During his tenure as Braves general manager, Frank Wren has had far more success in the areas of player development, low-level trades and waiver pickups than in finding the right player to give obscene amounts of money to. We cite as money pits: Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami, Dan Uggla and B.J. Upton.
Pro sports teams rarely get by with major financial mistakes. That’s why the Braves’ regular season to this point has been so remarkable. They have the best record in baseball despite the fact that their two most expensive players, Uggla ($13.2 million) and Upton ($13.05 million), are hitting a combined .185 with 267 strikeouts.
That margin for error may just have been eliminated. Note to Upton and Uggla: This is your wake-up call.
The Braves have lost Jason Heyward, their starting right fielder and astoundingly good leadoff hitter, for possibly the remainder of the regular season with a broken jaw. If and when he returns, there is no guarantee he will perform at the same level he had been. He probably will be lighter and weaker from weeks on a liquid diet. His timing will be off from a lack of live play.
There’s also no way to know what psychological damage he may suffer after being hit in the face with a 90-mph fastball. Consider the trauma an athlete goes through with a major knee injury and the time it takes to regain the confidence to push off that repaired ligament again.
It follows that the Braves can’t just assume Heyward will be whole again this year. They need Upton (.183) to look like a reasonable facsimile of a player they believed was worth a $75.25 million contract. They need Uggla (.186 this season, .216 in two-plus seasons as a Brave) to play up to the value of his five-year, $62 million deal.
Visualize Wren sitting alone in a folding chair, waiting for two oil wells to actually hit something.
Athletes complain that media and fans focus on salaries too much, but the people who earn the most should be the ones most responsible for how a business performs. Upton and Uggla should be the ones pulling the wagon, not the other way around.
If Wren is able to acquire help before the Aug. 31 waiver trade deadline, it likely will be only for a bench player with flaws significant enough to allow him to pass through waivers. Translation: This is your team.
With Heyward, the Braves will have 10 players on the disabled list. They’ve lost six players to season-ending surgeries. But just as others have made up for the losses of Tim Hudson, Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters, Upton and Uggla are most responsible to fill the void left by Heyward.
Jordan Schafer and Evan Gattis will get more starts, but Schafer was a waiver pickup, and Gattis dropped out of the heavens. They’ve been unexpected bonuses. There was an expectation level for Upton. There are mandates that go with being the richest free-agent signing in franchise history.
In Tampa, Upton was viewed as talented but somewhat of a tease, one whose production seldom equated to his potential. In Atlanta, he hasn’t been even that good. Maybe it’s the money. Maybe it’s playing for a higher profile team. Maybe playing alongside his brother, Justin, wasn’t such a great plan after all. Regardless, the Braves expected better than .183, eight homers, 21 RBIs and a .266 on-base percentage.
Upton has been even worse in clutch situations: .091 with runners in scoring position, .023 with two outs and RISP and .137 with men on.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez has benched him recently, presumably hoping the rest can heal Upton’s bat and possibly his head. But he doesn’t have that luxury any more. Justin Upton has an upper back strain. That might mean a starting outfield of Gattis, B.J. Upton and Schafer.
Uggla hasn’t been much better, the only difference being this is his third season with the Braves. He is on the disabled list after laser eye surgery. Uggla put it best when he joked (kinda, sorta), “Hopefully they fixed my swing when I was under.”
So he’s clutch in joke time.
Uggla has retained his power. He draws walks. That’s the good. But he’s hitting .141 with runners in scoring position, .108 with two outs and RISP and .181 with men on. That’s the bad.
Heyward was central to the Braves’ second-half surge. Now he’s gone. Upton and Uggla can’t just be along for the ride anymore.
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