Lustin' for Justin by Jared Carrabis
The Red Sox are 'still are engaged in talks' with D-Backs for Justin Upton


What first started as just a couple of teams "kicking the tires" on Arizona Diamondbacks’ Justin Upton, has evolved into legitimate trade rumors with the 23-year-old outfielder.

The Upton movement has come a long way, as just days prior to the July trade deadline this past season, an anonymous general manager said that the Diamondbacks were open to trading any player on their roster but Upton.

As the second and final day of the GM meetings comes to a close, it is now clear that Upton has gone from "untouchable" to "desired." This is peculiar to me, due to the fact that not only is Upton a very young and talented player with a lot of upside, but he won’t reach free agency until 2016.

In this first year of his six-year, $51.25 million contract last season, Upton made $500,000 to .273/.356/.442 with 17 homers and 69 RBI in 133 games. Next season, Upton’s salary will bump up from half a million to $4.25 million, which may not seem like a lot to a Red Sox fan, but take into consideration that Adam LaRoche was the highest paid player on the Diamondbacks’ roster in 2010, and he only made $4.5 million.

Although paying Upton $4.25 million in 2011 wouldn’t be "back-breaking" to the Diamondbacks, by 2013, Upton will be making $9.75 million, before earning $14.25 million and $14.5 million in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

It’s worth noting that the $14.5 million that Upton is under contract to be paid in the final year of his deal with Arizona would make up 30% of the entire Diamondbacks team payroll in 2010, which ranked twenty-eighth out of thirty major league teams.

Just a few days ago, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that former Padres and current Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers mentioned Upton as being "under discussion" with several teams.

"I'm open to listening on anybody," Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers said. "We got more hits on Upton and [Stephen] Drew. They're difficult to move, but sometimes to make your club better, you have to move good players. You never know when a deal might present itself."

Once word got out that Upton was no longer untouchable, both the Red Sox and Yankees came calling to Towers to inquire about the D-Backs’ star outfielder. Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger wrote that "it appears the Yankees are simply doing their due diligence, according to the person with knowledge, as the Diamondbacks' asking price for the 23-year-old may be too high."



Due to Upton’s youth, talent, popularity and affordability, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic spoke with an NL scout who said this of the return that the Diamondbacks could get in return for the first overall pick in the 2005 amateur baseball draft.

"The value is in the eye of the beholder," said a scout with an NL team. "But I would guess they could get an established big leaguer, two top 10 prospects and a lower-level prospect."

However, not all are sold on Upton, including an NL executive who said, "(Upton’s value is) less than what I’ve read about. For one, he probably got overpaid. He’s got supreme talent, but his brother’s record isn’t helping him. He’s never gone to the next level. I don’t know. Maybe he needs a change of scenery."

Piecoro’s piece also suggests that the Red Sox and Yankees are best suited to take the gamble on Upton, as by the time the outfielder reaches the end of his deal where he’s making upwards of $14 million, "He might be worth $20 million then, but if he’s a bust then somebody’s going to regret it. It’s a risk the Red Sox could take, a risk the Yankees could take. I don’t see any other team giving up a host of young guys for one young guy who hasn’t figured it out yet."

In Nightengale’s latest post, he says, "while the Yankees' package has not met the Diamondbacks' demands, according to officials from New York and Arizona, the Red Sox still are engaged in talks."

"If somebody wants to overpay,'' Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers said, "I'll be more than willing to listen. It's just a thing where people are kicking the tires right now. That's it.''

If I had to make an educated guess, it would be that Justin Upton Diamondbacks t-shirts are not going to become a collector's item any time soon.

To watch a video clip of Justin Upton hitting a bomb at Fenway Park, click HERE!

-Jared Carrabis

Published on November 17, 2010

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