TORONTO – Melvin Upton Jr., who sat out a second straight game as the Toronto Blue Jays beat his San Diego Padres 4-2 on Monday, may be on the verge of switching clubhouses at Rogers Centre.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported on Twitter that the Blue Jays are front-runners in trade talks for the outfielder, while Jon Heyman of MLB Network added that the Padres are expected to make a decision Tuesday. The Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians are both also reportedly in the mix.
The Blue Jays have long been talking with the Padres about multiple players including Andrew Cashner, who’s slated to start Tuesday, and injured right-hander Tyson Ross, who is working toward a mid-August return.
While pitching remains the most obvious area of need, adding Upton would provide improved depth at all three outfield spots, another option against elite left-handed pitching and a dose of speed, something the Blue Jays lack.
He’s a big ticket with the remaining third of his $15.45 million salary still due, along with another $16.45 million in 2017, and the quality of San Diego’s return will depend on how much of his salary is kicked in.
The Blue Jays can take on some payroll, and with Drew Storen in DFA limbo, they have some sunk cost that can be traded away to defray incoming money. Storen is due the remainder of his $8.375 million contract this year, but they’re only on the hook for about $2 million of the remainder since the Washington Nationals kicked roughly $2 million to cover the salary difference between the right-hander and outfielder Ben Revere.
Upton is batting .256/.304/.439 in 92 games with 16 homers and 45 RBIs, and he’s stolen 20 bases in 25 attempts while also walking just 23 times against 106 strikeouts. It’s a nice bounce-back season for Upton after disastrous campaigns in 2013 and ’14 with the Atlanta Braves were followed by a year of sporadic usage off the bench with the Padres in ‘15.
The Orioles were said to be front-runners for him over the weekend in a deal that would have sent, in part, Ubaldo Jimenez to the Padres. Upton didn’t play Sunday or Monday with manager Andy Green explaining to reporters that "it’s somewhat unusual."
"He’s completely healthy, he’s ready to go, he’s available (off the bench)," Green added. "There’s nothing done at this point in time. Just decisions being made that he has a couple days off right now."
