A pennant race can make for some wild talk. It has been reported over the past few days that the Pittsburgh Pirates are interested in acquiring Justin Upton from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Upton, one of the best young players in the game over the past few years, has had a bit of a down season this year. Not horrible, but by his standards, below average.
But at 24, he's still young enough that you wouldn't think that an average season would be so bad that the D'backs would even think of parting with him.
Also, Upton is under contractual control with Arizona until the year 2015.
And the cherry on top is that Arizona is only four-games out in the NL West.
It just doesn't add up.
Why would Arizona be so eager to part with such a young, talented player? I mean, don't teams generally want young players who are extremely talented and under financial control for at least a few years? There are no guarantees that any player or players that Arizona acquires would even approach Upton's level of Major League success.
The Pirates should just steer clear of any move that involves Upton. He might be damaged goods, if not physically, at least in the attitude department. Do the Pirates really need that right now? Yes, in an ideal world, Justin Upton would fit wonderfully in a lineup with Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker. But this isn't an ideal world, and the fact of the matter is, Upton is just going to cost way too much for the Pirates, damaged goods or not.
Last year's Justin Upton was Hunter Pence of the Astros. There was talk of the Pirates maybe going after Pence. But he eventually went to Philadelphia, and the Phillies had to part with their 2nd and 3rd ranked prospects in exchange for Pence.
And the difference between the Astros and Diamondbacks is that the Astros have been one of the worst teams in baseball for a few years now. They were desperate to unload Pence in-order to stock their farm system with top talent.
The D'Backs probably aren't as desperate. They're in contention, Upton is still a few years away from free agency, and he could return to his All-Star form any day. They're going to want AT LEAST the same kind of return as Houston received last season for Pence.
And it's being reported today that Arizona doesn't even want prospects, they want Major League talent in return.
They apparently want a 3rd baseman, a shortstop and a top of the rotation pitcher. Forget about Gerrit Cole and Starling Marte, would you be willing to part with Pedro Alvarez and James McDonald for Upton?
If the Pirates did that, I feel as if it would weaken their team. For starters, you just don't know what kind of second half Upton will have, or even if he's 100% healthy. And Pedro Alvarez has come on strong since mid-June and has been one of the hottest power hitters in all of baseball. He could finally be coming into his own. Why would you want to mess with that?
And there is no doubt that the main reason the Pirates have been doing so well this season is because of their pitching staff. Would you really be willing to part with a pitcher in McDonald, who has the lowest ERA on the starting staff and one of the lowest in baseball? We don't know what the Pirates are going to get from Correia, Bedard and Karsens in the second half. They need McDonald, along with A.J. Burnett, to anchor the starting staff now more than ever.
No, much like last season, I think the Pirates need to take minimal risks at the trading deadline. The NL Central isn't a strong division, and when you factor in the extra wild card, I think they're in great shape.
If I'm the Pirates, I'm taking my chances with what I have, or with the Derrek Lee's of the world, at least for this season.
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