Melvin Upton Jr. will be paid by two teams he won’t play for this season.
Fortunately, the Braves are not one of them.
The veteran outfielder was released by the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday after hitting just .194 in spring training.
He did have three home runs and seven RBIs this spring.
The Braves traded Upton to the Padres, who sent him to the Blue Jays late last season. The Jays are responsible for $1 million of his salary, while the Padres will pay the rest of his $16.45 million salary in 2017.
In order to dump Upton’s contract, the Braves had to include closer Craig Kimbrel in the deal when they traded Upton to the Padres in April of 2015. The Braves received outfielders Carlos Quentin and Cameron Maybin, plus two minor leaguers and a draft pick.
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