The chances of Justin Upton, Chris Young, Jason Kubel, Gerardo Parra and Adam Eaton returning to the Diamondbacks’ outfield in 2013 seem slim, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes. One or more of those players will likely be moved in trades. Here are the details on Arizona’s offseason plans…
- Rival executives believe the Diamondbacks will trade Young this offseason. Some say they expected Arizona to let Young go on waivers if he had been claimed last month. The center fielder will earn $8.5MM in 2013 and his contract includes a 2014 option with a $1.5MM buyout.
- Some rival executives sense that GM Kevin Towers is less likely to trade Upton this winter than he has been in the past. There’s no guarantee teams will meet Arizona’s asking price for Upton and there’s concern that the right fielder would blossom as a hitter if he’s traded elsewhere.
- Despite the Diamondbacks’ impressive core of young pitching, Towers would like to add a veteran starting pitcher this offseason, Olney reports.
Joe Saunders, part three?
Dan Haren part 2?
DBacks seem to be really down on Chris B Young. Wouldn’t be surprised if they send him away with cash for a marginal prospect.
The guy is great defensively in CF, but that’s about it. He’ll hit you the occasional HR, but will bat around .240. Sure, he’s possesses the ability to hit 30HRs, bat .280+ and steal 30 bases….. but he’s always thinking too much at the plate (he got sent to the minors because of this) and seems to get a bad injury that limits him. Honestly, I could see the Diamondbacks simply releasing him since I’m not sure even the most desparate of team will trade for him (unless they’re also dumping an untradeable player). Very sad since Chris has (or, at least, had) all the ability in the world.
anytime you’re not sure if someone would draw interest in a trade, remember vernon wells
Well to be fair Wells was coming off a decent season .273/.331/.515/.847
while being paid like he was among the greatest players of our generation
He has trade value, especially at that salary. He is a very close player to BJ Upon although he strikes out more. Puts up roughly the same WAR. I’d rather have Young, since he puts up a slightly less ugly obp. Yet people are expecting Upton to get $14M on the open market while Young makes $5.5M less and it’s only a 1 year deal and he might be released.
What a difference playing in the NL West vs the AL East.
Upton is a very good comp for Young, but its worth pointing out that even though Young’s slash line the last three years is slightly better than Upton’s, once you adjust for home park Upton is better (107 wRC+ vs 100 for Young) But I think your point still stands, they both bring extremely similar skill sets with speed, very good CF defense, low batting average, decent plate discipline and good power and are of similar age. So it is a bit confusing that AZ would be looking to dump Young’s last guaranteed year at a pretty good price while Upton will probably get a 3-5 year deal for at least 10+ mil per year. I guess Young is more of an injury risk, but with only one year left on his deal its not a huge risk. Seems like he’d be a low risk/high reward acquisition to me.
The reason they are looking to dump him are as follows: Kubel, Parra, Eaton, Pollock and Upton.
He’s basically a league average hitter overall after you adjust for home park over his career. With his above average CF glove thats a pretty valuable player. He’s pretty similar to Cameron Maybin and even though he’s a little older I’m surprised the DBacks are so down on him that they would’ve let him go on waivers or may send cash with him in a trade. I’d much rather give up very little in trade for Chris Young than sign Shane Victorino this offseason. I’d love for the Giants to try to acquire him, but I would imagine there will be teams outside the NL West with interest and there’s no reason for AZ to deal him to a division rival they’ll likely be competing with for the division title next year.
“There’s no guarantee teams will meet Arizona’s asking price for Upton and there’s concern that the right fielder would blossom as a hitter if he’s traded elsewhere.”
is this saying that they’re afraid Upton will blossom in the future, regardless of where he is, or that he will blossom if he leaves Arizona?
Blossom outside of Arizona.
that’s how i read it, but there was some ambiguity to it. is there any reason why Upton can’t blossom as a hitter in Arizona?
Not sure, lol. Weird way to put it I agree. I think a trade would be extra motivation maybe? If Upton wants to be the best, he can be the best. He’s as talented as they come, and if he needs all that extra motivation, maybe he’s just not cut out to be a star.
It seems crazy that they would be afraid he would be successful in the future for another team. That is the whole point behind their asking price in my opinion.
So can the prospects that you trade for him. They could turn out better than him.
And why I want Boston to avoid Upton.. DBacks will expect a mammoth return, he will be owed 14m+ in 2014 and 15 anyway for potential that thus far has been off and on, much like someone they already have in Ellsbury. i would rather Boston KEEP prospects like Bradley, Barnes, Bogaerts for their rebuilding and sign Ells (if they had thoughts of acquiring Upton) rather than pay thru the nose for an off and on talent.
Couldn’t agree more. Upton is so intriguing but that package of prospects overall could be so much better than having Upton who has so much untapped potential.
FYI, the Chris Young and Adam Eaton links are to the pitchers of the same name.
IMO, Chris Young would be a great fit for Detroit in LF/RF. Plus, all they’d likely have to do is give him Delmon Young’s 2012 salary and jersey and they would still come out ahead.
No thanks. I hope next year it will be LF Dirks, CF Jackson, RF Avisail Garcia. The bench might have Delmon but I doubt it due to how much he will cost. Also, have Berry. Not sure if they will tender Boesch.
215 at-bats above A-ball and a 95:18 K:BB in the minors this year says Garcia isn’t quite ready.
Hey you’re right about Garcia. I was getting ahead of myself in my hopes for The Clone. That being said, I am impressed by his demeanor in the bigs thus far.
Who do you think the Tigers would roll out at right field then?
Probably a F/A, but perhaps Castellanos.
Garcia isn’t ready, and Dirks hasn’t played a full season and produced. For a big-market team like the Tigers, Chris Young is the perfect low-risk bounce-back candidate. Before his injury in late April, Chris Young was ripping the cover off the ball. In a contract year with something to prove, he’s a great gamble.
I think Dirks is ready and I was sold when he came back from his hammy injury and picked up where he left off. He is also really cheap and only 26.
Chris Young will probably cost more than the Tigers are willing to spend but I do agree that he would be a welcome addition to the lineup. He is also 29.
Just trade him to the Astros. Have you seen Chris Young’s numbers in Minute Maid? ReDonkulous!
14 PA is really nothing to go on.
He has over 70 career PA with an OPS over 1.100. So this is some credence to the argument.
Yea wrong stat, it still really isn’t anything to go on. All of those games are vs Houston though. I would be willing to bet that it is more based upon the mediocre pitching they have than anything. There are a large number of hitters that have very good numbers in mm park over the past couple years. It is not because they are most comfortable there, but because they are facing easy pitchers.
All true. It’s not exactly a great stat to go off of unless we’re talking about a team with relatively similar strength and in the same division to get. But still, it is a stat to pause and ponder over.
Wrong Chris Young, wrong Adam Eaton in the links.
Chris Young, your opening day Atlanta CF in 2013.
Kubel to the Padres.