On the evening of Easter Sunday general manager A.J. Preller executed one last deal to improve the San Diego Padres before Opening Day.
The Padres acquired closer Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. (formerly known as B.J. Upton) from the Atlanta Braves just months after the two clubs made a deal that sent outfielder Justin Upton to the West Coast. In exchange for the two veterans, the Braves received outfielders Carlos Quentin and Cameron Maybin as well as prospects Matt Wisler and Jordan Paroubeck. Atlanta also got the No. 41 pick in the upcoming draft.
The deal was first reported by Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs.
While the Padres were able to land one of the best closers in the game over the past few seasons, they were also forced to take on the onerous contract of one of the worst outfielders in the league. Kimbrel has notched 186 saves and maintained a 1.43 ERA, 0.903 WHIP and 476 strikeouts in 294 games since 2010, but Upton has batted just .198/.279/.314 with 97 runs scored, 21 home runs and 61 RBIs in his first two seasons with the Braves after signing a franchise-record five-year, $75 million deal.
Braves' president of baseball operations John Hart has been trying to get Upton off the team's hands for much of the offseason, but couldn't find any takers because the outfielder is owed $46.35 million over the next three years and is starting 2015 on the disabled list with sesamoiditis in his left foot.
According to Corey Brock of MLB.com, it didn't sound like San Diego could acquire Kimbrel without having Upton included in the deal.
"There were a lot of different variations of the deal, but ultimately it ended up making sense to make the deal the way we did," Preller said. "In Upton, we looked at the deal as a whole."
The Padres will face the Los Angeles Dodgers at 1:10 p.m. ET on Monday and it's clear Kimbrel will be the team's closer as reliever Jaoquin Benoit will slip into the setup role again, which is where he was last season before closer Huston Street was dealt to the Los Angeles Angels. Benoit had a good spring and was slated to be the team's closer on Opening Day, but the quick change of plans will move him back into his former job.
On the other hand, it's unknown where Upton will play once he's ready to return from his injury. San Diego already acquired outfielders Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton this offseason, and that's expected to be their starting outfield. However, there has been talk about Myers moving to first base, so perhaps the team slowly works him into that position once Melvin Upton can return and possibly take over in center field.
This deal concluded perhaps one of the most active offseasons in MLB history.
