ATLANTA - Thursday the Atlanta Braves made history with signing former Tampa Bay Rays OF B.J. Upton to a 5 year 75.25M deal. The deal is the biggest ever in the Atlanta Braves history. With the signing of Upton; it knocks the chances of the Braves returning former CF Michael Bourn. Michael Bourn's agent Scott Boras is known for being one of the toughest agents in the MLB. Boras/Bourn were asking for around a 5yr/$100M contract. Which in my opinion is outrageous!! Bourn and Upton are very similar in statistics (Look at Graph Below). Though Upton might have been the cheaper option I believe it was the best. Upton is only a year younger than Bourn made his MLB debut back in the 2004 for the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays, where he has played since. Upton drew a lot of controversy during the 2008 season for loafing which led Rays skipper Joe Madden to benching him. Later, in 2010 Upton was apart of a dugout controversy between former teammate Evan Longoria. Since those incidents Upton has had good conduct. I believe with the way the Braves organization is if they will keep Upton happy, Upton, in return, will be happy as well. Upton's brother Justin is an OF for the D-Backs. His brother and himself have both talked a lot about playing with each other and announced it publicly at his Braves welcoming party. If the Braves can trade for Upton the D-Backs have been said to of want a top notch SS and a good Pitcher. So we will see where that goes. I think with Upton switching to a open air field and natural grass it will help him tremendously. Upton will not resume Bourn's lead off position which is looked to be filled by SS Andrelton Simmons. I think with the change of scenarios and with the help of the hitting staff, Upton could possibly be a 30/30 batter. With himself and Jason Heyward in the outfield it will be interesting to watch both of them play side by side with each other. The Braves still have a vacant LF position they need to fill and I dont not believe they will fill it with players on the 40-man roster or in the farm system. With the Braves trading SP Tommy Hanson to LAA I believe they will be looking to make one more BIG move this off season. As of right now this is what I expect the Braves Starting lineup to look like.
1) SS. Simmons
2) 3B. Prado
3) RF. Heyward
4) 1B. Freeman
5) CF. Upton
6) C. McCann
7) 2B. Uggla
8) LF. __________
9) (Pitcher)
1) SS. Simmons
2) 3B. Prado
3) RF. Heyward
4) 1B. Freeman
5) CF. Upton
6) C. McCann
7) 2B. Uggla
8) LF. __________
9) (Pitcher)
B.J Upton 2012 Stats AVG. - .246 AB. - 573 Hits. - 141 Runs - 79 HR. - 28 RBIs - 78 OBP. - .298 SB - 31 SO - 169 SLG - .454 | Michael Bourn 2012 Stats AVG. - .274 AB. - 624 Hits - 171 Runs- 96 HR. - 9 RBIs - 57 OBP - .348 SB - 42 SO - 155 SLG - .391 |