Well, that was rude of you Atlanta & Arizona! I was working on something outlining the teams that would have a legitimate trade package worthy of Justin Upton for the Diamondbacks, but they went ahead and traded him this afternoon. I imagine that happens a lot to baseball writers. They plan something and they’re working on it then circumstances change to render it irrelevant. The trade for those unaware sends Upton and Chris Johnson to Atlanta for Martin Prado, Randall Delgado, Nick Ahmed, Zeke Spruill, and Brandon Drury. And at long lost the D’Backs ditch that scrub Upton. Their eagerness to trade Upton was absolutely absurd, but they got what they wanted and he’s gone. He joins brother BJ Upton in the Braves outfield with Jason Heyward making a ridiculous trio for the NL East contender.
The trade happened about 5 7 hours ago so there is already a ton written about it. I don’t have anything particularly to special to add. I love it for Atlanta, Upton still has superstar potential and it’s never a bad idea to add superstars. The brothers give them right-handed pop to split up Heyward, Freddie Freeman, and Brian McCann (once he returns). Arizona got a nice return, I guess. At least it wasn’t centered around Julio Teheran. Not because I dislike Teheran, but because a blue chip pitching prospect is the last thing they need, even after trading Trevor Bauer. It’s just been a horrible off-season for Kevin Towers and Co. over in the desert. Methinks a meddling owner is behind a lot of this, though.
Want me on the trade? Go here:
- Jason Parks and RJ Anderson at Baseball Prospectus
- Jayson Stark at ESPN
- Joe Sheehan‘s Newsletter (sign-up, it’s worth it!)
- Craig Calcaterra at Hardball Talk
- Joe Lucia at The Outside Corner
- SB Nation’s coverage all in one place
- Ben Nicholson-Smith at MLB Trade Rumors
- Smith again with words from Atl GM Frank Wren & Upton himself
- Mark Smith at Capitol Avenue Club on the trade
- Ethan Purser at CAC on the prospects going to Ari
- Dave Cameron at Fangraphs
- Mike Newman at Fangraphs on the prospects
Baseball By Paul 