Braves Acquire Justin Upton
January 24, 2013 at 11:18 am by Mark Smith under Atlanta Braves
Our long Braves Nation nightmare is now over. The Braves acquired Justin Upton along with Chris Johnson for Martin Prado, Randall Delgado, Nick Ahmed, Zeke Spruill, and Brandon Drury. Giving up Prado is obviously the downer in the deal, but if he wasn’t or couldn’t be signed to an extension, he was only in Atlanta for another season, while Upton is here for 3 seasons.
Looking from the Braves’ perspective, they don’t get a whole lot better in 2013, but they get considerably better moving forward. Both Prado and Upton are 4-5 win players, but while that’s probably Prado’s ceiling, Upton could be quite a bit better, possibly MVP-caliber. This gives the Braves a slight edge in 2013, but it isn’t likely to make a significant difference for the next season. Moving forward, this gives the Braves another 4-5 win player for two additional seasons at a total cost of $38.5M for all 3, a bargain for someone of Upton’s caliber, along with keeping the better pitching prospect in Julio Teheran (and JR Graham and Sean Gilmartin). Regarding Johnson, he’s another 3B option, and he can be the starter, part starter as a member of a Francisco platoon, or primary bench player. He’s not a lefty masher, but he’s better than Francisco against lefties. He’s signed for $2.88M as a Super Two and is under control through the 2016 season.
For the Diamondbacks, this rearranges assets for 2013 and thickens out the farm system. With the signing of Cody Ross, the DBacks had 5 outfielders – Upton, Ross, Jason Kubel, Gerardo Parra, and Adam Eaton – and with obviously no way to get them all in, this essentially moves the 4-5 win player to 3B. The problem for them is that they give up significant future value because Prado may leave at the end of the season. Gaining some of that value back, the DBacks also acquired Delgado, Ahmed, Spruill, and Drury. Delgado will have to battle to get into a rotation that already has Ian Kennedy, Trevor Cahill, Wade Miley, Brandon McCarthy, Tyler Skaggs, and Daniel Hudson coming back from Tommy John at some point in the season, so he may or may not add value to the team anytime soon, though he could be flipped elsewhere. Ahmed becomes a future 2B or 3B option as the DBacks already have Cliff Pennington, Didi Gregorius, and Chris Owings in the organization, and Ahmed is more likely to fill in a position vacated by either Aaron Hill or Martin Prado, though the DBacks also have 3B prospect Matt Davidson coming close to the majors. Spruill is more pitching depth, and considering the depth and higher-ceiling prospects in the organization, he’s probably trade bait for them as well. Drury was the final piece, and while he has some offensive upside, he may be 1B by the time all is said and done, which means he’ll have to hit a lot to be of much value. All told, the DBacks rearrange some assets for 2013, not a terrible decision given what they had (though one could certainly ask whether they should have been in that situation to begin with), and forego quite a bit of future value for the sake of minor-league depth. This seems to indicate a future trade as the DBacks have built up curious depth in starting pitching and shortstop.
Although this trade involved Prado (a bummer), the Braves are at least as good as they were before for 2013 and possibly a tiny bit better, but it puts the future of the MLB team in much better shape. Trading Delgado, Ahmed, Spruill, and Drury was basically trading away areas of depth, and the team kept Julio Teheran, who has a higher ceiling than all of them, along with Sean Gilmartin, the next closest pitcher in MLB-readiness, and JR Graham, a high-upside arm whose role is still undetermined. As far as the payroll goes, the trade leaves the Braves with about $5M, which gives the team flexibility to get a better bench option (Kelly Johnson?) or have payroll flexibility for a deadline deal. You should be happy about this Braves’ fans. Now let’s hope for some extensions.
(Below is an updated salary projection)
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I’m really warming up to this because it gives us great potential for the future, the salary relief and Francisco a shot at third still. I wonder if Francisco fails maybe the Braves can sign Prado next offseason. Wishful thinking.
DOB reports $10m left…. whatever that’s worth! lol
I love the deal, I think that keeping Teheran is a coup and here’s something to consider;
Prado wanted around $12m a yr in an extension, which is less than a qualifying offer, yet if you lose Prado you WANT a draft pick in compensation, but he might accept a QO at $13.5m …. Braves could have faced a dilemna
12 40-man roster guys make some money, too. My number is actually $88M, which jives with DOB, but the other 40-man guys count.
Great post, Mark. One small thing: you still have Spruill listed on the 40-man.
You’re right. I’ll change it on the sheet, but it’s not that big of a difference for what that chart is for.
Ramiro Pena is on a Major League contract. He will be on the team.
I’m going to miss Prado (one of my fav Braves). And I think the Braves will miss the flexibility he brought. I agree with the analysis that this came down to not being able to sign him long term. I think he will be great for the DBacks and fills a huge whole for them.
Long term I love the deal! We are marginally better in 2013 and significantly better in 2014 and 2015. Spring training should be fun to see what happens at 3rd base.
I mean “hole”
I wish Chipper could be apart of this team.
I’m excited to know Teheran will get a shot to start the season in the rotation. I really think he could make it if he got into a routine and given an extended look. If he does well when Beachy comes back maybe we can move Maholm or use Beachy in the bullpen til he works back up fully. If he fails then we still have Gilmartin near ready as well. It just seemed like Delgado and Teheran were always battling for scraps and neither was able to capitalize while tghe other loomed around. I know Teherans numbers last year were poor but I still have high hopes.
Definitely some possibilities mid-season. Might try to work Beachy back in a long-relief role if all is well at that point, probably won’t be though. By mid-season, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gilmartin was in rotation (due to injury), and we were counting the days until Beachy was back.
That’s what I’m thinking. The good thing about having both Teheran and Delgado was it gave us 6 viable starters going into the season, which we’ll likely need. If we’re able to survive until Beachy comes back without needing a 6th starter to fill in for several starts, we’ll be incredibly lucky. I’d feel a lot more comfortable with a guy like Delgado who’s shown signs of being able to pitch at the ML level than with a guy who’s projected more for 2014 than 2013, but you have to give to get.
I’ll definitely miss Prado as a producer and as a personality. But Upton has the ability to be an MVP-level player. He doesn’t even turn 25 until the end of August and he’s already had 2 seasons with a 4.8+ WAR. And we’re getting him for his prime seasons!
I love looking at the contract projection and seeing sooooo many guys on the right side of 30 even when looking at 2016. The future looks bright.
Wonder if they’ll go sign a Lyle Overbay type to have an extra LH bat on the bench. If Francisco is starting there are no lefties on the bench.
That is very liekly. Though I would like Mejia to be a backup. he is not LH but he hits RHP very well, maybe better than Overbay. Don’t necesarily need LH off bench as long as someone can hit RHP. Johnson and Mejia have shown consistently in there minor and major league careers they can hit RHP as well as LHP.
remember that Chris Johnson is effectively a lefty bat (reverse splits) off the bench.
Let’s get some lineups going!!! Miss you, Prado. ;(
1) A. Simmons
2) J-Hey
3) J-UP
4) F. Freeman
5) BJ-UP
6) B-Mac
7) D. Uggla
8) J-Fats
9) Pitcher
1) Uggla 2B
2) Heyward RF
3) J Upton LF
4) Freeman 1B
5) BJ Upton CF
6) McCann C
7) Simmons SS
8) Francisco 3B
I like Uggla leading off but I dont think Fredi will do it. Possibly I guess.
1) Heyward RF
2) BJ Upton CF
3) Freeman 1B
4) J Upton LF
5) McCann C
6) Uggla 2B
7) Francisco 3B
8) Simmons SS
Why Uggla leading off? OBP?
Uggla gets on base, his strikeouts wouldn’t come as often with men on base, and running in front of Heyward and J Upton isn’t as valuable because of their power.
Gotcha. I would say this would also lead to more solo HR but it seems that has happened since his arrival so no loss there :)
More solo HR for him, but hopefully, more multi-run HR overall.
I’d switch J-Hey and J-Up. I like Heyward’s contact rate in the 3 hole, but otherwise they have pretty similar attributes. Opening Day, I’d say you’re right with having Freeman in the cleanup spot, but depending on how Mac comes back, he’ll probably settle there. Freeman’s aggressive swinging could do us well towards the bottom of the lineup, I think.
Call me a Mac-hater at the moment, but he doesn’t deserve to be in the 4-hole until he proves otherwise. Can’t put him in one of the most productive spots hoping that he returns to form.
I think he’s at something close to the same point as Uggla is, where he’s at a point in his career where he needs to prove his struggles are just struggles and not the start of a decline.
Given that Mac was injured last year, I do expect some kind of comeback, but I’m not sure if he’s going to bounce back to ’08-’11 numbers.
WHO’S GOING TO FILL IN AT 2B DURING DAN UGGLA’S 4-MONTH SLUMP THIS YEAR?!
Uggla
I hate losing Prado. It seems this deal was made under the assumption that the Braves would not be able to resign him. Upton isn’t much better than Prado, but he will be under contract for two more years (at 14.5m per). However, Upton’s contract is big enough that the Braves could have resigned Prado for less. I know Upton has higher upside, but Prado has a lot of defensive flexibility, which is valuable.
The Braves also get Chris Johnson, who is a league-average hitter who can’t hit lefties very well, and is a very below average defender. How does this help with Francisco already on the roster?
The Braves also give up a good #3 starter prospect in Delgado, and a few other decent prospects (Spruill, Ahmed, Drury).
To me, the DBacks got the better of this deal.
a one yr rental, an A level prospect and 3 B’s for 3 years of a star OF’er in his prime and 4 years f an avg 3rd baseman, that’s damn good value
being able to keep teheran and graham makes this deal even better, in my eyes we gave up no prospects with star potential.
if you look at the deal and say we also recieved teheran from the dbacks by not having to include him we ended up better
teheran upton > prado delgado spruill and ahmed
I like the right handed power to even the lineup and we kept the bullpen fully stocked.
Now let’s see if they can all reach their potential and our rotation stays healthy.
So the Braves have 22 roster spots definetly taken at this point. They have two spots in the bullpen most likely for two of Avilan, Carpenter, and Gearrin to fight for. The last spot is a bench spot by Constanza, Mejia or Gattis currently. I guess you can argue Pena or Janish for a spot and possibly Teheran or Gilmartin for a rotation slot.
I would love to see Gattis make the team. With Fransisco full time 3B, we have no mashers on the bench…and with our outfield, no need for a “defensive replacement”
I would hope Gattis can stick in AAA and work on his catching skills because he may need to replace McCann next year. My hope for masher off the bench is Mejia.
My first thought on this trade was “FUCK YEAH!!”
My second thought on this trade was “But…what’s going to happen to the #MVPrado hashtag?”
Overall good trade, IMO…and ditto to what Nick S. said “sooooo many guys on the right side of 30…”
@ Edward
At least Uggla is pretty much a guarantee to have a high OBP. If he has even a decent year and keeps his (absurdly high) walk totals from last year he’d be a real force in the lineup.
I’m taking this from someone else… but now we can have an outfield banner that states…
“UP… UP… AND A HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!”
This ends Gattis in LF as an option. Hope he catches everyday in AAA until we get a read on if he can stick there. And Bethancourt can work on getting to a level where he can hit AA pitching. Because next year we may not have McCann.
I’m glad we got Upton, however I see the braves as a weaker team next year for these reasons: 1. We do not have a table setter lead off hitter. Having one last year was a large part of our success. Now not only is Bourn gone but the only other player who has had success batting leadoff is gone i.e. Prado, 2. We have more strikeouts in this line up than last year and no one whose batting averages is 300 or better. 3. McCann’s performance is an uncertainty this year. 4. Third base, whoever is there will be less than Chipper both in leadership and probably in production. 5. Tim Hudson is getting old, cannot count on another top season from him. Bottom line my prediction is that we will have a winning record but will win significantly less games than lastyear year.
How can you be such a Debby Downer on today, the most hopeful day we’ve seen in YEARS!!!
Yes and every one of our position players and 3/5 of our rotation are either young (and IMO likely to improve) or had down years (Uggs and McCann). Of all the times to be pessimistic I can’t imagine why you would choose now.
1) Bourn only had a .348 OBP. He wasn’t exactly a prototypical leadoff guy, especially last year, when he hit for more power. Justin Upton has a higher OBP, and potential to steal almost as many bases.
2) Strikeouts don’t matter, BA doesn’t matter. Look at wOBA and how well they produce runs.
3) Everyone’s performance is an uncertainty.
4) 3B will be a weakness, but that’s ok. The players will be put in good situations to produce. They will have a lot of lineup protection. No team in the MLB has a lineup without a single hole. We’ll be aiight.
5) What has Tim Hudson done to show he can’t be a front line starter again? He has reinvented himself many times. Should he need to do it again, I think he can.
I would like the Mets to sign Bourn. They still would not be good enough to challenge but we get there 11th pick in the draft.
1. It doesn’t work like that. We’d get a compensatory pick, but not just get slotted into their pick.
2. Mets are asking for an exception from the MLB to be able to give up their second rounder instead of their first. It would make sense for MLB to grant it, imo. Mets had one of the 10 worst records, would have had the #10 pick (thus protected), but were bumped to #11 by Pitt failing to sign Appel last year.
Another route I’ve seen is one where the Mets work out compensation with the Braves OTHER than giving up the pick. If the MLB allows it, the Mets could send us a minor leage player or two instead of losing their pick. Since it is a first round pick, the compensatory players would probably be high floor, close to the majors types or high ceiling, couple of years away types. I’d like to take a chance on a high upside guy in the low minors that we’ve seen play, almost more than a compensatory first rounder we don’t know too much about.
I would almost prefer this over the sandwich pick. I just want someone to lose a first round pick like the Mets or Orioles. If the Tigers sign that helps make them too good and if Mariners or other crappy team signs they don’t lose first rounder. The first round is one pick longer before we make a selection.
Braves need a Lefty bench bat now, with Francisco in the lineup we won’t have one
Kelly Johnson, please.
interesting:
Bench with KJ:
Laird
Janish/Pena
K.Johnson
R.Johnson
Mejia/Gattis
looks decent if Mejia hits
There would be no Gattis/Mejia it would be C. Johnson on the bench. I would rather give Mejia a chance than sign K. Johnson. K. Johnson had one good season in AZ in 2010. He had a couple decent seasons in 08-09 with the Braves but he sucked the last two years. I don’t care what handed Mejia is he will hit RHP better than K. Johnson and so would C. Johnson hit RHP better the K. Johnson. I would rather have Mejia as a hitter and play Janish defensively if needed and save the cash.
yeah, missed that 3 Johnsons just seemed like too many! lol
It seems to me that trading Prado means Wren is expecting to sign Mac. We knew all along that if Wren traded for JUp he could only afford to keep one of Prado or Mac after this season. Now that Prado is not longer in the picture, he can focus on resigning Mac.
Payroll HAS to go up for Mac to stay. Arb raises over the next two seasons will eat into it. New MLB TV deals (that every team shares in) could help with this, but it’s unknown how much.
I think this means that we now have a CHANCE at resigning McCann if he bounces back and the money works out. I don’t think this means that we necessarily WILL. This gives FW a choice when the time comes instead of an automatic ticket out of town for McCann
Well, and it’s kind of the same position as before, but a bit stronger.
If we don’t think Mac is worth the long term investment, any other catcher we get would probably be cheaper but not provide the offense we’ve gotten from Mac. This would probably prompt an upgrade at 3B, and we’d have money to do that.
But, if we do make the investment at C, we now have 2 3B candidates that will be under team control for cheap.
And either way, we’ve got all other positions and most of the pitching spots locked up through 2015.
Can we get an analysis or opinion onChris Johnson? Do we make a move midseason for a 3b if the platoon or startin juan or either johnsondoesnt work? If so, who will potentially be available?
I agree I think third could be a real trouble spot.
too bad we cant get the “third brother” and trade for Kate Upton…
THIS! She should throw out opening pitch.
In a bikini.
With the sprinklers on.
Gaurenteed sell out the whole season if she did it every game.
Gotta give it up to Wren…the trolls who comment on AJC.com are calling for his head, but we all know what idiots they are. Love the flexibility that Wren has been maintaining with our limited payroll. Now let’s add some more cost certainty by locking up J-Hey and Medlen to extensions.
How much longer till pitchers and catchers report? Can’t wait!
another thing that really isnt too important, but I wonder what J.Upton’s jersey number will be. Surely he cant take Chipper’s
Not sure how I feel about this deal. I think a hole at third is harder to fill than left but our outfield is pretty stellar. I guess it all depends in how the uptons perform.
It’s funny. Most of those folks have been screaming for the Braves to acquire someone like Upton, but since Prado was included, it’s a bad deal. Replace Prado with Teheran, and they probably think it’s a great deal, even though we have no one to fill the 5th rotation spot until Beachy comes back.
So now Chipper just needs to say screw it regarding his farewell tour and come back for whatever we can give him to fill the new hole (I’ll miss Prado tremendously)…just kidding….thought that would be kind of sweet.
*”though”
Any thoughts/info on the family Upton? Haven’t heard anything about this, does anybody know how their relationship is? Assuming the Braves have looked into this but would suck to have a couple brothers that have issues in the same clubhouse the next three years.
bj tweeted last night that all this talk was getting his hopes up and that playing with his brother would be awesome. Would also like to know more about this dynamic.
From Lemire’s column on SI: “The first time Justin Upton and his older brother, B.J., played together, Justin was a four-year-old batboy for B.J.’s t-ball team who was sent to the plate for one at bat. “He got a hit,” their father, Manny, happily recalled in an interview with Sports Illustrated Kids three years ago. “He hit it pretty good — and he ran to the right base.” Both boys had precocious talent, but most often the Upton brothers, who were born three years apart, spent their childhood playing against each other in the front yard of their home in Norfolk, Va., pitching tennis balls in one-on-one games….The Uptons have openly discussed how much they’d love to play for the same major league team…”
Is Smoltzie’s house still on the market? If so, will someone please forward the Upton Brothers the number of his realtor.
Two questions about this trade?
1) Considering the demographics of the league, it has to be pretty rare to go into the season with a regular, all African-American outfield. Anyone know the last team to do this?
2) Considering there are two Uptons on the team now, does B.J. now get to put his “whole” name on the back of his uniform?
Good points. The numbers of black players have dwindled over the years, as i remember Sheffield lamenting over that fact years ago. I think it’s awesome and we should be proud that we have those 3 guys manning the outfield.
As for his name, that’s interesting, BJ isn’t his real name and I’m pretty sure he never goes by (or even likes) the name Melvin. Does MLB allow nicknames to be printed on jerseys?
Agreed, Viva. Especially in Atlanta, I think it’ll be good (both from a marketing perspective and from a societal perspective) to have three young, black players at the forefront of your team.
When the Jones Boys were here, they just did A. Jones and C. Jones on the jerseys, I think.
I’m a moron. We had a guy named Chipper whose real name wasn’t on his jersey. DERP
ALL WE NEED NOW IS TO HAVE CHIPPER COME BACK. HOLY SHIT PIPEDREAM ROSTER.
Chipper
J-Hey
J Up
FF
BJ Up
Canns
Uggla
Simmons
But then he’d have to give back all those presents!
You know he wants to keep that painting he got from the Mets.
Should still have $10 mil to spend if payroll is around $98.
Trade for David Price???
While I hate losing Martin, and I really don’t want to lose him, having Justin Upton is huge. I still hate it, Martin is a great guy, great player, great leader. His versatility is unparalleled.
Hate it and love it at the same time.
My potential line up:
Simmons
BJ
Heyward
Justin
Freddie
Uggla
MAC
Francisco/Johnson
Without Mac:
Simmons
BJ
Heyward
Justin
Freddie
Uggla
Francisco
Laird
I think this could be flipped flopped too. Any of the 3-6 guys can bat anywhere in the line up. If Uggs is cranking out 30 homers again, he could make his way back in here as could Mac if he puts up his normal numbers. A good problem for Fredi to have.
Did we sell high on Prado?
Also, Mac scares me. Up here in Red Sox Nation, signing the captain (Jason Varitek) because he was the team leader was a bad move.
I suspect this will be the lineup:
Simmons
Heyward
J.Up
Freeman
BJ Up
Mac
Uggla
Francisco/Johnson
also, folks shouldn’t forget we got a guy who put up almost 2WAR last yr as a throw in…. it gives this deal lots of value
Chris Johnson is interesting. 108 OPS+ in 2012 compared to Prado’s 114. He had a wonderful 121 OPS+ as a rookie, 2010. Big sophomore slump in 2011. Rebounded some last year.
He clearly seems to be a below average but not horrific fielder. Definitely has reverse splits, which is too bad. He’s 28, compared to Francisco’s 27.
I would love to hear comments on Johnson. Maybe they are just wondering if he can re-capture that 2010 magic. I don’t see a platoon. It would be really unfair to put his glove out there and ask him to hit contrary to his splits. He could become the subject of some heckling if that happens.
Fat Juan will play 3/4 of the time. C Johnson 1/4.
CJ only has 360 PA vs. LHP in the majors. Far too small a sample to say he has a reverse split. Coming up in the minors he had a traditional split. I think he’s a guy that hits lefties good, but not great, and has also shown (in 860 PA) that he can hit righties. I would play CJ there everyday. He is an average hitter, but at 3B, that is above average. I like Francisco’s glove over CJ’s, but I think CJ with 600 PA > J-Fats with 600 PA.
I suspect that Juan-400 PA’s and CJ 200 PA’s> than either of your above scenarios
I know less about baseball than most people here have forgotten. But I’ll chime in and say that flexibility (like Prado) helps make sure you don’t drop out of the race entirely since you can adapt. Talent is risky, and if it craters you may finish dead last, but at least you have a better shot at the brass ring. And as a fan, I’ll take that risk…
I would like to thank Mr Wren for changing my ass-dragging offseason depression of “ughh.. Chipper is gone after blowing the entire season on that horrible throw” with… “hey I’m more excited about this team than almost any other Braves squad since Andruw’s prime.” Only a few years ago we had guys like Kotsay, Franceour, G Anderson, Schafer, Church, Hinske, Langerhans, etc etc. The last big free agent tease for the outfield was almost getting Griffey Jr, who thankfully signed w Seattle. We’ve gone from team liability to probably the best outfield in baseball in 2 years.
We just got BJ Upton AND Justin Upton. That’s insane. Our rotation is as exciting as our outfield, with Medlen and Beachy.. Teheran the top prospect finally getting a shot. The bullpen might be historically good. We have the best defensive SS in the game, and the biggest forearms in all of baseball hitting pop ups at 2B. I thought this would be a kind of bummer year, but I haven’t been this excited to watch the Braves in a loooong time.
and the 3 oldest of the starting 8 are 32,29 and 28 everyone else is 25 or less
Love the idea of Kelly coming back, wish I’d thought of it myself.
Here are my thoughts on the trade. http://thewhole42minutes.blogspot.com/2013/01/swagalicious-justin-upton-is-brave.html
this is pretty darn funny!
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/397384_401007943325765_1163202501_n.jpg
Losing Prado is a shame, but you have to give something to get something. He would have been gone after next year anyway. As much as I hate to see him go, it was a wise decision to get something for him now while we could.
I’m just glad to see the Braves really trying to put together the best possible team, instead of just a “good enough” team. With the Nationals in our division, we need to be better than “pretty good” over the next few years if we want to go to the playoffs. This deal may or may not work, but on paper we should be able to compete with anybody, and at least we’re trying.
If Johnson is even a mediocre 3rd baseman, and not signing Prado allows us to resign Mac next year, the Braves will be set up for the long-term like no other team in baseball.
I feel a dynasty coming on!
this is pretty funny!
http://www.lonestarball.com/2013/1/24/3912290/a-series-upton-of-events
“Towers boards plane ready to relax and enjoy himself knowing he’s turned Chris Young, Justin Upton, and Trevor Bauer into Cliff Pennington, Heath Bell, Martin Prado, Randall Delgado, Nick Ahmed, Zeke Spruill, and Didi Gregorius”
There’s maybe a 10% chance, but 7 of 8 guys in our lineup have 25 HR potential.
There’s maybe a 10% chance, but 7 of 8 guys in our lineup have 25 HR potential.
If i was forced to guess I would give these HR estimates for 2013:
Simmons- 10, Heyward- 28, J Up-31, Freeman-27, B Up- 27,Mac-21, Uggla-25, 3B platoon-28
say another 15 from the bench and that’s a grand total of :212 , epic power 9in the post roids era) for the lineup top to bottom
I think your 3B platoon and bench numbers are quite a bit high, but I agree with the rest. I don’t think Francisco will supply as much power once he goes around the league some more and Johnson has decent but not otherworldly power so it’ll mostly be up to Juan to supply the bombs. As for the bench, I just don’t think they’ll get enough PA to get to 15 HR. Laird is likely to get the most playing time and he’s not much of a hitter (miss you Rossy!) while the rest of the starting 7 should play the vast majority of their games (I’m including Francisco and Johnson together due to the platoon). Our bench last year supplied 24 HR but 18 were from Ross and Juan and both guys started quite a bit due to Chipper and Mac being old and/or injured.
But if we come anywhere close to this prediction, that puts the Braves near the top of the list. Only 20 teams in the past 5 seasons have topped 200 HR (mostly the usual suspects – Yankees, Rangers, Red Sox, White Sox, Phillies).
Towers apparently just woke up on the plane and released this statement:
Simmons leading off could be Jeter in the making
BJ
J Hey
J Upton cleaning up
Freeman
Uggla
Mac
Francisco/ Johnson
Obviously if MAC is truuuuuuuly back to silver slugger BMAC all star edition then I’d go
Simmons
J Hey
J Upton
B Mac cleaning up
Bj Upton
Freeman
UGgla
Juan
That’s world series title if pitching shows up consistently and healthy..we NOW own an. American league line up playing in the NL EAST
Baseball GODS please bless b Mac and Uggla to show up and show OUT this year
Yo! Vivabeta don’t forget about Rick ankiel no bat, ALL arm but i must say Willie Harris actually played with tremendous passion 4 the game
If Evan G or Ernesto can contribute off the bench we could lead the league in Homers, figure 7 regular players should all hit 20 Homers easily. Freeman, uggla, b Mac, Juan plus all 3 outfielders
Simmons already said he would like to lead off and help set the tone of the game offensively and we all know he sets the bar very high defensively too
We still have 10 Million Dollars to Spend!
I love the idea of locking up Heyward/Freeman, but that is more of a long term goal (which needs to happen eventually). If we are just talking this year there are a few things I would like to see happen.
1) Try to trade for Jed Lowery to play 3B and leadoff. Dont get me wrong, I think Simmons can handle the leadoff spot, but it is a lot to throw at the young guy. Take some pressure off him and kill two birds shoring up 3B and leadoff.
2) If Lowery is going for too much, sign Rolen for cheap. Sure he will be injured for half the season, but I would be happy to see him there for half the season vs. Juan/CJ. Rolen 1 yr. 4 mill.
3) Go out and sign Vazquez for the year to be the #5 SP. Again, this is not saying Teheran cant handle the rotation spot, but same as Simba, ease him into it. And lets face facts, we are going to need more than 5 SP(even with Beachy) through the season. Vazquez 1 year 3 mill.
Let me know what you think