Atlanta Braves outfielder Justin Upton is entering the final year of his contract and has been the subject of trade talks throughout the offseason. If he doesn't remain in Atlanta, where will he be playing in 2015?
According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the San Diego Padres are continuing to pursue Upton after they acquired Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers last week. Bowman writes he "wouldn't be shocked" if Upton is playing alongside Kemp in 2015, but such a trade is going to take a lot of work since Braves' president of baseball operations John Hart is not going to trade Upton unless he gets exactly what he wants.
A rival executive also confirmed to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal that San Diego is "all over" Upton, which makes for an interesting case because the Padres have outfielders that are essentially untradeable and attractive starting pitchers that they do not want to part ways with. If they were to acquire Upton, the Padres would likely still have outfielders Carlos Quentin (owed $8 million in 2015) and Cameron Maybin (owed a combined $15 million in 2015 and 2016) unless they somehow found a trade partner for them. That's also assuming they don't trade Seth Smith, who's been garnering interest from a number of teams. They would have a hefty logjam in the outfield at fairly high salaries. Let's not forget about youngster Rymer Liriano, who the Padres hope will make an impact at some point.
Sources also told Rosenthal that San Diego isn't interested in trading starters Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy or Andrew Cashner. These players make up the heart of the team's starting rotation and rarely is it a prudent decision to trade away established starting pitching. However, the Braves are looking for just that since their rotation has only four starters as of right now (Julio Teheran, Mike Minor, Alex Wood and Shelby Miller).
San Diego recently made a high-incentive offer to starter Brandon Morrow, so perhaps they're preparing to trade one of their starters. Odrisamer Despaigne could be an option after he went 4-7 with a 3.36 ERA in 16 starts for the Padres in his first MLB season in 2014, but will that be enough for Hart to sign off on a deal? The Padres also have a stacked farm system, which features starters Matthew Wisler, Max Fried, Casey Kelly and Joe Ross, outfielder Hunter Renfroe and catcher Austin Hedges. New general manager A.J. Preller has voiced his satisfaction with the starting rotation and said "they give the team a chance to win on a day-to-day basis." So is moving prospects the way to go to acquire Upton? After all, Hart acknowledged the Braves had the 29th-ranked farm system in baseball last year.
Upton is only signed through the 2015 season for $14.5 million, so perhaps moving prospects or established starting pitching isn't what the Padres want to do for a one-year rental. However, their interest in the 27-year-old outfielder remains serious and persistent, so it's unknown what San Diego will do.
The NL West looks a bit weaker right now: the World Series champion Giants lost a number of players in free agency and have a questionable starting rotation; the Dodgers arguably took a small step back with their flurry of trades last week (unless they're setting themselves up for a megadeal in the coming weeks); and the Diamondbacks and Rockies were the two worst teams in baseball last season.
Although San Diego is still a number of moves away from contending, they might think they could make a splash in 2015 if they can somehow add Upton and keep their starting rotation intact.
