Here are the latest rumors on Justin Upton, with any updates throughout the day added at the bottom.
**Last night, Buster Olney had the following tweet about how the Pirates match up with Arizona.
It still appears the Pirates and the Diamondbacks don't match up on a Justin Upton trade. PIT has pitching, but Ariz. priority is SS help.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 17, 2012
When they say shortstop help, I don’t think they’re talking Clint Barmes. The upper level options the Pirates have also wouldn’t fetch much. Jordy Mercer and Chase d’Arnaud would be average shortstops at best, while Brock Holt profiles more as a utility player. The best shortstop prospect in the system is Alen Hanson, although he’s several years away, and Arizona is looking for major league ready players.
**Bob Nightengale of USA Today says that Justin Upton will be traded, either by the deadline, or in the off-season. Buster Olney mentions that most of the interest in Upton has come from non-contending teams, which could make it likely that Arizona would have to wait until the off-season to make a deal.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
I have a honest question why. why is Brock Holt a utility guy? Ive watched the guy play he just hits at every level he is in my opinion easily the most underrated prospect in the pirates system every level he has played at his just hit yes no pop but he hits he has a career .306 average he should already be in indy i believe he is more then a utility guy. but i want to understand what am i missing. why is he a utility guy?
Sell high on Hanrahan in exchange for a young major league ready bat???
This team is not close to being a slam dunk for a playoff spot and Hanrahan looks to be gone after the season.
my 2 cents would be to pass on upton , how about a veteran of-1b like michael cuddyer , the rockies are 20 games under .500 and could use some young pitching. just a thought
so basically, same thing as yesterday and the day before, and the day before that…..