How terrible is this trade?

[A817]

I know the trade is not vetoable, but BJ Upton for Jose valverade? Is the owner trading Upton brain dead? you thoughts? is it vertoable?

[CBMGreatOne]

I don't think it's vetoable. I've seen a heck of a lot worse.

[noseeum]

Um, not terrible at all. If you need a closer, Valverde's a pretty good one.

Upton played well above his component skill last year. Unless he's a complete bargain keeper or if this is a non keeper league, what's wrong with this at all?

[Matthias]

Really? Not a terrible trade? Is BJ not 2B eligible in your leagues? Valverde is having a Borowski kind of year.... saves and not much else. I don't know the circumstances and settings of your league and this trade, but it doesn't seem very even.

[noseeum]

Really? Not a terrible trade? Is BJ not 2B eligible in your leagues? Valverde is having a Borowski kind of year.... saves and not much else. I don't know the circumstances and settings of your league and this trade, but it doesn't seem very even.

I think BJ Upton is way overrated. His skills are growing, but they do not support what he did last year. He's still a top 5 2B, but so what? So is Rickie Weeks. I don't think Upton was worth a 3rd round pick this year at all. Which is why I have him in no leagues.

At draft time, many ranked Valverde as one of the best closers in baseball. He had a rough start, which was due to a 50% BABIP. The underlying skills are still there, and his team is better than most thought it would be.

Upton, meanwhile, does not have 30 home run power. He's got speed, and he should hit .280, but his 2007 numbers are completely unsupported by his underlying skills. I do believe he'll get there one day, but he's not there yet.

So if someone is high on Valverde for the rest of the season, and has a solid 2B in addition to Upton, this trade might make his team better. It's perfectly defensible in the right context.

As we should say in every one of these threads, until we know the context, we can't just say "terrible trade".

[noseeum]

BTW, I'm not saying Upton's the worse player in this deal. Just that the trade is perfectly defensible in the right context.