Melvin Upton Jr Sends Message To Atlanta Braves Fans

A few hours have now passed and we’re all starting to swallow the fact that another fan favorite, Craig Kimbrel, has been traded.  As Ken Rosenthal reported about 6:15pm ET on Sunday, the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres have agreed on a blockbuster trade.

Fred’s article earlier described in detail about each piece of the trade but this was some surprise.

The Braves sent Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr.to the Padres for Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin and top prospects pitcher Matt Wisler and outfielder Jordan Paroubeck.

Melvin Upton came to the Braves on November 29, 2012 when former GM Frank Wren gave him a 5 year/$72.25 million contract.  He came to the Braves after eight pretty successful seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays.  The 2nd pick of the 2002 draft by the Rays made his debut on August 2, 2004 as a  19-year-old.

The Braves signed him to a lucrative deal and a few months later, we had his brother Justin as well.  The Braves traded Martin Prado to the Arizona Diamondbacks to make that happen.  Two seasons down and Upton’s slash line was .198/.279/.314 with the Braves with 32 stolen bases and 324 strikeouts.

Now 30-years-old, he’ll officially rejoin his brother Justin Upton in San Diego.  The Braves traded Justin to the Padres on December 19, 2014.  With Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin in the outfield, what are they going to do when Melvin is healthy?

After the trade, Melvin Upton sent out a message apologizing to Braves fans everywhere on Twitter.