Could Justin Upton Join his Brother in Atlanta?

The Arizona Diamondbacks have talked about trading Justin Upton for quite some time now. There was a lot of talk around the trade deadline and at the winter meetings but nothing has gone through. The D-Backs were said to be looking for a major league ready shortstop in any deal for Upton. They got the shortstop they wanted by completing a three team deal with the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds. The D-Backs acquired light hitting Didi Gregorius, giving up three players one being their 2012 top prospect Trevor Bauer.

With this trade it looked like the Diamondbacks were going to let the Upton rumors cool off. They made statements saying they were not going to move him; that is until they signed outfielder Cody Ross giving them a surplus of outfielders going into next season.

Originally the Texas Rangers looked like the favorites to land Justin Upton and would have done so but they were unwilling to let go of either Elvis Andrus or Jurickson Profar. The Rangers are still in need of an outfield power bat but I think they will shift their focus to Miami where the very unhappy Giancarlo Stanton resides. Although the Marlins have said they are not shopping Stanton, they know after their salary dump with the Blue Jays that he will never sign a long term deal with them.  In a deal for Stanton the Rangers will be more willing to move Profar which will get the trade done.

This is where the Braves come into play. They have loads of major league ready pitching that the D-Backs now need. Packaging a deal around Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado should be enough for Kevin Towers to pull the trigger and trade Upton. The Upton brothers have said they would like to play together so even if the Braves were on the list of teams Upton can block a trade to, he would gladly accept.

Even trading those two pitchers, and possibly more, the Braves still have enough starting pitching right now to compete and enough talent in the minors to replace Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm when they leave. Upton will finally give the Braves the big bat they have needed in the middle of the order for some time now. Playing next to his brother might finally allow B.J. Upton to play to the level that everyone has wanted to see for years.