On Friday, December 19th the Braves finally traded Justin Upton, after all the rumors swirling around for over a month. Atlanta decided to send J. Upton and pitcher Aaron Northcraft to the Padres in exchange for left-hander top prospect Max Fried, Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson, Mallex Smith and the Padres’ 4th international bonus pool slot. Justin Upton will now join the other newly required Padre outfielders in Matt Kemp and Wil Myers. As for Atlanta, they get a pretty nice group of prospects, in exchange for losing their star left fielder. But, was getting rid of Upton (upcoming 2015 free agent) worth it? If so, what is the Braves plan for 2015?
Back on November 17th when Atlanta traded Jason Heyward to St. Louis for Shelby Miller, it seemed like the Braves made it pretty clear about reshaping their team in preparation for the new stadium in 2017. But then on December 3, the Braves signed Nick Markakis to a 4-year deal, making him the Heyward replacement. This signing turned some heads, as it seemed that the Braves were no longer going to rebuild, but instead get stronger as they added to their pitching rotation and replaced one gold glove right fielder with another. Now on December 19th, the direction of the Atlanta Braves again changes with the departure of Upton in exchange for prospects.
In the beginning of the offseason, Fredi Gonzalez (GM of Braves) made it clear that he would be shopping Justin Upton and Jason Heyward because of the fear of losing them to free agency in the Winter of 2015. Fredi never stated, however, if the Braves were somewhat rebuilding and whether or not he was looking for pitching in return for his star outfielders. That question was answered after Heyward was basically swapped for the young stud pitcher, Miller. Following the trade, the Markakis deal made Fredi look like he was making the team better, but now that Upton is gone for prospects, it is pretty clear that the Braves are looking for fresh young talent and new veterans to fill the clubhouse.
During the offseason of 2013, the Braves signed youngsters, Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, and Julio Teheran to contract extensions, marking them as the future centerpieces for the organization. In addition, their catcher Brian McCann left as a free agent to sign with the Yankees. Following this Braves timeline, can indicate two things: one, is that this Braves team the last few years hasn’t gone far in the playoffs, so their GM is trying to re-shape it, and two the GM doesn’t want to risk losing two more stars in free-agency after seeing McCann leave. Without trading Justin Upton, the Braves in 2015 would be a mix of the new plan and the old fading plan. Now with Justin gone, all of the big parts of the 2014 and past teams are gone. Atlanta can now move forward with new veteran leader Markakis, new faces of the franchise (Freeman, Teheran, Simmons), and future stars in top prospects Jace Peterson and with Max Fried.
I have to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this website. I really hope to check out the same high-grade blog posts by you later on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my very own site now 😉
An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a friend who has been conducting a little research on this. And he actually bought me lunch simply because I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending time to talk about this topic here on your blog.
Howdy! This blog post couldn’t be written any better! Looking at this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept preaching about this. I am going to send this post to him. Pretty sure he’s going to have a great read. Thanks for sharing!
I blog often and I really appreciate your information. The article has really peaked my interest. I am going to book mark your website and keep checking for new details about once a week. I opted in for your Feed as well.
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this write-up and the rest of the website is very good.
Saved as a favorite, I like your website!
I was reading some of your blog posts on this internet site and I conceive this internet site is real informative ! Keep on posting.
I like what you guys are up too. Such smart work and reporting! Carry on the excellent works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my site 🙂
Hi would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re utilizing? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different web browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you suggest a good hosting provider at a honest price? Cheers, I appreciate it!
I am using WordPress
I discovered your weblog web site on google and check a number of of your early posts. Proceed to maintain up the excellent operate. I simply extra up your RSS feed to my MSN Information Reader. Seeking forward to reading more from you in a while!…
hello!,I like your writing very much! percentage we be in contact extra about your post on AOL? I require a specialist on this area to solve my problem. Maybe that’s you! Having a look forward to peer you.
I used to be able to find good information from your content.|
Thanks for every other great article. Where else may just anybody get that type of information in such a perfect manner of writing? I’ve a presentation subsequent week, and I am at the look for such info.
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you
knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet
my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.