The San Diego Padres have become the story of the MLB offseason. Today they are said to have acquired outfielder Justin Upton from the Atlanta Braves, completing a full re-tooling of their outfield that included deals for Wil Myers of the Tampa Bay Rays and Matt Kemp of the Dodgers.
Sources: #Padres getting Upton.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 19, 2014
While Padres general manager A.J. Preller is making major waves with these deals, he also might be upsetting his trade partners. According to reports, complications with the deal for Matt Kemp may have created a rift with the Dodgers' front office that won't heal for a while.
The speculation is that San Diego leaked negative info about Kemp's physical, which revealed arthritis in his hips, in a late effort to squeeze more out of L.A. The trade was eventually consummated in its original form, sending Kemp and catcher Tim Federowicz to San Diego along with $32 million for catcher Yasmani Grandal, and pitching prospects Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin.
It's unclear if the Padres are finished with the makeover, but if so, they have added three new starters to their outfield. Kemp, who has arthritis and cost the Dodgers almost 30 runs defensively per Fangraphs remains a powerful hitter and is expected to play a corner outfield spot. For Los Angeles last season Kemp hit 25 home runs, and remained healthy.
Myers slumped for all of 2014, and admitted late in the season that he hadn't put in the same effort he did as a rookie. He is believed to be getting the first crack at center field in San Diego's new-look lineup, but he'll need to improve upon a miserable season in which he batted just .222.
Upton had a fine year in 2014, smacking 29 home runs and slashing .270/.342/.491. He racked up 102 RBI.
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