With the July 31 trade deadline quickly approaching, teams are on the hunt for the player that can put them over the top. Some teams are looking for a player that will help them sneak into the playoffs, appease a fan base, and give them a one in five chance at a World Series appearance. Other teams already have World Series aspirations and want a player to make them the favorite to host a parade in their city.
Justin Upton Injury Trade Impact
Justin Upton, the Padres OF and former number one overall pick of the Diamondbacks is a player being highly coveted by multiple teams. According to multiple reports, the Orioles and Pirates are just two of the teams interested in Upton’s powerful bat. The Astros who were recently passed by the Angels in the AL West have been struggling of late and are also allegedly considering a deal for Upton.
Complicating matters is the recent injury to Upton who left Sunday’s game with tightness in his left oblique and sat out Monday’s game as well. Oblique injuries are sometimes nagging injuries that can feel fine after a little rest or can linger and send players to the DL for an extended amount of time. The Padres have very little chance to make a comeback in the NL West and are equally unlikely to make a run and capture one of the two wildcard spots. Trading the impending Free Agent appears to be the most logical move for the franchise with Upton unlikely to resign with the Padres in the off-season. Currently, he is hitting .252 hitter with 15 HR on the season. It would have been easy to move to another team before the injury but now teams are going to be less willing to give the Padres anything valuable in return.
Making things even more interesting are the reports that the Tigers, who are 9.5 GB in the AL Central and 4 GB in the wild card, are going to be sellers. Yoenis Cespedes is one of the Tigers rumored to be on the trading block. With Upton, at best, day-to-day with his injury, interested teams might instead make a move for Cespedes. He is having a very good year for the Tigers hitting .289 with 13 HR and 52 RBI and could be a safer investment than Upton for a team looking to make a jump up the standings.
Upton is still a great player that any team would love to have patrolling their outfield and hitting home runs but with his latest injury scare, the Padres front office might be receiving less calls about their trade chip.
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