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Blue Jays deal with Padres for Upton Jr.
- Updated: July 26, 2016
TORONTO — Melvin Upton Jr. is joining the Blue Jays.
Toronto acquired Upton from the Padres on Tuesday for a Class A prospect, right-hander Hansel Rodriguez, who is the Blue Jays’ No. 18 prospect as ranked by MLBPipeline.com.
Toronto also receives cash considerations. Upton is owed approximately $22 million through the end of next season. The Padres will cover all but $5 million of that, according to a report by Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
“We definitely like this lineup, there’s no doubt about that,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said on Monday. “It’s a good lineup. I don’t know what you could do to improve it, to be honest with you. Maybe there is somebody, but it would have to be a big-impact guy, I would think.”
Upton would appear to be more of a complementary piece rather than the “impact guy” Gibbons referred to on Monday. The 31-year-old has enjoyed a bit of resurgence this season with a .256 average, 16 home runs and 45 RBIs in 92 games.
What remains somewhat unclear, though, is how Upton will fit into Toronto’s plans. The Blue Jays have a starting outfield of Michael Saunders, Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista. One scenario could see Bautista receive more at-bats at designated hitter, but that would force Justin Smoak to the bench and force Edwin Encarnacion to play regularly at …
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