The Giants have released veteran outfielder Melvin Upton after he requested his release, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag first reported on Twitter. Upton, it seems, is hopeful of catching on with a contender down the stretch.
Upton, who turns 33 today, caught on with the Giants in early April after he was released by the Blue Jays at the end of camp. He has seen only minimal action since, owing to thumb and shoulder issues. And none of it has come at the major-league level.
If Upton doesn’t make it back to the majors this year, it would represent his first season without MLB action since way back in 2005. He certainly will need to show he warrants a roster spot before he’ll have an opportunity, as he struggled badly late last year and Toronto and has hit just .244/.306/.333 over 49 plate appearances this year at Triple-A.
Still, it is conceivable that Upton could end up being a useful bench piece for a late-season run. He has long been a stolen base threat and quality overall baserunner. While defensive metrics have wavered on his glovework in center, both UZR and DRS graded him as a positive contributor in left field in 2016.
Lazy, terrible, bad attitude. Good riddance. -braves fan.
Ditto…ditto…and ditto… Rays fan.
Ditto, ditto, ditto- Phillies fan, he didn’t play for the phils i just know he sucks
Ditto – Jays Fan
Ditto – Padres Fan
Lmao
It says alot when the Braves traded Kimbrel for nothing in a rebuild just to get rid of upton.
Ditto…. other Braves fan…
I still can’t believe the Braves were able to ditch that contract.
Well they gave up kimbrel for free to do it. It was an awful trade for ATL even with upton leaving
My mom was happy when the Braves got rid of him.
LOL
Yea her rep took some hits…
Tigers
Because Detroit needs him for their playoff run?
And Phillies fans and talk radio types were angry that the Phils didn’t make a play for him. Just dumb luck they missed out on that train wreck.
The guy is poison……let him move on……
I forgot he was even in the giants system… It’s been that kind of year as a giants fan I guess.
The kind of year when the Giants aren’t good so you don’t pay attention? Sorry, but you walked into that one.
Giants playing poorly and still Upton cant make a call up!
Far better to give younger guys an extended look if you have nothing else to play for.
I didn’t even know he signed with the giants
I am there with you and 80% of the baseball world.
What good are five tools if the carpenter never shows up for work?
Nice one. :)
That is priceless !!!!
Seriously funny. My night is complete !
DITTO…..Jays Fan
Do you think it was the money which made him completely tank or lack of ability in the first place along with an undeserved deal from the Braves which put him in such a bad light?
This is nit-picky, and I don’t mean to ascribe bad intentions to you, but … I wouldn’t call the deal undeserved. He was a productive player and the team offered to pay it. 5/75 seemed steep at the time and turned out quite poorly, but I’ve never seen any indication he didn’t put in the work.
I’d say Upton’s contract was no more or less justified or unjustified than, say, the Nationals’ windfall in signing Daniel Murphy to an open-market deal that ended up delivering significant surplus value.
Not a terrible signing by the Braves. I wasn’t a huge fan of the deal at the time, but BJ was a solid player up to that point. Hard to predict a rapid decline in performance. Sometimes players just lose their mojo. Dan Uggla is another example. BTW, Uggla was made for conference softball. I wonder if he’ll ever step into that realm?
My Sunday league team needs a guy. We already have one former Brave. Trying to make a run deep into September.
Considering the dire state of the Giants’ outfield AND season, it says a lot that they have no use for him. Upton has proven over recent years that he’s not a solution
In his most recent years, he has mainly played for the Padres where he was productive. From 2015-2016, in 602 PAs with SD, Upton has .257/.313/.435, OPS+ of 103 with 21 homers and 29 steals. 3.3 WAR. The he was traded to Toronto where he was terrible.
Gil – Absolutly.