After months of trade rumors it's looking more and more like Justin Upton will remain on the Arizona Diamondbacks' 25-man roster.
Recent reports indicate that Upton vetoed a trade that would have sent the outfielder to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for a lucrative multi-player swap, according to CBS Sports' Scott Miller.
Miller’s sources indicate that Upton still may not be in Arizona for long, although the difficulty in moving him is increasing as teams fill needs through other means.
“Something is going to happen somewhere with them,” Miller’s source said of the Diamondbacks’ Upton situation. “I just don’t know where or when.”
Seattle would have given up Charlie Furbush and Stephen Pryor, two relievers and Taijuan Walker, a top pitching prospect in the M’s system, in order to add a key bat to the middle of their lineup.
Shortstop prospect Nick Franklin was also thrown into the deal to sweeten it for Arizona.
Walker, 20, has vast potential and is a valuable trade chip. He was ranked as the 20th-best prospect in the minors by Baseball America prior to the 2012 season.
That sets the bar for the type of player and package Arizona is attempting to get in exchange for its top trade chip.
Upton’s refusal to go to Seattle is understandable, though, so where else might he end up?
Let’s take a look at where he is NOT going.
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweeted Upton’s four-team no-trade list on Thursday:
#Mariners, #bluejays, #redsox and #cubs are the 4 teams on Upton's no-trade list. This deal was never gonna work.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) January 11, 2013
Atlanta and Texas are starting to cool on the idea of giving up big packages in order to bring Upton to town.
The Braves seem content with what they’ve got heading into spring training, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
O’Brien did note that the Braves would likely jump at the chance to unite the Upton brothers if the Diamondbacks were to lower the asking price.
Texas has reportedly dropped from the chase altogether.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported Arizona offered Upton to the Rangers prior to their deal with the Mariners, but that they weren’t willing to pay the steep price to get a deal done (via Twitter):
The #dbacks offered Upton to #rangers on Thu before proposed #mariners trade but price too steep
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 11, 2013
Upton, at this point, will most likely be an Arizona Diamondback when the 2013 season kicks off. All of the young outfielder’s top suitors are turned off by the idea of taking on his large contract and sacrificing a sizeable amount of talent in the process.
A deal could still get done, but it isn’t likely at this point. Unless, of course, Arizona is willing to cave on its demands in order to ship Upton.
The Diamondbacks have been trying to move the talented outfielder for a good amount of time. They may be willing to keep waiting for the right opportunity to come along before pulling the trigger.
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