Atlanta Braves: 5 Worst Contracts In Recent Memory
By Sam Peebles
The Atlanta Braves have had some serious wins when it comes to contracts, especially when it comes to extensions with guys like Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr just to name a few.
While the Atlanta Braves had serious ups, they have also had some seriously bad downs in recent history as well when it comes to contracts. Some of these contracts are so bad, that they are used as arguments as to why not to sign big-name free agents to this day.
There surely will be more signings once the lockout ends, so let’s look at some relatively recent signings, or extensions, that the Atlanta Braves have made that the front office can look back on and try to avoid making the same mistake again.
Atlanta Braves Sign B.J. Upton
In November of 2012, it was announced that the Atlanta Braves would sign B.J. Upton to a 5 year, $75.25 million deal. In hindsight, the signing of B.J. Upton obviously looks bad. However, even though the contract was hefty at the time, Upton was coming off a three season stretch that was very good.
From 2010-12 Upton averaged 3.5 WAR per season with a batting line of .242/.317/.436 and an OPS+ of 109 (9% above average). He also slugged 69 home runs and stole 109 bases.
It could be argued that the front office put too much focus on home runs and stolen bases, and not on the complete package of a player, but the contract still was palatable at the time of the signing.
Things took a turn for the worst really quickly. As most of us remember, his first two years were a disaster. So much so, the Atlanta Braves had to trade arguably the best closer they have ever had in Craig Kimbrel to get out of paying the rest of Upton’s contract (three years remaining), cementing that the Braves were in rebuild mode.
Upton’s performance was dismal with a batting line of .198/.279/.314 with a 66 OPS+. Even his stolen bases suffered drastically, only stealing 32 total bases while being caught 27.27% of the time. From an overall game standpoint, he ended up bringing -1.7 WAR and -0.2 defensive WAR.