Justin Upton is a huge disappointment!

[AZ Native]

This is all true, but I saw his lack of work effort, lack of fundamentals and not developing his potential. I agree, he has the talent to be a real stud, but I did not see it happening here. No one questions his potential. I just did not like what I saw in his attitude. He is already proving me right.

 

[Azlen]

If Justin does have an MVP season this year, then Towers and the rest of the management team really better do some introspection and figure out why they weren't able to tap his full potential. You don't get players like that in their prime all that often and you had better be sure your organization is able to take full advantage of them when you do.

 

[DeAnna]

Pretty nice write up on yahoo sports on him

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/10-deg...-michael-morse-and-chris-davis-041649315.html

 

[splitsecond]

It won't last. First slump and he will be back to old Justin.

 

[82CardsGrad]

He's a two-time all-star and is only 25 years of age. He may not be the Griffey Jr. we hoped we had gotten, but he's a damn good baseball player and is very young in baseball years.

If Upton was traded at 30 or 31, it's a different story all together.

Some people will never be able to understand the concept of addition by subtraction....
This theory applies in BOTH the Upton and Bauer trades. Nobody would ever argue Upton's skills and potential. But, that doesn't mean he was the right fit for this team.
I honestly couldn't care any less if he went on to hit 40 HR's and drove in 120 runs this year for the Braves. Bottom line is that Towers, Gibby and others didn't feel he was the right fit here in Arizona. Period.

 

[Dback Jon]

Some people will never be able to understand the concept of addition by subtraction....
This theory applies in BOTH the Upton and Bauer trades. Nobody would ever argue Upton's skills and potential. But, that doesn't mean he was the right fit for this team.
I honestly couldn't care any less if he went on to hit 40 HR's and drove in 120 runs this year for the Braves. Bottom line is that Towers, Gibby and others didn't feel he was the right fit here in Arizona. Period.

Agreed.

This is a win-win for Upton and the Dbacks. He didn't perform to his potential. And not just under Gibby. That was happening long before Gibby/Towers.

 

[Matt L]

I have to disagree with 82 and Dback Jon. I respect your opinions but I think history will show that he was mishandled by this organization. While I do think there is something to team chemistry, I also think it is too difficult to quantify and if you can't find a spot for a guy who hits 40 home runs and gets on base more than 1/3 of the time he is at the plate on your team, you should probably rethink what type of team your are building.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I have to disagree with 82 and Dback Jon. I respect your opinions but I think history will show that he was mishandled by this organization. While I do think there is something to team chemistry, I also think it is too difficult to quantify and if you can't find a spot for a guy who hits 40 home runs and gets on base more than 1/3 of the time he is at the plate on your team, you should probably rethink what type of team your are building.

Hey, we're all free to possess our own opinions... However, I would suggest that if you believe Upton's failures during his tenure with the Dbacks is due to him being "mishandled", I would simply say you are dead wrong.
Further, Upton has never come close to 40 HR's - hitting over 20 only twice thus far in his career.
He's off to a nice start this season, however, in typical Upton fashion, his RBI total is sub-par given his HR total (5 HR's and only 7 RBI). He's never exceeded 90 RBI in a season. He has also been a strikeout machine during his career and, right on cue, he presently leads the majors in strikeouts - he's got 25 plate appearances thus far, and 11 strikeouts...

You may not agree, however, I can completely appreciate a team that prefers a guy like Prado with his career .295 average and with a strikeout rate a fraction of Upton's. Since '09, Prado has racked up hit totals of 138, 184, 143 and 186. Over that same time, Upton has 158, 135, 171 and 155, while literally striking out more than 2x the amount of Prado! And lastly, Prado can play multiple infield and outfield positions which only adds to his value... whereas Upton is a right-fielder, period.

I applaud the Dbacks for making this move...

 

[BC867]

WIN-WIN-WIN. After the first six games of the season, both the D'backs and Braves are in the group of three with 5-1 records.

Even if JUp hits 40 HR's (probably 35 with the bases empty) this season, it probably wouldn't happen anywhere else than alongside his brother, who has been just as flaky during his career.

There is still no influence to keep him from throwing a tantrum when he strikes out, skying the ball over the cutoff man to show off his arm and the various other things he did on the D'backs to not remove the word "potential" from his description.

 

[JS22]

I think Upton is pretty much on pace to shatter the strikeout record.

(Yeah, it's really, REALLY early.)

 

[Lefty]

Justin hit a bomb tonight against Miami, his 6th homer and is 4 for 4. The guys on the MLB Network are saying this trade is going to haunt the Diamondbacks. They are amazed they traded him at his age and also did not receive close what they should of received for Upton.

 

[AZ Native]

Who cares what "they" say. If Justin was hitting like that here, he would still be here. Good for him.

 

[Matt L]

Hey, we're all free to possess our own opinions... However, I would suggest that if you believe Upton's failures during his tenure with the Dbacks is due to him being "mishandled", I would simply say you are dead wrong.
Further, Upton has never come close to 40 HR's - hitting over 20 only twice thus far in his career.
He's off to a nice start this season, however, in typical Upton fashion, his RBI total is sub-par given his HR total (5 HR's and only 7 RBI). He's never exceeded 90 RBI in a season. He has also been a strikeout machine during his career and, right on cue, he presently leads the majors in strikeouts - he's got 25 plate appearances thus far, and 11 strikeouts...

You may not agree, however, I can completely appreciate a team that prefers a guy like Prado with his career .295 average and with a strikeout rate a fraction of Upton's. Since '09, Prado has racked up hit totals of 138, 184, 143 and 186. Over that same time, Upton has 158, 135, 171 and 155, while literally striking out more than 2x the amount of Prado! And lastly, Prado can play multiple infield and outfield positions which only adds to his value... whereas Upton is a right-fielder, period.

I applaud the Dbacks for making this move...

Well to clarify, I am not saying that he had an off year due to the way the team handled him. However, I would argue that the team mishandled him as a player and as an asset to the team. I only brought up the 40 homeruns because you had previously wrote that you could care less if he were to hit 40 homeruns and drive in 120.

I honestly do not have anything against Prado and I think he is also an asset to any team and has a skill set that will help a team win baseball games which is important and I am happy that he is here and I hope that he plays well. That said, even though he has more hits in over the past 4 years, the rest of his numbers do not really replace the production lost by trading Upton.

 

[UncleChris]

Maybe this is silly, but is it possible that jup is happier and more relaxed simply because he is playing along side his brother? Jus' askin'.....

 

[HoodieBets]

As a braves fan I would like to thank the fine people in the diamondbacks organization for handing the braves the 40HR guy they have needed for years. Also you cant blame Jup that nobody has been on base since freeman was clearing the bases before him and BJ has been horrible.

 

[bankybruce]

As a braves fan I would like to thank the fine people in the diamondbacks organization for handing the braves the 40HR guy they have needed for years. Also you cant blame Jup that nobody has been on base since freeman was clearing the bases before him and BJ has been horrible.

No, Mark Reynolds was traded to Baltimore and is now in Cleveland and is off to a hot start. Upton is the guy who has never hit more 31 HR and hit over 30 only one and has never had a 100 RBI.

You got that straight now?

 

[devilalum]

As a braves fan I would like to thank the fine people in the diamondbacks organization for handing the braves the 40HR guy they have needed for years. Also you cant blame Jup that nobody has been on base since freeman was clearing the bases before him and BJ has been horrible.

That's a good formula. JUp doesn't like to hit with guys on base.

 

[DWKB]

Maybe instead of trying to speculate on why Upton is having a hot start it could just be that he's just 25, has AS talent, and is healthy. Seems to explain it pretty easily IMO.

BTW, Upton batting from 2010 to 2012:

None On .286/.358/.489
Runners On .274/.364/.444
RISP .270/.369/.429

Lets keep facts in mind when we make outlandish statements. Can we agree on that at least?

 

[HoodieBets]

No, Mark Reynolds was traded to Baltimore and is now in Cleveland and is off to a hot start. Upton is the guy who has never hit more 31 HR and hit over 30 only one and has never had a 100 RBI.

You got that straight now?

dont be mad because the braves fleeced the dbacks. Delgado was 7th in line to be a SP and Prado was never going to be resigned by the braves. Justin Upton isnt just hot now he was hot all spring as well launching bombs. The braves have the best lineup in the NL we dont need Jup to hit 3R HR the runs will come, which is why he might be doing so well he knows the offense isnt solely reliant on his bat.

 

[Mulli]

Maybe instead of trying to speculate on why Upton is having a hot start it could just be that he's just 25, has AS talent, and is healthy. Seems to explain it pretty easily IMO.

BTW, Upton batting from 2010 to 2012:

None On .286/.358/.489
Runners On .274/.364/.444
RISP .270/.369/.429

Lets keep facts in mind when we make outlandish statements. Can we agree on that at least?

Word. He was traded because Towers and Gibson didn't like him.

 

[UncleChris]

The rap on him was that he had a prima donna attitude with so-so stats. If true, a trade doesn't seem so outrageous. And DWKB is correct..... It could be just a hot start or he could truly be coming of age, or he simply found a place where he's comfortable. In a few months we'll know....

 

[Ronin]

Great trade for the Braves.
Don't worry Diamondback fans nothing can top the Joe Nathan/Pierzynski trade.imo

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Great trade for the Braves.
Don't worry Diamondback fans nothing can top the Joe Nathan/Pierzynski trade.imo

The thing is that Upton wouldn't be posting these numbers with the Dbacks. Prado will like play just about as well for us as Justin would have, but Prado seems to be bringing a certain unselfishness and professionalism to the team that we just weren't getting from Upton.

Point being that I think this trade will be good for both teams and not just the Braves.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Avondale Red Rage]

Some people will never be able to understand the concept of addition by subtraction....
This theory applies in BOTH the Upton and Bauer trades. Nobody would ever argue Upton's skills and potential. But, that doesn't mean he was the right fit for this team.
I honestly couldn't care any less if he went on to hit 40 HR's and drove in 120 runs this year for the Braves. Bottom line is that Towers, Gibby and others didn't feel he was the right fit here in Arizona. Period.

This.

 

[devilalum]

Justin Upton did not hit a home run today!