It has been two days since Justin Upton used his no-trade clause to block a trade to the Mariners, which would have sent Taijuan Walker, Nick Franklin, Charlie Furbush, and Stephen Pryor to the Diamondbacks. Yesterday we learned that both the Braves and Mets still have interest in the outfielder, but are unlikely to get involved unless Arizona lowers the asking price. Here is the latest on the 25-year-old Upton…
- The Braves are "lying in the weeds" in conversations about Upton, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (on Twitter). Atlanta would be guaranteed an outfield of Jason Heyward and the two Uptons for three years.
- The Diamondbacks like Mike Olt according to Olney (on Twitter), so presumably he would be someone they target during trade conversations with the Rangers.
- A lot of people within baseball are surprised the Mariners were willing to give up so much for Upton according to Olney (Twitter links). "It's not as if [Seattle] is one player away from contending," said one evaluator. "Why give up that much now when you're still far away?"
