Braves Trade Craig Kimbrel And Melvin Upton Jr. To The Padres

The Atlanta Braves have traded closer Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. to the San Diego Padres, as first reported by FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel.

The Braves will get pitching prospect Matt Wisler, outfielders Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin, minor leaguer Jordan Paroubeck and the 41st overall pick in return, according to McDaniel and ESPN’s Keith Law.

The Padres needed to unload some outfielders after adding Wil Myers, Justin Upton and Matt Kemp in the offseason. San Diego seems poised for a legitimate playoff run in 2015 after an especially active winter. The additions of Kimbrel, the new outfield and James Shields should put the Padres in a good position to compete for a division title.

On the other side of the coin, Atlanta looks like they’ve already thrown in the towel for this upcoming season. Washington is the clear favorite in the NL East, and the Marlins look like they’ve pulled ahead of the Braves as well.

San Diego and Atlanta will both put their new teams on the field tomorrow as the 2015 MLB season finally gets going.

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