Dbacks and Braves agree to Upton deal

[waroriole]

With Prado only having one year of team control left and a pricetag north of 6 million I am not as enamored with his "now" value. I guess if I thought AZ were legitimate contenders in the West.

That's my thought as well. I don't really see AZ as contenders, especially if they're trading Upton. If they think they can flip Prado, his inclusion makes more sense.

When was the last time brothers were on the same team? Was it Cal and Billy?

[Stotle]

With Prado only having one year of team control left and a pricetag north of 6 million I am not as enamored with his "now" value. I guess if I thought AZ were legitimate contenders in the West.

I mean, he has been like a top 25 or top 30 producer in all of baseball two of the last three years, versatile defender (and plays well), and has positive baserunning value. $6MM is expensive for that?

The SEA deal was one big piece, a couple relievers and someone who might be a second division 2b? Braves deal spreads out value and front loads a chunk of it in Prado, but people are overstating this as a huge steep down from SEA. I prefer the Walker deal, but understand why ARI might agree to something like the ATL deal.

[Can_of_corn]

I mean, he has been like a top 25 or top 30 producer in all of baseball two of the last three years, versatile defender (and plays well), and has positive baserunning value. $6MM is expensive for that?

The SEA deal was one big piece, a couple relievers and someone who might be a second division 2b? Braves deal spreads out value and front loads a chunk of it in Prado, but people are overstating this as a huge steep down from SEA. I prefer the Walker deal, but understand why ARI might agree to something like the ATL deal.

It is the one year of team control that is the real killer for me with Prado.

[skanar]

I am not sure if Hardy/Prado would be a direct comparison from Arizona's end. Seems like they maybe preferred a 3B back over a SS. They got Gregorius when they traded Bauer and he seems to be their SS of the future, with Pennington/Bloomquist serving as a bridge in 2013. Its hard to say whether they would value Hardy as much as Prado.

I don't think AZ would have preferred the O's package or even necessarily been interested in it, I just wanted to get a handle on the value of the Braves package, and as I know the Orioles' system much better than the prospects elsewhere, it made sense to see what equivalent values would be from the Orioles.

Delgado is ahead of Britton, but Schoop is ahead of Ahmed, so the idea was that the differences would approximately balance.

[wildbillhiccup]

Mods. Feel free to move it. Just didn't want it getting lost in the bazillion Kubel / Upton threads.

Looks like we can put the Kubel / Upton trade talks to rest. The Braves have agreed in principal to a trade with the Diamondbacks. Which begs to mind the question - could / should the Orioles have put together an equivalent offer without Bundy in the mix?

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/1310/justin-upton

According to CBS Sports' Danny Knobler, the seven-player Justin Upton trade won't be finalized until Monday.The Diamondbacks and Braves have agreed to the parameters of a deal that will send Upton and Chris Johnson to Atlanta in exchange for Martin Prado, Randall Delgado, Nick Ahmed, Zeke Spruill and Brandon Drury. But all of the involved players must first pass physicals. Jan 24 - 10:39

[Stotle]

It is the one year of team control that is the real killer for me with Prado.

Right. The value is front loaded, for sure. The same, if Prado gets you 4-5 wins of performance, it might be 2016 before Taijuan Walker has earned you the same. Arizona didn't get full "Upton" value, but they weren't getting that from Seattle, either.

[Tx Oriole]

Mods. Feel free to move it. Just didn't want it getting lost in the bazillion Kubel / Upton threads.

Looks like we can put the Kubel / Upton trade talks to rest. The Braves have agreed in principal to a trade with the Diamondbacks. Which begs to mind the question - could / should the Orioles have put together an equivalent offer without Bundy in the mix?

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/1310/justin-upton

According to CBS Sports' Danny Knobler, the seven-player Justin Upton trade won't be finalized until Monday.The Diamondbacks and Braves have agreed to the parameters of a deal that will send Upton and Chris Johnson to Atlanta in exchange for Martin Prado, Randall Delgado, Nick Ahmed, Zeke Spruill and Brandon Drury. But all of the involved players must first pass physicals. Jan 24 - 10:39

Good for the Braves. Answer to your second question no. IMO

[MurphDogg]

Neither are Top 100 prospects

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/10/12/2485724/atlanta-braves-top-20-prospects-for-2012

Spruill is #9 and Ahmed is presumably #21

Doesn't seem like a big haul to me

You are living in the past, my friend.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/11/8/3620974/atlanta-braves-top-20-prospects-for-2013

Spruill and Ahmed are B- per Sickels, Drury is in the others category.

[Ruzious]

I always wanted to convert Ahmed to CF. Overall "meh" package from ATL on prospect side. Prado is a solid get for ARI but certainly lacks Upton's MVP potential.

Not only that - the Braves wanted to trade Prado, because they've supposedly been told he wants 11-12 mil per year in his next contract. Prado's done a wonderful job for the Braves, but he was always perceived as a super-utility guy who's value was in his ability to do a good job at many positions.

If the Braves can get someone to hit lefties and platoon with Johnson at 3B, they'll likely get more production there than they would from Prado - perhaps significantly more. Actually, I'd have moved Uggla to 3B - figuring any move to get him off of 2B can't be bad.

[MurphDogg]

Well, good thing JDuq has a job in radio b/c whatever "source" he got this info from was just a tad bit wrong.

If you are looking for a reporter to feed info to in order to have it leak (to increase pressure on the Braves to close the deal for Upton), Jim Duquette is as good a man as any. I think he did a fine job here.

[paulcoates]

You are living in the past, my friend.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/11/8/3620974/atlanta-braves-top-20-prospects-for-2013

Spruill and Ahmed are B- per Sickels, Drury is in the others category.

Damn you 2013!!!!!

[MemorialStadKid]

Before the Upton trade had gone through, I saw a couple of reports on Kubel and the Orioles. Looks like we won't be trading for anyone and we've officially stood pat in this off season.

I am not going to get into the ownership etc. I only wonder why we haven't done anything thus far. Last night, Al Leiter discussed the need for a MOO-bat for the Orioles and how they should go into the trade market before it's too late.

I can't find that report as it came on at 11pm EST on 1/23, but this is the other report on Kubel. Why haven't we pulled a deal?

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MSK

[Crazysilver03]

Did you read the thread from FanFest. DD explained why he didn't get a MOO bat. He didn't think the bats were worth giving up the pitching that was being requested.

And Kubel and MOO bat shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence. Kubel wouldn't make us better, considering what we would have to give up to get him.

[Tx Oriole]

Before the Upton trade had gone through, I saw a couple of reports on Kubel and the Orioles. Looks like we won't be trading for anyone and we've officially stood pat in this off season.

I am not going to get into the ownership etc. I only wonder why we haven't done anything thus far. Last night, Al Leiter discussed the need for a MOO-bat for the Orioles and how they should go into the trade market before it's too late.

I can't find that report as it came on at 11pm EST on 1/23, but this is the other report on Kubel. Why haven't we pulled a deal?

<iframe src='http://mlb.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25569991&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>

MSK

Maybe DD and Buck feel like there was really nothing out there in FA and trades would cost

too much. Just go with what they have. I want to see what this team can do. Not really

worried about not getting a MOO. I am just trusting in DD and Buck. They have more

knowledge about baseball in their little finger nail than I have in my whole body. I will wait and see.

[MemorialStadKid]

The answer is very simple: Because the O's don't want to trade Dylan Bundy, Manny Machado, Chris Tillman, or Kevin Gausman. Those are pretty much the only players other teams want. No one is interested in Jake Arrieta, Brian Matusz, Zach Britton, or Schoop enough to trade a "MOO" bat for them.

Thus, you stand pat and bank on your good young pitching and a middle of the order consisting of Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and Matt Wieters, and hope that you get something from Nolan Reimold and Manny Machado.

I am hoping for the advancement of Machado and a solid year from Reimold. The problem that we faced in the ALDS was that AJ, David and Wieters were all pressing and wound up choking when we needed them most. There was no cool-headed thumper in the lineup ready to to get those RBIs in tight situations.

Thome should have done more, if we had only gotten him 6 years ago. Markakis not being there also was a major problem. I just believe that we still need a solid bat and a TOR to go all the way in 2013.

MSK