This offseason, there's always been the smoky haze of trade rumors surrounding Justin Upton. The haze got even thicker when Jason Heyward was moved to St. Louis for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins, but now there is apparently a fire going as far as Justin Upton trade talks are concerned.
According to the New York Post's Joel Sherman, the Braves are actively shopping Justin Upton right now, and the asking price is much steeper than Jason Heyward's, too. Here's the juicy details from the piece:
...The Braves think Upton has greater value in the trade market because his overall offense — particularly his power — is superior. Upton hit 29 homers and Heyward 11. And Upton brings righty power, which is in particularly short demand...
...However, the interest in Upton is described by a person familiar with the talks as significant — the Astros, Rangers and others have inquired — and an executive from another team flatly said, "Justin Upton will be moved."
The point that Sherman makes about Upton's trade value compared to Heyward's is a sensible one. Defense isn't the sexiest thing on the trade market (as the Heyward trade illustated), but offense is always in style, and Justin Upton's bat is fashionable, to say the least. He's coming off of a 30 HR/100 RBI season, which is extremely valuable when it comes to traditional offensive metrics, and having an ISO of .221 with 133 wRC+ can't hurt, either. While there are legit arguments that J-Up shouldn't command more than Heyward, we have to acknowledge the fact that with the way that most trades have gone, J-Up's bat will probably net the Braves a lot more on the trade market than Heyward's glove/bat did.
Also, we've all known that the Mariners would definitely be interested, but now we've got 2 new names in the Astros and the Rangers. If the Braves are going for pitching prospects, they really couldn't go wrong with trying to see what these 3 particular AL West organizations have to offer in their farm. Personally, I still think that the Mariners are probably going to end up pulling off the deal since they came so close 2 years ago, but we'll see what happens. It's clear, though, that it's not a matter of "if" but "when" J-Up gets traded at this point.
Meanwhile, Sherman noted that the Braves have also made their interest clear in Cuban outfield prospect Yasmany Tomas. In fact, MLB.com reports that the Braves are currently joint-favorites with the Padres for gaining the 24-year-old's services. All signs point towards a long term deal from 5-7 years hovering around the $100 MM mark at the very most, but that'd be a whole lot cheaper than what it'd take to lock down Justin Upton. Dave Cameron pointed this out in the fangraphs piece I linked to earlier, and it makes a ton of sense: Getting a prospect haul for J-Up and then subsequently signing Tomas (and Tomas's potentially big bat) would be a pretty nifty move for the Braves to make.
Now, we don't know much about Cuban prospects (as usual), and while there might be a slight injury concern and some defensive issues, it's always nice to have a guy who can hit balls as hard and far as this guy can.
With word on the street that the Yankees are emerging as the frontrunners for Yoan Moncada, it makes sense that the Braves would rather focus on trying to land Tomas instead. Here's hoping they do, because good grief, I need some more tape-measure homers like that from guys with A's on their hats and tomahawks across their chests in my life.
It seems like every day we're getting some interesting news when it comes to trades and signing, so everybody should definitely stay tuned to see what else happens. We've only gone through the first big thrill of the rollercoaster ride that is the Braves 2014-15 offseason, and it's clear that we've got plenty more loop-de-loops and sharp turns to go on this ride.