Blue Jays have deal with Padres for Upton Jr.

TORONTO — Melvin Upton Jr. is going to the Blue Jays.

Toronto has agreed to acquire Upton from the Padres for a Class A prospect, MLB.com has learned, and the deal could be finalized today. Neither club has confirmed the trade.

The prospect is right-hander Hansel Rodriguez, according to a report by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Rodriguez is the Blue Jays’ No. 18 prospect as ranked by MLBPipeline.com.

Upton is earning $15.45 million this season and has one more year at $16.45 million remaining on his deal. The Padres likely would have to cover some of those costs, but exactly how much would depend on the quality of prospect heading the other way.

“We definitely like this lineup, there’s no doubt about that,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “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 in his media availability on Monday afternoon. 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 would fit into Toronto’s current plans. The Blue Jays have a starting outfield of Michael Saunders, Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista. One scenario could see …

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