Justin Upton is a huge disappointment!

[Kel Varnsen]

Hi Arizona fans. I hope everybody is have a great day! Please understand I'm not here to troll. I'm just here to talk baseball.

There's no doubt Justin Upton is tearing up the ball. There is not a Braves fan I know of that's not thrilled to have him on our team. He's as hot as any player in baseball!

Through Justin's 2nd at bat in tonight's game Justin has 9 HR's, hitting .339, .406 OBP, and has a .893 slugging percentage. Seven of his nine HR's have come with two strikes in the count. Six of his HR's has either won the game in walk off fashion, tied the game, or giving the Braves the go ahead lead. Needless to say he's been as clutch as anybody could have ever expected for the Braves.

But the forgotten man in this trade is the "throw in player" Chris Johnson. Chris has played excellent defense at 3rd base but more importantly 1st base since our starting 1st baseman has been on the DL the past 10 days. After Chris's second at bat tonight his batting avg. is now .435 (22 hits in 48 at bats) with a .469 OBP and a .630 slugging percentage.

Don't get me wrong I hated to lose Martin Prado. He was one of my favorite players. He does everything the right way!!! But as a Braves fan I'm thrilled with this trade even though we lost Prado.

Everybody have a great and safe night. I look forward to talking baseball with the great Arizona Diamondback fans the rest of the year.

Welcome to the board. Great post.

I was listening to the ATL/PIT game today and the broadcasters were talking about Chris Johnson. I had no idea he was hitting so well. Sounds like if you're looking for a change of scenery, ATL is the place to go!

 

[txdbacksfan]

Welcome to the board. Great post.

I was listening to the ATL/PIT game today and the broadcasters were talking about Chris Johnson. I had no idea he was hitting so well. Sounds like if you're looking for a change of scenery, ATL is the place to go!

Johnson is leading the league in batting average too.

I don't suppose he's suddenly learned how to field well though.

 

[Lefty]

Braves playing two today and Justin has hit #10 & #11 so far.

 

[JS22]

Braves playing two today and Justin has hit #10 & #11 so far.

Ridiculous.

This trade is probably going to haunt them for years.

But, on a positive note, Goldschmidt is hitting just under .600 with runners on base.

 

[BC867]

Ridiculous.

This trade is probably going to haunt them for years.

But, on a positive note, Goldschmidt is hitting just under .600 with runners on base.

As of right now, Upton has 15 RBI's to Goldy's 14 . . . despite JUp having 11 HR's to Goldy's 3. We have nothing to feel disappointed about in our
#3 spot in the batting order.

 

[Gaddabout]

But the forgotten man in this trade is the "throw in player" Chris Johnson. Chris has played excellent defense at 3rd base but more importantly 1st base since our starting 1st baseman has been on the DL the past 10 days. After Chris's second at bat tonight his batting avg. is now .435 (22 hits in 48 at bats) with a .469 OBP and a .630 slugging percentage.

This is a good point and another reason the trade was so horrible. He had an .824 OPS in 44 games with the D-Backs last year. I get that he was unlikely to repeat that and the D-Backs want traditional power guys on the corner, but they made an everyday player a throw-in with the trade. He had 15 NL HRs last year betwee Hou/Ari at 28. He probably will never reach 20, he'll never drive in 100 RBIs, but he'll probably get you 16/60 for another 3 years.

That's not a throw in. That's a quality player at a lesser cost.

FWIW, was not a stellar 3B in Ari. He was serviceable.

 

[txdbacksfan]

As of right now, Upton has 15 RBI's to Goldy's 14 . . . despite JUp having 11 HR's to Goldy's 3. We have nothing to feel disappointed about in our
#3 spot in the batting order.

We could have had both.

 

[AZ Native]

We could have had both.

We had them both, but J UP didn't hit HRs like this, or he would still be here.

 

[TJ]

As of right now, Upton has 15 RBI's to Goldy's 14 . . . despite JUp having 11 HR's to Goldy's 3. We have nothing to feel disappointed about in our
#3 spot in the batting order.

This isn't J-Up v. Goldy since they play different positions. This is how J-Up would have made this lineup Dangerous and a hell of a lot more exciting to watch.

If telling yourself we have, "nothing to be disappointed about" helps you fall asleep at night, that's one thing. But to show no concern about how lopsided a deal it was, now considering Upton leads the MLB in HRs and Johnson leads in AVG, is disconcerting.

 

[BurqueCardFan]

This isn't J-Up v. Goldy since they play different positions. This is how J-Up would have made this lineup Dangerous and a hell of a lot more exciting to watch.

If telling yourself we have, "nothing to be disappointed about" helps you fall asleep at night, that's one thing. But to show no concern about how lopsided a deal it was, now considering Upton leads the MLB in HRs and Johnson leads in AVG, is disconcerting.

Exactly, they should have never traded away a player that young with that much talent unless we got a "kings ransom" (which we did not). Towers tries to justify this trade as if the fans are a bunch of idiots.

 

[82CardsGrad]

This is a good point and another reason the trade was so horrible. He had an .824 OPS in 44 games with the D-Backs last year. I get that he was unlikely to repeat that and the D-Backs want traditional power guys on the corner, but they made an everyday player a throw-in with the trade. He had 15 NL HRs last year betwee Hou/Ari at 28. He probably will never reach 20, he'll never drive in 100 RBIs, but he'll probably get you 16/60 for another 3 years.

That's not a throw in. That's a quality player at a lesser cost.

FWIW, was not a stellar 3B in Ari. He was serviceable.

I think the issue that nobody really seems willing to accept here, is that Upton and the team reached a point where this had to happen. Both parties wanted to sever the relationship. Upton was pissed that the trade rumors were floating around last season and eventually declined to take part in any outside team activities (autograph, community engagements...). Can't say that I blame him, however, trade talks are a part of the job as a pro athlete - deal with it.
In the end, the trade that came together represented the best Towers can get - period. The only other option was to not make the trade - which really wasn't an option at all...
So, yea... Upton and Johnson are off to very nice starts. And who knows, perhaps that will continue for the rest of the season. Perhaps that will continue for the rest of their careers...
However, tossing up stats at this stage of the season is sorta comical (not saying you did so Matt), as trades are never really judged after jsut one month into a season...

 

[JS22]

Of course they reached a point where it had to happen. But that wasn't on Upton. It was on Towers and his constant threats to trade him.

The Dbacks clearly saw that Upton wasn't a guy who could handle the pressure of being the #1 and face of the franchise. What they should have done, instead of constantly throwing his name around in trade discussions, was take the pressure off of him. Take down the stupid "Uptown" sign. Stop marketing him as THE guy. Just let him play and shut up with the trade talk.

But, instead, they did the complete opposite and made a horrible trade. I think Prado is a lot better than his start this season. And he fits this team perfectly IMO. But that doesn't make the trade any less horrible.

The Dbacks botched this big time.

 

[Dback Jon]

Of course they reached a point where it had to happen. But that wasn't on Upton. It was on Towers and his constant threats to trade him.

The Dbacks clearly saw that Upton wasn't a guy who could handle the pressure of being the #1 and face of the franchise. What they should have done, instead of constantly throwing his name around in trade discussions, was take the pressure off of him. Take down the stupid "Uptown" sign. Stop marketing him as THE guy. Just let him play and shut up with the trade talk.

But, instead, they did the complete opposite and made a horrible trade. I think Prado is a lot better than his start this season. And he fits this team perfectly IMO. But that doesn't make the trade any less horrible.

The Dbacks botched this big time.

While the Dbacks have some of the blame, it is foolish to give Upton a free pass. His behavior/lack of effort/taking plays off PRIOR to anything the Dbacks did means he in large part is responsible for this.

He got a fresh start. Good for him. Maybe it will be a career changer. We will see. But to totally excuse him, and lay 100% of the blame on the Dbacks is myopic.

 

[JS22]

What he "did prior" was hit .290 with 31 HRs. I don't recall much whining or lack of effort.

Last season was a disaster. The thumb injury hit him early and it was pretty much downhill from there.

 

[Phrazbit]

While the Dbacks have some of the blame, it is foolish to give Upton a free pass. His behavior/lack of effort/taking plays off PRIOR to anything the Dbacks did means he in large part is responsible for this.

He got a fresh start. Good for him. Maybe it will be a career changer. We will see. But to totally excuse him, and lay 100% of the blame on the Dbacks is myopic.

This is 100% on the Dbacks. Prior to them publicly and persistantly floating his name in trades he was a model citizen and an MVP candidate. The only complaint people had was his strikeout rate and his occasional fielding boo-boos, which more often then not was him trying too hard to make a play (such as throwing the ball 350 feet into the dugout instead of hitting a cut off man.

This trade is an absolute embarrassment.

 

[Gaddabout]

I think the issue that nobody really seems willing to accept here, is that Upton and the team reached a point where this had to happen. Both parties wanted to sever the relationship. Upton was pissed that the trade rumors were floating around last season and eventually declined to take part in any outside team activities (autograph, community engagements...). Can't say that I blame him, however, trade talks are a part of the job as a pro athlete - deal with it.
In the end, the trade that came together represented the best Towers can get - period. The only other option was to not make the trade - which really wasn't an option at all...
So, yea... Upton and Johnson are off to very nice starts. And who knows, perhaps that will continue for the rest of the season. Perhaps that will continue for the rest of their careers...
However, tossing up stats at this stage of the season is sorta comical (not saying you did so Matt), as trades are never really judged after jsut one month into a season...

I had no and still do not have a problem with trading Upton or anyone else. I have a problem with what they got in return. Big difference.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I had no and still do not have a problem with trading Upton or anyone else. I have a problem with what they got in return. Big difference.

Yea... I know. But, you would have to admit that Towers was really not dealing from a position of strength (largely his own doing of course...). Upton was coming off a fairly crappy season, and everyone knew Towers was anxious to get rid of him.
Along with the "potential" Upton possesses, all this pretty much guaranteed Towers was never going to receive anything in return that would satisfy fans.

The reality is that the team reached a point where they simply got cozy with the addition by subtraction notion, period. Towers did the best he could to grab something... anything, that would remotely come close to "quality" in return.

As I've said, Prado isn't anywhere close to Upton in terms of talent. However, IMHO, the jury is still WAY out in terms of how Prado fits on the team in comparison to Justin.

 

[Dback Jon]

This is 100% on the Dbacks. Prior to them publicly and persistantly floating his name in trades he was a model citizen and an MVP candidate. The only complaint people had was his strikeout rate and his occasional fielding boo-boos, which more often then not was him trying too hard to make a play (such as throwing the ball 350 feet into the dugout instead of hitting a cut off man.

This trade is an absolute embarrassment.

Hmmm - you must have been watching a different JuP than the rest of us.

 

[DWKB]

The only people who make money off of their analysis of baseball transactions that think favorably of the DBacks side of this trade also conveniently have a personal interest of the DBacks side of this trade panning out.

As Gadd hinted at, it's ok to not like Justin the baseball player. It's a pretty ignorant POV from my perspective but as a fan your entitled to it. Towers has to be more than that though and it seems as though he wasn't and he got his ass handed to him because of it. Objectively speaking.

 

[Phrazbit]

Hmmm - you must have been watching a different JuP than the rest of us.

Same guy, I am talking about the 2011 Upton... the one before the franchise started shopping him for no reason and throwing him under the bus at every opportunity.

 

[unseenaz]

Same guy, I am talking about the 2011 Upton... the one before the franchise started shopping him for no reason and throwing him under the bus at every opportunity.

moot point. if the media can get in the dudes head I don't want him on my team anyways.

 

[Phrazbit]

moot point. if the media can get in the dudes head I don't want him on my team anyways.

And yet he still hit .280 and led the team (by a wide margin) in runs, all while playing with an injured hand.

And even if youre okay with the Dbacks trading him, no one should be okay with how the franchise absolutely butchered the entire process and ended up getting 5 cents on the dollar.

 

[BC867]

Of course they reached a point where it had to happen. But that wasn't on Upton. It was on Towers and his constant threats to trade him.

KEY PHRASE -- "Of course they reached a point where it had to happen."

CONJECTURE-- "But that wasn't on Upton."

"It had to happen" says it all! It's not about blame at this point. It is about "it had to happen". Corrective action vs. conversation.

 

[unseenaz]

Chris Young has 13 RBIs, do you miss him too? You miss that nice .165 batting average he has too?

 

[Gaddabout]

And yet he still hit .280 and led the team (by a wide margin) in runs, all while playing with an injured hand.

And even if youre okay with the Dbacks trading him, no one should be okay with how the franchise absolutely butchered the entire process and ended up getting 5 cents on the dollar.

Dude, come on. They got 20 cents. Possibly even a quarter.