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A History Of Upton Brothers Trade Rumors
B.J. Upton has spent nearly a decade in the Rays organization. His brother, Justin, has spent all six years of his pro career with Arizona. Neither one has ever been traded, B.J. has shown interest in signing a long term deal and Justin signed an extension that keeps him under team control through 2015. Yet without fail, one of the Upton brothers always seems to be all over MLBTR.
Just about every team has been linked to at least one of the two brothers over the years, as you can see below. Here's a historical look at the Upton brothers' involvement in trade rumors:
- The Nationals are scouting him now.
- He was linked to the Braves in November of 2010.
- The Dodgers were a speculative destination last summer.
- The Phillies asked for him in last summer's Jayson Werth talks.
- His name came up in discussions with the Mariners last July.
- The Nationals targeted Upton last May.
- Back when Roy Halladay was available, Upton was linked to the Blue Jays.
- The Rangers and White Sox were interested in November of 2009.
- Unnamed teams expressed interest in Upton back in 2008.
- The Twins were interested in him in 2007.
- The Marlins were also interested in Upton four years ago.
- The Red Sox were linked to the younger Upton throughout this past offseason. By some accounts they were the only team to seriously discuss an Upton trade last winter.
- You thought B.J. drew lots of interest? 15 or 16 teams approached the D'Backs about Justin this November.
- The Mariners, Marlins, Orioles and Yankees showed interest and even the Rockies inquired. He was also on the Blue Jays' radar last offseason.
D'Backs GM Kevin Towers maintained over the winter that he'd have to be overwhelmed to move Justin. B.J., meanwhile, earns $4.8MM this year and becomes a free agent after the 2012 season. He'll become even more expensive through arbitration next year and the Rays are on a tight budget. That can only mean one thing: B.J. will continue to be a regular in trade rumors this summer.
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