 |
| (Melvin Upton Jr., photo credit: sportingnews.com) |
The Toronto Blue Jays acquired outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. and cash considerations from the San Diego Padres on Tuesday in exchange for minor league pitcher Hansel Rodriguez.
Upton's contract extends through the 2017 season. He is making $15.45 million this year and $16.45 million next year. The Blue Jays will pay only $5 million of what is still owed to him over that span.
After playing just 87 games in his first season with San Diego last year, he has played in 92 of their 100 games this season. He is hitting .256 with 16 home runs, 45 RBIs, 46 runs, and a team-leading 20 stolen bases. He joins a Toronto team that ranks top-6 in the Majors in home runs, runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS despite being just 16th in batting average.
The Toronto outfield already boasts Michael Saunders, Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista, so Upton will have to battle for playing time. Upton's stolen base total is only 12 less than the entire Blue Jays' roster, so he may be able to add an element that Toronto has been lacking to this point.
The right-handed Dominican Republic-native Rodriguez was 16 years old when Toronto signed him in 2014. He is in his third season of rookie ball, though is still two years younger than the average rookie ball player. He is 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA and 1.113 WHIP through the first 30 games this season with the Bluefield Blue Jays in the Appalachian League.
No comments:
Post a Comment