner like Matt Kemp or just forever remain a tantalizing but ultimately disappointing tease.
I wouldn’t mind a trade for Upton so long as it didn’t involve one of our better position players. If it only involved pitchers (major or minor leaguers), I’d be fine with it. I just don’t see how he improves the team significantly enough based on all the factors involved.
Rory,
Don’t you mean you never know when someone might turn the corner like Melky Cabrera?
…I mean, you have to laugh, right?
I think u need to not only consider production/age/ $ which has already been thoroughly discussed here, but clubhouse presence, team player, versatility, like-ability , & overall chemistry with teammates, coaches, mngmnt. Always heard ?s about upton & work ethic, other issues, as well as inconsistency. EVERYthing I’ve ever heard on Prdo is extremely positive. He has been my favorite brave for 4 years now. The guy has heart, drive, & str8 up love 4 the game. Hustles every play, & can play any where on the field except C. Chipper has said numerous times that he’s the teams MVP. That’s a big endorsement. everybody loves him. & I’d love to see him spend his career in Atlanta. There’s other options out there, I strongly suggest & hope they pursue those.
Must say Upton + Heyward + Freeman + 3 additional years of experience does sound like a beautiful thing (I’m not even that high on Heyward or Freeman (Prado and Medlen lover))
Do not necessarily condone the trade still
¡Hey guys, don’t forget about El Niño Destructo!
does it not concern anyone else that the diamondbacks are dumping their franchise centerpiece at the trade deadline, in a year where they’re only 4 games out?
that’s what makes me most skeptical about the trade. if the d-backs had any faith in him wouldn’t they hold onto him to try and compete in what is a generally an easy division to win.
If you are looking at this year –> Braves need starting pitching and bench upgrade (possibly short term SS)
If you are looking at future —> Braves need LF and CF, starting pitching, and bench upgrade (Prado moves to 3b, Bourn is gone, no OF in minors ready in 2013, and starting pitching in minors still raw)
A Prado + Prospects for Upton trade does nothing for the Braves except make it harder to resign McCann and use prospects to fill our holes later. Would be dumb. I would even be loathe to trade Prado for Upton straight up.
Upton is the perfect guy to trade for next winter, but not a guy that you get now.
Next year the team needs a LF’er, next year the team needs a CF’er
good GM’s don’t create needs, not unless they have reasonable replacement options.
To clarify, if object A is worth $20 and object B is worth $40 and next year you are losing Object C which is worth $30 you don’t sell A to get B without having another plan for Object D at at least $10 or else you have lost value by creating a need you didn’t have before.
Now, the logical side of my brain thinks that this is a feeler move by the D-Backs to see what the offers look like, then, next offseason when they can better assess their team needs, THEN they put him on the table.
Then, I would love to give up some of our young pitching for him. Especially if we gain a first rounder by losin Bourn. Even if we traded for a guy Like Borjous to play CF, having Upton and Heyward at the corners would be pretty damn incredible.
Or ,you could move Prado in the deal and take a shot at a 2 year deal for Youk…..
i still am of the “will believe it when I see it” about Upton being traded.
Agreed with most of this – this is a trade that happens in the off season, if at all. But Upton will probably go crazy the next 2.5 months and drive his perceived value back up to what it actually is.
I would be really suprised if they really Upton but being here in Arizona i’ve heard whats been happening.Fans are starting to boo him cause they dont think he’s putting in full effort in which of coarse he denies that he isnt.He even said he doesnt care what the fans think so their relationship is starting to get rocky along with an already rocky relationship with their GM Kevin Towers.
When he first took over the team as GM and tried to trade Upton it obviously wasnt a good start.He didnt get the package he wanted in return for Upton and i dont think he wants anything less.I think he wants a Teixeira type of offer or close to it to seal the deal, meaning it would probably take us Prado,Teheran,Delgado,and a mid tier prospect or 2.
Honestly i believe he’d catch fire if he switched enviroments kinda like how Youkilis did but i agree we dont need him this year.Passing up a superstar like him is hard but for once our weakness has been pitching this year and not our bats for a change.
*traded
Long time reader, first time poster. I’d like to pose a question to the blogosphere. Since we are talking about what we do not need i.e. Upton, I was curious as to how we would go about getting what we do need, starting pitching. With Greinke potentially being trade bait what do you guys think it would take to get him and would you do it?
It will take at least one blue chip (Minor, Delgado, Tehran assuming Brewers still see these guys as blue chip) and most likel 2-3 solid prospects (too many options to speculate). I do not believe that it would be the best plan for the Braves long term. They are operating under tight budget constraints and we have always been a good pitcher drafting/ development organization. To resign Greinke would take a “ace” contract around $20 million/ year. You can look at the salary debates above and see how much that would leave to constuct the rest of the roster.
I really like Greinke. However, wouldn’t be a better deal for us to look at someone like a Wandy Rodriguez? He has been very good in a tough place to pitch. Rodriguez should cost a little less now…and far less as a FA.
More importantly, can you believe that Buster Olney suggested that DAN UGGLA moves to 3B in that deal? I can’t decide which is lower: The Braves actual chance of trading for Upton or Uggla’s fielding percentage at 3rd.
I’m not saying he’d be a good 3B, but would be really be any worse at 3B than 2B? And at 3B I would think he’d be involved in less plays (making his defense hurt less)…
Olney is an idiot. So who would he have play 2B? I agree with those who say Arizona is not trying to trade Upton they are just listening to offers. Like Wren said last year about certain players. Olney is helping us blow this out of proportion. I would like to see a trade of Upton & Parra for Bourn, Francisco, & Jurrjens. I still don’t think they would go for it but they are looking for major league talent not prospects because they are trying to compete this year too. I don’t think it makes either team better but it sets us up better long term.
I assume he would envision Pastornicky at 2B if Uggla was moved across the diamond…
I’m glad somebody finally brought up Uggla. Him moving to 3rd is ridiculous. In the interest of full disclosure…I am a huge Prado fan and I don’t like Uggla. So here is a deal I would love to see. Ship Uggla out to Az (can Aaron Hill play 3rd? they need a 3rd baseman) along with our whole farm system not named Simmons. Upton plays LF, Prado 2nd base.
Then we turn around and get Chase Headley from SD (with whoever we got left). He can play SS until Simmons returns and will be an great insurance policy for Chipper. This would be awesome for this year and next. We use Uggla’s money to try and resign Bourn and Headley (new 3rd baseman) and our lineup would be set for the next 3 years. If we can’t sign Bourn then we still need a LF (JayHey in center, Upton in right)
I realize this is all pie in the sky stuff, but from a fantasy perspective it would be awesome!!! We’d have the best infield (Freeman, Prado, Simmons and Headley) and outfield (Upton, Heyward, Bourn???) in baseball. With that roster we could let McCann walk. I think we could make it financially but it doesn’t solve our major problem…Pitching!!!!!
Coming back to earth now…we just don’t make good trade partners with AZ and that’s the bottom line…we have pitching prospects that they don’t need and we are not willing to offer our roster guys. It really is a shame…guys like Upton at 3 1/2 years of reasonable salary just don’t come along very often. (sorry it’s so long)
Assuming we trade Prado (I really hope not) or lose him to FA after next year, would moving Uggla over to 3B be a viable option? His biggest liability seems to be his lack of range. At the very least it means we would not HAVE to find a 3B, we could find either a 3B or 2B if this would work…
I don’t think his arm will play well at third making him probably worse.
While the range is a huge part of Uggla’s defensive shittyness, his noodle arm is equally terrible. What is the lesser of two evils? I think as long as Simmons is manning SS, it really wouldn’t matter which side Uggla is on.
I assume you are referring to the multiple plays we’ve seen Simmons behind or on the first base side of the second base bag when saying it doesn’t matter if Uggla plays 2nd or 3rd. However, it does matter because he would have foul territory on one side as opposed to Freddie (who is considered to lack range as well) on the other side. In reference to his arm, I find it hard to believe that he can’t let those giant cannons loose (though accuracy would be more of a concern for me than strength); I think playing second base he does not throw as hard because of the proximity to first base. (He makes strong throws turning the double play from second)
He doesn’t have the strongest arm, but I wonder if the fact that less balls are typically fielded by 3B than 2B might help hide his defensive weaknesses a bit…
I think the Braves are faced with choosing between Bourn and McCann. Trading McCann next season would be a very unpopular move. However, the argument could be made. And it has nothing to do with a bit of a down year this year. You can argue that his production has slightly declined each of the last 3 seasons. When McCann starts his new deal, he will be 30. That is on the old site for a big time catcher, that has caught a ton of major league innings already and isn’t the slimmest man on the block,
I am thankful that choice isn’t on me. McCann is everything you would want from “a Brave”. Bourn maybe the most important player on roster.
I’m not sure if it’s a direct choice between Bourn and McCann. You can always make diffrent roster moves (trade Uggla for example, not advocating it). However, if they signed both they would have to be really lucky/ skilled to construct a roster that can compete with the remaining funds (great examples at top of comments). I agree however when you have $90 million to spend, in the NL spending 18-20 million on a 30+ catcher is a risky move.
If the decision is between Bourn and McCann, I’ll take McCann any day of the week. However, the more I think about it, McCann’s resigning isn’t as much of a ‘no brainer’ as I’ve always thought. The positives with him are numerous and already well-known: great clubhouse guy, good leader, experienced, clutch, etc, etc. However, the negatives are present and should be considered, as you alluded to. The slight decline is notable primarily because of his age and physical demands of the position. Many years of experience (good) brings with it wear and tear (bad)…thankfully we’ve had Ross to take some of the load off, but that may not always be the case. Also consider that we’ve got a vert promising prospect that will likely be MLB-ready by the start of 2014 season, coincidentally, when McCann will turn FA.
Not saying that McCann should be shoved aside, but I can definitely see plenty of logic in parting ways with him if his $$ demands are excessive (although you’d think he’s one of those guys that would want to stay and be reasonable). I don’t think it would be fatal to lose McCann (and Bourn) to FA, if it meant that we had a pile of “found” money to use on re-signing Prado and to sign OF’s.
-And as for filling the CF spot next year, I’ll throw Lorenzo Cain out there again as a possible trade option. The Royals are stacked in the OF and Myers will be ready next year (hell, he’s ready right now), so the price might not be too steep. Cain gives you good defense and a pretty good hitting IMO…a drop off from Bourn but not that much.
I think signing either one would be foolish. Bourn is of course valuable but you’ve got to think it will take at least 5/75 to get him which I think is an overpay for a guy like him going into his age 30 season. McCann is an even easier call; unfortunately, sentiment will likely play a role in whatever happens. As a FA catcher going into his age 30 year, we will have certainly gotten his best years and probably his good years. Some team in the AL will probably go high on him. They can’t trade him, but the sensible thing is to be in on talks but let him go. Dunno what you do with all that scratch, but you sure as hell don’t spend it on a 30 year old speed guy and a 30 year old catcher.
First of all, Bourn’s agent is Scott Boras. Tommy Hanson and Jurrigens agent is Scott Boras. The Braves do not need to deal with Boras. He is a P.O.S. As much as i like McCann and Uggla, they are big trading pieces. Prado can cover second and the Braves have a top prospect catcher in the minors.
Pitching? How bout Jon Lester from the Red Sox? I think he will become available. Potential ace and cheaper then Greinke….Just my 2 cents worth
If Prado plays 2B, who plays 3B?
It’s my understanding that his natural/ best position is 3rd anyway. So why not put him there and fill 2nd.
Seriously speaking, if the Braves were to involve Prado in a deal, Matt Davidson would have to be included.
There is no way Upton is worth 3 high valued pitching prospects and Prado, but I’d seriously consider giving up Prado, Teheren, Minor, and either Spruill or Delgado for Upton, Harrison, and a lower level pitching prospect.
Of course this is all supposing, but if that deal happened, the Braves would still have Hudson, Hanson, Beachy, Medlen, JJ, Gilmartin, possibly Vizcaino, and either Spruill or Delgado. That’s not to mention what the pitchers they recently drafted. Their options looked better before that deal, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Oh, and Buster Olney is a toolbox.
Braves better not trade Prado. He is the best player on our team and our whole outfield is better than Upton.
I say we trade Pastornicky Lipka and Medlen to SD for Headley, then offer Headley Parraz Delgado and Terdo for Upton Bloomquist and Josh Bell