B.J. Upton Has Signed With the Braves

[Jaypers]

No fake Twitter account this time, evidently.

Braves To Sign B.J. Upton
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [November 28 at 4:11pm CST]
The Braves have agreed to sign free agent center fielder B.J. Upton, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter). Reynolds Sports Management represents Upton, whose deal is pending a physical.

The 28-year-old ranked fifth on MLBTR’s list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents. In 633 plate appearances for the Rays this past season, Upton hit 28 home runs and posted a .246/.298/.454 batting line. The right-handed hitter would add balance to the Braves' lefty-heavy lineup.

 

[gt2590]

And the Philly fan in me Rejoices! Yea, I said rejoices...

Didn't want any part of him coming to Philly and to saddle the ATL with what I think will be a bad contract, Double win!

 

[Jaypers]

OP and thread title updated. Done deal.

 

[MojoDan]

Braves get their man. I don't know how many teams are after Bourn, but I'd love to see him land with a contender.

 

[AmishDave]

I bet Bourn either hits the Nats, Phillies or Giants.

 

[cgilmo]

And the Philly fan in me Rejoices! Yea, I said rejoices...

Didn't want any part of him coming to Philly and to saddle the ATL with what I think will be a bad contract, Double win!

He's a good athlete moving to an easier division.

it could work out! maybe! sort of!

 

[Jaypers]

5 years; $70-75M.

 

[tramers]

not worth it

 

[hoopster3977]

not worth it

this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[HPC]

this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ditto

I dont know why teams still view him as a big target. At some point (which, IMO, has long passed), being a great athlete means nothing if you dont produce.

 

[jbmm161]

Underachiever and bad contract should hurt Atlanta for years to come.

 

[tramers]

nothing against Upton just tooooooooo much $$$$$$

 

[vwnut13]

If Zack Greinke is going to get the biggest contract ever for a pitcher, this must be an absolute steal!

 

[Jaypers]

Btw, the Braves lose their 1st round pick next year for signing him.

 

[cgilmo]

Btw, the Braves lose their 1st round pick next year for signing him.

They will get one for Bourne

 

[All The Hype]

Ditto

I dont know why teams still view him as a big target. At some point (which, IMO, has long passed), being a great athlete means nothing if you dont produce.

I was actually surprised when I looked up his stats to see he hit 28 homers and stole 31 bases last season (despite a .246 average). I still think he's badly overrated and just got waayyyyy too much money in this deal, but to his credit he did almost make the 30-30 club in 2012.

 

[hockeyfights]

If he can be a 25/25 guy, I'll take it all day every day. He might not have the Andruw Jones glove, but if he has skinny Andruw production, he will be well worth the money. I just hope he doesn't half ass it like Andruw did at times.

 

[jcmint]

This will not end up well for atl. Thats a ton of money for a underachieving lazy player

 

[scotty216brs]

5 years; $70-75M.

With the crazy amount of money being thrown around nowadays for free agents, this contract doesn't seem so bad. Keep in mind that I would not want him at that price, but for some reason I expected him to get 80+.

 

[steve-a-reno]

Uggla now upton......who does the big money go to now? Pavano, irabu, mike Hampton???

Not a fan of this move at all. I'd much rather have given that money to Bourn or a few years of Hamilton, though I know he wasn't on the radar.