Revisiting the Justin Upton Trade with Pedro Gomez

By Justin Toscano

Arizona Diamondbacks fans may look down on former general manager Kevin Towers’ tenure with the club, but one of his moves is paying dividends this season.

In 2013, the D-backs traded star right fielder Justin Upton to the Atlanta Braves in a seven-player deal. A few of the players the team received in return were former All-Star infielder Martin Prado, as well as then-prospects Nick Ahmed, Brandon Drury and Randall Delgado.

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Yesterday the #Dbacks ran their win streak to 7 games for the first time since 2011. #OurSeason pic.twitter.com/Aev0HCveo6

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 19, 2017

Ahmed, Drury and Delgado now have solidified roles on a team that is experiencing its best start through 70 games in franchise history.

“It’s really almost impossible to gauge a trade the week that it’s made because you don’t know what’s coming down the road,” ESPN Baseball Insider Pedro Gomez told Sports360AZ’s Brad Cesmat in a June 14 phone interview. “But the Diamondbacks had already known that, ‘Hey, we are not going to pay Upton $150 million, which he will get on the open market, so what can we get for him?’”

Justin Upton is currently hitting .266 with 13 home runs and 44 RBIs for the Detroit Tigers. Drury has been a mainstay at second base with a .300 batting average, eight home runs and 30 RBIs.  Delgado has a 3.44 ERA as a long reliever and spot starter in 49.1 innings this year. Ahmed, who is known for his glove, is hitting .262 in 2017, 41 points higher than his career average entering this year. 

At 44-26, the D-backs have won seven in a row and nine of their last 10 games. But on Tuesday, they begin a series with the NL West-leading Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

Arizona is tied for second with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and all three are fighting to win the division. The D-backs and Rockies are both up and coming squads, but which is better?

Gomez gave his take.

“I would probably put it with the Rockies at this point and the reason is, their bullpen has been phenomenal. They have really stepped it up.”

Regardless, Gomez said D-backs skipper Torey Lovullo is up there with the Rockies’ Bud Black and the Brewers’ Craig Counsell as someone who is currently in contention for National League Manager of the Year.

Regardless, Gomez said D-backs skipper Torey Lovullo is up there with the Rockies’ Bud Black and the Brewers’ Craig Counsell as someone who is currently in contention for National League Manager of the Year.

 

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Close infield races highlight the latest NL balloting update for the 2017 @AllStarGame. Vote now at https://t.co/qd5OOxn7ED pic.twitter.com/T92DVpf8y3

— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) June 19, 2017

College News

Down in the college ranks, the Arizona Wildcats led in-state programs with six players drafted in this year’s MLB Draft last week. Arizona State, which experienced the worst year in its history statistically, had just one player selected.

But the bigger story came from another Pac-12 school. Just as Oregon State was wrapping up its season and earning the No. 1 seed in the postseason, a report from The Oregonian surfaced about Beavers ace Luke Heimlich pleading guilty to child molestation years ago.

Heimlich, an MLB hopeful, was not selected in this year’s draft.

“It’s such a deplorable crime that it makes it really difficult (to draft him),” Gomez said. “He is paying a price and since my kids were little, I have always told them there are consequences for every one of your actions. …I think Luke is finding right now there’s a big consequence for what he did.”