The San Diego Padres are showing everyone in the world of baseball two things. The first is that they are making themselves serious contenders, and second they aren’t finished yet. They have been one of the busiest teams this offseason, mainly the last two days, but are putting themselves in position to compete in 2015.
San Diego shipped four players to the Braves in exchange for Justin Upton and a lower-level minor league player. Upton now joins a San Diego outfield that already boasts newly acquired Matt Kemp and Wil Myers. Upton, 27, played in 154 games for the Braves in 2014, hitting .270 with 29 home runs and 102 RBI. He has hit 20+ home runs four times so far in his career, hitting 31 in 2011. He adds more firepower to the “new” Padres who are really looking like serious contenders in 2015.
Heading to Atlanta in the trade are left-handed pitcher Max Fried, infielder Jace Peterson, third baseman Dustin Peterson, and outfielder Mallex Smith.
It was rumored that Upton was on the move this winter but I have to say that I am a bit surprised that the Padres pulled this off all while not losing a major league player and keeping their top prospects.
John Ginder
John has recently graduated from the University at Albany with a B.A. in History and is currently finishing his Master's Degree there as well in secondary education. After being away from school for over two decades he decided to go back and work towards his dream of becoming a social studies teacher.
