Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks has been the subject matter of more trade talk this season than just about anyone else.
Trades and rumors of trades are always prevalent at this time of year in Major League Baseball. Rumors of Upton’s departure from Arizona began in earnest a few weeks ago.
And those rumors seem to have a life of their own.
As it turns out, these rumors were actually confirmed when Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers confirmed that the team may be trading him.
Today Bob Nightingale tweeted, that although Justin Upton has four teams on his no trade list, his agent, Larry Reynolds said he may be willing to waive his no trade clause to one of those teams.
According to Ken Rosenthal those teams include, the New York Yankees the Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs in the Cleveland Indians.
To his credit, Reynolds has been defending Upton.
“Justin wants to stay, but I know trade rumors and trades are part of the business,” Reynolds told USA TODAY Sports. “What I don’t like are the comments and innuendos made about Justin’s work ethic and character, especially from those gutless people that don’t want to put their name by a quote.
“This young man is one of the hardest workers I’ve been around and more importantly, he’s a good person. If they want to trade him, that’s their business, just knock off the unfounded, negative rhetoric.”
Lest anyone forget, Upton is a good player with the potential to be a great player. At this point a trade looks inevitable. The chances of the Diamondbacks and Upton patching things up look remote.
Justin Upton has 4 teams when teams on no-trade list, but agent Larry Reynolds said it would not preclude Upton from accepting a trade there. #Dbacks
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 17, 2012
