The Braves pulled it off. Justin Upton will be joining his brother B.J. Upton in the Braves' outfield in 2013. Surprisingly though, the Braves traded their would-be third baseman Martin Prado to the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete the deal.
Here's how the deal breaks down, courtesy MLB.com's Mark Bowman and Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal:
Braves get:
Justin Upton (OF)
Chris Johnson (3B)
Diamondbacks get:
Martin Prado (3B-2B-OF)
Randall Delgado (P)
Nick Ahmed (SS prospect)
Zeke Spruill (P prospect)
Brandon Drury (1B prospect)
Losing Prado still leaves the Atlanta Braves without a leadoff hitter (Prado was probably going to have to hit leadoff by default) and means that the Braves will be stuck using a combination of Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson at third base.
The deal essentially means that the Braves are swapping out Chipper Jones for Justin Upton, Michael Bourn for B.J. Upton, and Martin Prado for Juan Francisco. I am not sure who is going to lead off for the Braves given who they have. The lineup may look like this:
1. Andrelton Simmons, SS
2. B.J. Upton, CF
3. Justin Upton, LF
4. Jason Heyward, RF
5. Freddie Freeman, 1B
6. Brian McCann, C
7.Dan Uggla, 2B
8. Juan Francisco, 3B
Pitcher
Francisco needs to hit eighth and B.J. Upton is not a leadoff hitter. So Simmons it probably is for the Braves. There simply is no one else to lead off out of that bunch.
The Braves did pretty well; there was nothing they could do to counter losing Chipper Jones to retirement. However, the lineup may be a tick below last year's.
P.S.: This likely sends Martin Prado into free agency next offseason. He's long been a favorite of Charlie Manuel. He may fit with the Phillies.
