Braves set to enshrine BJ Upton in horrible MLB contracts HoF

[MakMan44]

http://mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140616&content_id=80030348&notebook_id=79999836&vkey=notebook_atl&c_id=atl
 
The Braves are reportedly thinking of promoting Christian Bethancourt, their top catching prospect. This would move Evan Gattis to LF, Justin Upton to RF, and Jason Heyward to CF. 
 
Thus leaving BJ Upton as a bench player. A bench player who is owed $15 mill in 2015, $16 mill in 2016, and $17 mill in 2017. 
 
For his part, BJ would have been the worst OF by just about every offensive metric on FG if he had qualified in 2013. He's on a slightly better pace this season but his OPS is still only .634. 

 

[Yaz4Ever]

so, they diminish Gattis' value to them by putting him in the OF where he's not exactly good and replace BJ Upton's horrific offense with a youngster who is also not an offensive powerhouse?  I'm assuming Bethancourt is vastly superior to Gattis defensively, and it makes sense to want a better defensive catcher, but you're still not addressing the offensive black hole in the lineup and making your OF defense worse.  

 

[MakMan44]

Pretty spot on critique.

 

[MuzzyField]

And they're on the hook for another $13-million in 2015 for Dan Uggla.  

 

[mt8thsw9th]

Bethancourt is sporting a .274/.301/.371 line in AAA, for what it's worth.

 

[MakMan44]

Bethancourt is sporting a .274/.301/.371 line in AAA, for what it's worth.

I think it's fair to suggest that Bethancourt can surpass Upton's OPS, it's just a question of whether placing Gattis in the OF is worth that upgrade because it figures to be minor, at least this season.

 

[smastroyin]

The amazing thing about BJ Upton is you look at that age 22 year and he was going to be a superstar.  His age 23 year he regressed a bit but was still very good and had the spectacular post-season.  
 
His age 22 year he had a .300 AVG.  The following year he had a .273.  He's never had higher than .246 otherwise.
His age 22 year he had a .386 OBP, followed up by .383.  His highest since is .331.
His age 22 year he had a .508 SLG.  His highest since is .454.
His age 22 ISO was 208.  He's matched that once, in a year in which he hit .246 (and the final year before that contract).
His age 23 year was short on power, but he walked 97 times.  His highest otherwise is 71.
 
If BJ Upton were from the Domincan Republic instead of Virginia, people would just assume he lied on his birth certificate and broke into the majors at age 26.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

I think it's fair to suggest that Bethancourt can surpass Upton's OPS

 
Why is that fair to suggest? He's a rookie with zero plate discipline who isn't hitting much at AAA. I would think Upton's line would be his upside.
 
All while making their outfield defense much, much worse. Upton may be a lot of things, but he's still a competent CF. Heyward is a very good OF, but odds are he's a huge drop-off from Upton playing out of position, and Gettis is going to be a huge downgrade from JUpton, and you're also making JUpton switch positions...which could be a benefit if he's better at RF than LF, but who knows.
 
This also doesn't solve the Uggla issue. which is far more pressing, and the roster issue could be worked out by just dumping Doumit. 

 

[MakMan44]

 
Why is that fair to suggest? He's a rookie with zero plate discipline who isn't hitting much at AAA. I would think Upton's line would be his upside.

I think he could crack a .650 OPS, which would technically be better than Upton. 
 
EDIT: What's the Uggla problem? Tommy La Stella is up and according to this is already outhitting Uggla.

 

[dylanmarsh]

So is it fair to say that his contract is somewhere between Vernon Davis Vernon Wells and Alex Rios and he still has a chance to rebound like Rios?
 
edit: I need coffee

 

[absintheofmalaise]

I think he could crack a .650 OPS, which would technically be better than Upton. 
 
EDIT: What's the Uggla problem? Tommy La Stella is up and according to this is already outhitting Uggla.

The Uggla problem is that he is on the roster and, short of pushing him off of a cliff, there is no way the Braves can rid themselves of him even if they eat the contract. And having him on the roster causes Fredi Gonzales to do even dumber things than normal. Like having Uggla pinch run for Gattis in the 11th inning of a tie game. Because it's a good idea to take your best hitter out of the line up for a marginal upgrade in speed.
 
And Gattis has about as much business playing in the OF as Mike Carp. The only reason he played there last year was so they could get his bat in the line up as much as possible.
 
La Stella has been fun to watch since they called him up and will probably end up hitting around .300. Not really sure he can sustain the .400+ BA with a BABIP of .451.