The Braves have already traded Jason Heyward, have considered dealing Evan Gattis, and have been rumored to be at least listening to offers for Justin Upton. Now it appears that listening has turned into something more concrete. The Braves are reportedly trading Justin Upton to the San Diego Padres for prospects Max Fried, Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson, and Mallex Smith, according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman. Ken Rosenthal narrowed it down from mystery team to Padres first.
Justin Upton traded to Padres
The Padres are at it once again, and are close to landing Justin Upton.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
The Padres are giving up a few interesting prospects -- especially if Fried gets back on track after blowing out his elbow -- but they managed to retain not only top prospect Austin Hedges, but also Hunter Renfroe and Matt Wisler as well. There are still youthful building blocks here, but now they’re joined by established, productive players the Padres desperately needed.
Unexpected Moves
The Padres have already added Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, and Derek Norris this week, bolstering their offensive output significantly even as they sent Yasmani Grandal and a slew of prospects packing. Kemp produced a 140 OPS+ this past summer with the Dodgers, Myers had a poor sophomore campaign but combines youth and offensive potential in a way no one else on the Padres does, and Norris fills the hole behind the plate left by Grandal’s departure. Upton will slot in to the Padres outfield in 2015, the final year of his deal, in which he’ll make $14.5 million.
Upton was traded from the Diamondbacks to the Braves before the 2013 season, and has batted .267/.348/.478 for Atlanta. He’s still just 27 years old, and his presence in San Diego suddenly gives them a lineup that could realistically vault them into playoff contention, something the Padres haven’t even sniffed since 2010.
The Padres do still need to figure out the matter of who plays where, as there isn’t a true center fielder among Upton, Kemp, or Myers. They do have a hole at first thanks to Yonder Alonso’s failure to break out, so one of Myers (who has a little bit of infield experience) or Kemp (who has bad hips) could shift there to plug it. This would open up center field for Cameron Maybin, who has a history of injuries and hasn’t hit much but would improve the outfield defense exponentially.
The Padres now have both Carlos Quentin and Seth Smith without obvious jobs, meaning there are more moves to come for San Diego.
See More:
