According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, Justin Upton isn’t going anywhere during the 2012 season.
Earlier Tuesday afternoon, team president Derrick Hall told reporters that there was “close to a 100 percent chance that nothing happens” with Upton and that, “We’re in no hurry to move this guy—nor do we think we need to.”
“Everybody in this organization is open for discussion and conversation, including Justin Upton. If people call, we’re going to listen. We’ve had a lot of people call, and we’ve said, ‘No, thank you’ to all of them. That hasn’t changed,” Hall said.
Trade rumors have been swirling around the young star for quite some time but, for now, it appears Upton will stay put.
Prior to this statement, Upton had been linked to the Yankees, Rangers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Pirates, Tigers and Braves.
Thus far through the 2012 season, Upton is slashing .276/.362/.412 with eight home runs, 41 RBI, 60 runs, and 11 steals in 89 games.
The power numbers are a disappointment as well as the slugging percentage in result of his decreasing power output, but Upton is producing similarly on all other fronts.
If Upton can get the ball up in the air a little more consistently and produce more line drives, then fans may see a return to 2011 form.
In 2011, Upton produced fly balls 44.8 percent of the time and ground balls 36.9 percent of the time. In 2012, those numbers have completely switched and he produces 33.2 percent fly balls and 45.7 percent ground balls.
Recently, the Diamondbacks have won four games straight moving, to 48-48 on the year and just 4.5 games out of the NL Wild Card.
Put your money on the Diamondbacks transitioning into buying mode come the trade deadline.
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