D-Backs to send Justin Upton to the Braves
The Braves have acquired D-Backs OF Justin Upton, according to the following reports.
The deal would team up Upton with his brother, B.J. Upton, as well as Jason Heyward, in Atlanta’s outfield.
10:10 am: Braves will get Upton and 3B Chris Johnson, the D-Backs get infielder Martin Prado, pitchers Randall Delgado, Nick Ahmed and Zeke Spruill (Bowman, MLB.com).
Matthew Cerrone, Lead Writer
9:53 am: Damn! That hurts. The Braves outfield is as good as the Mets outfield is bad, at this point. Yikes << click to tweet this.
The Mets had interest in Upton, but would not part with Zack Wheeler, Travis d’Arnaud or Matt Harvey to get a deal done. The two sides talked before the Winter Meetings, and a few times in the last week or so. But, the Mets never budged from their position. Last year, there was talk that Arizona would take Jon Niese in a deal for Upton, but I don’t think the two sides discussed him this time around.
6:45 am: Arizona is close to a deal that will send Upton to the Braves (Rosenthal, FoxSports).
Jan. 22: The Braves and Diamondbacks are still working on a deal for Upton – it is now less likely Arizona will deal Kubel to the Orioles (Heyman, CBS Sports).
Jan. 22: The Braves are waiting to hear back from Arizona about a deal for Upton (Rosenthal, FoxSports).
To see previous updates and information about this story, click here...
Jan. 22: The Rangers have not talked to the Arizona about Upton in weeks (Heyman, CBS Sports).
Jan. 22: The D-Backs want to make a decision on trading Upton or Kubel by Friday (Olney, ESPN).
Jan. 22: The Orioles are pursuing a trade for Kubel (Rosenthal, FOX Sports).
Jan 22: The D-Backs are weighing offers for Upton and Kubel (Olney, ESPN).
Jan. 11: Arizona initially wanted the Mets to give up a combination of top prospects (Wheeler, Travis d’Arnaud, Wilmer Flores, etc.) and big-league talent (Harvey, Daniel Murphy, Bobby Parnell, etc.) in a deal for Upton; while Kubel will likely cost just two upper-level pitching prospects (Cerrone, MetsBlog.com).
Jan. 11: Upton used his no-trade clause to block a deal that would have sent him to Seattle for four of the team’s top 10 prospects (MLBTR). The Mariners were ‘clearly overparing,’ and they’re fortunate the trade fell through, said a team executive (Crasnick, ESPN).
Contract: Upton will earn $9.75 million next season, during which Niese will earn $3 million. Upton’s salary bumps up to $14.25 million in 2014 and $14.5 million in 2015, after which he is eligible to be a free agent.
Stats: Upton hit .280 with a .355 OBP and .430 SLG with 17 home runs and 67 RBI and 121 strikeouts in 554 at-bats in 2012. In his career, Upton has hit .307 with a .937 OPS, 67 home runs and 219 RBI in 1297 at-bats at Chase Field, while hitting just .250 with a .731 OPS, 41 home runs and 144 RBI in 1366 at-bats on the road.
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