BJ Upton for Kemp? [Archive]

War Machine Dawg

10-14-2013, 02:24 PM

Hell yes. In a heartbeat. Even if Kemp isn't the same MVP caliber player (which may be likely), he's still a hell of a lot better than BJ. If the Dodgers are willing to fleece themselves like that, then let them do it. Sweet baby Jesus, please let that happen.

starkvegasdawg

10-14-2013, 02:38 PM

I would rather see my six year old daughter playing in place of BJ. Can't do any worse at the plate.

msstate7

10-14-2013, 02:45 PM

I'd jump on this trade in a heartbeat. If the dodgers are dumb enough to make this trade though, bj will be an MVP candidate for them next season. Somehow we'd get bit...

smootness

10-14-2013, 02:45 PM

Wish I got paid to just throw crap against a wall.

No way in the world the Dodgers are ever going to take on BJ Upton for Matt Kemp. That is so absurdly dumb. So the team with the $200+ million payroll is so anxious to shed what would amount to a total of about $2 million and take off a couple years on the back end that they would take that kind of drop in talent level?

They don't want to pay $21.5 million per for 6 years of Kemp, but they'll gladly pay $19.5 million per for 4 years of BJ Upton?

That is insane. If they were about to pull the trigger on that, you can guarantee someone would offer them a better, cheaper option.

ETA: Forgot about the last 2 years of Kemp's contract that the Dodgers would still have to chip in for at a total of $9 million. So the Dodgers are going to pay $87 million over 6 years for BJ Upton because they so anxiously want to avoid paying $129 million over the same span for Matt Kemp. Mm hmm, good idea, yahoo! That averages to about 3% of their total payroll they would cut to make themselves significantly worse.

Dawg61

10-14-2013, 02:48 PM

Zero chance the Dodgers agree to this.

msstate7

10-14-2013, 03:34 PM

In other braves news:

Roving outfield/baserunning instructor Doug Dascenzo has been named as Atlanta?s third-base coach for 2014.

The Braves have named 3B coach Brian Snitker as the new manager of the Gwinnett Braves, Atlanta?s Triple-A affiliate.

smootness

10-14-2013, 03:55 PM

Snitker is a truly awful 3B coach, this is a good move; Dascenzo can't be worse.

msstate7

10-14-2013, 04:04 PM

Snitker is a truly awful 3B coach, this is a good move; Dascenzo can't be worse.
I agree

Bo Darville

10-14-2013, 07:11 PM

If I was the Jacksonville Jaguars I would trade Blaine Gabbert to the Colts in exchange for Andrew Luck. And make the Colts pay part of Luck's salary.

smootness

10-14-2013, 07:15 PM

If I was the Jacksonville Jaguars I would trade Blaine Gabbert to the Colts in exchange for Andrew Luck. And make the Colts pay part of Luck's salary.

Hahaha

msstate7

10-14-2013, 07:17 PM

If I was the Jacksonville Jaguars I would trade Blaine Gabbert to the Colts in exchange for Andrew Luck. And make the Colts pay part of Luck's salary.

Surely it isn't that bad, Bo. Bj stunk it up last season but here's his 2012 stats:

.246 avg 28 hr's 78 rbi's 31 sb's

Geez...if bj had played that well this year, the braves would still be playing

smootness

10-14-2013, 07:20 PM

Yeah but this year, the comparison may be unfair to Gabbert.

BJ was as bad as a major league baseball player can possibly be this year. That is not an exaggeration. I know it's not news to you, but I've never seen anyone play that poorly and then go right back to where they were before. I don't know what happened to him, but he isn't the same guy anymore.

msstate7

10-14-2013, 07:26 PM

smootness

10-14-2013, 08:02 PM

It's always tough to know how much effect hitting coaches have. Do they get credit for Chris Johnson and Freddie Freeman?

Do they get blame for BJ/Uggla? Justin Upton didn't hit as well as he's capable, but then Ramiro Pena and Jordan Schafer looked like different players for parts of the year.

I have no idea what the answer is.

War Machine Dawg

10-14-2013, 08:09 PM

I think Walker needs to stay. You can't blame him for Uggla. Minus his post-ASB insanity in his first year, he's sucked ever since putting on a Braves uni. And he wasn't exactly a great hitter in Miami, he just had a lot of power. It's somewhat the same for BJ. He's never been a great hitter, either. The big difference in the two of them is BJ has speed that has allowed him to mask some of his offensive deficiencies a little better. I'm really excited to see if Pena and Schafer can continue to progress. Same for Pastornicky and Justin, too. Although I am concerned that Justin is falling into the feast or famine power trap, trying to hit bombs instead of trying to hit and letting the power come naturally.

Will James

10-14-2013, 09:37 PM

Will James

10-14-2013, 09:44 PM

I'm really excited to see if Pena and Schafer can continue to progress. Same for Pastornicky

Not really seeing much from these guys next year. Uggla will be the 2B. BJ was so bad this year though, but the talent is obviously in there somewhere so we shall see on him.

elitedawgs

10-14-2013, 09:47 PM

Had to change the thread title "BJ for Kemp", it sounded too much like a solicitation.

Todd4State

10-14-2013, 09:58 PM

True. Should the braves hire a new hitting coach? I know Greg walker is supposed to be a good one, but something happened to bj.

BJ Upton's strike zone judgement is awful. That's his problem. He'll swing at just about anything that's thrown up there. The worst thing any pitcher can do is throw a strike to him- anything else is either a swing and miss or an out in all likelihood.

It's hard for any hitting coach to fix that.

Todd4State

10-14-2013, 10:01 PM

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/atlanta-braves-wild-offseason-trade-idea-matt-kemp-173100528--mlb.html

Thoughts?

My thought- not a chance in hell of happening. The Dodgers will be better off taking a chance on Kemp being healthy and coming back. And the Braves won't do it because they are going to probably assume that the Dodgers are trying to dump a hurt player.

smootness

10-15-2013, 09:43 AM

BJ Upton's strike zone judgement is awful. That's his problem. He'll swing at just about anything that's thrown up there. The worst thing any pitcher can do is throw a strike to him- anything else is either a swing and miss or an out in all likelihood.

It's hard for any hitting coach to fix that.

Shoot, you can throw him strikes, too. There's a 70% chance he'll just watch it come right down the middle and a 28% chance he'll swing and won't hit it anyway.

msstate7

10-15-2013, 10:12 AM

Shoot, you can throw him strikes, too. There's a 70% chance he'll just watch it come right down the middle and a 28% chance he'll swing and won't hit it anyway.

Yep. Bj looked totally defeated by the end of the year. He literally looked like I would facing mlb pitching. We've gotta find a way to get his confidence back

Will James

10-15-2013, 11:46 AM

Upton had the worst zone-contact percentage in MLB of players with more than 400 PA. Uggla 4th worst.

Now this isn't a problem if they provide the power and draw walks like others far down on this list (Trumbo, Davis, Bruce, Alvarez)

smootness

10-15-2013, 11:55 AM

If I'm the Braves in the offseason, I figure out a way for BJ Upton to just stand in the box and watch pitches in various locations and let him know which were strikes and which weren't.

For Justin, I have a machine throw him 95-mph fastballs alternating with 82-mph changeups all day long and just get himself used to the timing on the fastballs.

msstate7

10-15-2013, 11:58 AM

And uggla? I'd have him hit groundballs to pastornicky, lastella, and Pena. About the uptons, I agree

smootness

10-15-2013, 02:02 PM

And uggla? I'd have him hit groundballs to pastornicky, lastella, and Pena. About the uptons, I agree

Haha, I would just cut him and pay him.

dawgs

10-15-2013, 03:27 PM

Surely it isn't that bad, Bo. Bj stunk it up last season but here's his 2012 stats:

.246 avg 28 hr's 78 rbi's 31 sb's

Geez...if bj had played that well this year, the braves would still be playing

ok substitute josh freeman for gabbert. i mean he has a pretty awesome season in 2010 and half a good season in 2012!

dawgs

10-15-2013, 03:40 PM

the yahoo article should be retitled "Atlanta Braves' Wild Offseason Trade Idea: Matt Kemp for B.J. Upton Just Makes Sense to the Braves"

smootness

10-15-2013, 04:00 PM

the yahoo article should be retitled "Atlanta Braves' Wild Offseason Trade Idea: Matt Kemp for B.J. Upton Just Makes Sense to the Braves"

Haha yes, thank you. I don't know how much time it took him to write that, or how much he is paid for it, but that is an embarrassing article for an actual company to run.

Imagine if ESPN had an article that was, 'Can you imagine how insane it would be for the Nets if the Bulls traded them Derrick Rose for Joe Johnson?!?!?! I mean, like, really freaking crazy; that would be great for the Nets!'

msstate7

10-15-2013, 04:47 PM

the yahoo article should be retitled "Atlanta Braves' Wild Offseason Trade Idea: Matt Kemp for B.J. Upton Just Makes Sense to the Braves"

While I do think the idea is far fetched maybe it isn't as crazy when you look at the numbers.

Kemp has missed significant time in the last 2 seasons. Last year in 263 ab's, he hit 6 hr's with 33 rbi's and 9 sb's.

Bj last season:

391 ab 9 hr's 26 rbi's 12 sb's

Salaries:

Bj 13.05 million
Kemp 20.05 million

Dawg61

10-15-2013, 05:04 PM

The Dodgers have more money than Puerto Rico. They will relocate to El Paso before they even think of bringing in BJ Upton. BJ has zero value to any MLB team right now. The Braves can either cut him or cut him. That's their only options. Players that used to be good get cut every year by teams ex: Mike Morse, Mark Reynolds.

dawgs

10-15-2013, 05:43 PM

While I do think the idea is far fetched maybe it isn't as crazy when you look at the numbers.

Kemp has missed significant time in the last 2 seasons. Last year in 263 ab's, he hit 6 hr's with 33 rbi's and 9 sb's.

Bj last season:

391 ab 9 hr's 26 rbi's 12 sb's

Salaries:

Bj 13.05 million
Kemp 20.05 million

well when you consider that kemp's struggles can be explained by injuries and hopefully a healthy kemp at 29 looks closer to the 2011 version than the 2013 version, that's a lot different from upton, whose struggles and steady decline can only be explained by him sucking ass.

msstate7

10-15-2013, 05:48 PM

well when you consider that kemp's struggles can be explained by injuries and hopefully a healthy kemp at 29 looks closer to the 2011 version than the 2013 version, that's a lot different from upton, whose struggles and steady decline can only be explained by him sucking ass.

True. Bj had a terrible season no doubt, but I hope he isn't done. Last season he was very good for the rays. If I was frank wren, I would see if the Yankees, Red Sox, blue jays, or orioles (all large payrolls) had any interest. Perhaps one of them bite.

dawgs

10-15-2013, 07:28 PM

True. Bj had a terrible season no doubt, but I hope he isn't done. Last season he was very good for the rays. If I was frank wren, I would see if the Yankees, Red Sox, blue jays, or orioles (all large payrolls) had any interest. Perhaps one of them bite.

upton barely puts up a .300 OBP in good years. from 2009-2011, he batting avg hoovered in the .240 range and he averaged about 17 HRs. so say he rebounds, to that form, you have a guy that's hitting .240 with 17 bombs and 35 or so SBs and a .300 OBP. there's worse out there, but that's not good. and speed is usually the first attribute to age among MLBers, so you could start seeing the SBs drop quickly with upton nearing 30. AND upton has never been known to be a guy to put in the work to turn all his skills into being a legit all-star player. either way, even if upton rebounds, he's still a shadow of kemp 2011 and pre-injury 2012.