Melvin Upton, Craig Kimbrel to Padres: Latest Trade Details, Comments, Reaction

As if Craig Kimbrel wasn't hard enough to hit against in Atlanta, he'll now have the friendly confines of Petco Park to call home.

The San Diego Padres acquired the flamethrower and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. from the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night, Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs reported.     

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal provided the full details of the trade. Outfielders Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin and Padres pitching prospect Matt Wisler are the most noteworthy pieces moving to the Braves:

The Braves later confirmed the transaction.

Padres general manager A.J. Preller has been extremely active this offseason, making trades for Wil Myers, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Derek Norris. The team also signed James Shields.

Kimbrel is by far the biggest piece of this trade. He's arguably the best closer in baseball, and he is coming off of a season in which he saved a National League-high 47 games and posted a 1.61 earned run average.

Depending on your opinion of Heath Bell, the Padres haven’t had a closer this good since the prime years of Trevor Hoffman.

With that said, it’s fair to ask whether Kimbrel is more of a luxury than a necessity. Closer is one of the more interchangeable positions on the field and wasn’t a serious problem for San Diego in 2014, even after the Huston Street trade.

In acquiring Kimbrel, the Padres parted ways with their best pitching prospect in addition to taking on Upton. Grantland’s Jonah Keri argued he has the third-worst contract in baseball.

MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported that San Diego will be paying the full amount remaining on Upton’s deal, unlike the Kemp deal, in which the Padres received some money from the Los Angeles Dodgers to help offset Kemp’s contract:

Over the last two years, Upton has combined to hit 21 homers and drive in 61 runs. He averaged nearly 19 home runs and 71 RBI in his last six seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays before moving to Atlanta.

Not only has Upton lost the majority of his power, but he also hit .184 in 2013 and .208 in 2014.

And it’s not like the Padres were in need of another outfielder. They traded Quentin and Maybin in part to alleviate their glut of outfielders, but they’ll still have four when Upton is healthy again. Either Upton will be an extremely highly paid fourth outfielder, or San Diego will be forced to move Kemp or Myers to first base.

Sports Illustrated's Joe Sheehan argued that San Diego didn't necessarily improve its areas of need with this deal:

Meanwhile, the Braves are in full rebuild mode. That much was largely evident after last year's 79-83 finish, which led to the firing of general manager Frank Wren and moving of the team's best offensive player, Justin Upton.

Rosenthal believes that after Atlanta committed to its plan, Kimbrel was surplus to requirements:

Hardball Talk's Matthew Pouliot doesn't mind Atlanta offloading Kimbrel as a part of its rebuilding plan but questioned whether he should've been included along with Melvin Upton Jr. since Upton drove down the return Kimbrel could fetch:

There's no question that trading Kimbrel alone could've fetched the Braves more assets, but Wisler is ranked as the 70th-best prospect on MLB.com, No. 41 on FanGraphs and No. 34 in Baseball America. The move certainly isn't indefensible if Atlanta has a longer-term plan in mind.

In general, this move certainly involves two teams on altogether different trajectories.

The Padres continue to cement their intentions of winning a title over the next few years, while the Braves can only hope that they're turning a corner by the time SunTrust Park opens in 2017. It's quite a fall from grace for Atlanta, which won 94 games in 2012 and 96 games in 2013.