Braves make offer for Arizona's Upton

Eight weeks after signing B.J. Upton to the biggest free-agent contract in franchise history, the Braves are trying to land his brother, Arizona's Justin Upton, in a trade that could give them one of baseball's most dynamic outfields with a pair of Uptons and Jason Heyward.

The trade offer, which was being considered by the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, was believed to include either of the Braves young starting pitchers Julio Teheran or Randall Delgado, plus at least two other lesser players or (more likely) prospects.

Shortstop prospect Nick Ahmed and Evan Gattis, a catcher-turned-left fielder who has slugged himself into prospect status despite his relatively advanced age (26), were possibilities for inclusion along with a few pitching prospects including Sean Gilmartin. Potential future ace J.R. Graham wasn't believed to be involved.

A person familiar with the situation said the Braves made the offer Wednesday for Upton, 25, a two-time All-Star who was fourth in the National League MVP balloting two years ago, when he hit .289 with 31 homers and 88 RBIs and won the Fielding Bible Award as the best defensive right fielder in the majors.

The Diamondbacks were also reportedly considering an offer from Baltimore for outfielder Jason Kubel, and were expected to trade only one, Upton or Kubel. Arizona general manager Kevin Towers has been dangling Upton in trade discussions off and on for two years and some believe he needs to trade Upton because of the awkward situation that's created. Towers is leaving the country on a vacation Friday and might pull the trigger on a deal before then.

Upton is under contract through 2015 and owed $38.5 million, including $9.75 million in 2013, $14.25M in 2014 and $14.5M in 2015. The Braves should have room in their payroll for his salary without  needing to move another salary, since they've committed about $85 million to players for next season and have set $98 million as their ceiling.

Heyward won the Fielding Bible Award this past season after finishing second to Upton in 2011. Heyward would stay in right field and Justin Upton would move to left field if traded to the Braves, who will have B.J. Upton in center. That trio might reasonably be expected to produce 80-90 home runs and 75 stolen bases between them.

After B.J. Upton signed a five-year, $75.25 million contract with the Braves on Nov. 28, he said it was a dream of his and Justin's to one day play together. Upton's parents joked after his introductory press conference at Turner Field that they hoped someone would put a bug in the ear of Braves general manager Frank Wren and get him to make a trade for Justin Upton.

The Braves and Diamondbacks discussed a possible trade early in the offseason, but that ended quickly when Towers demanded shortstop Andrelton Simmons, a young standout who has been declared off-limits by the Braves.

The Braves' offer Wednesday did not include either Simmons or catcher Christian Bethancourt, the Braves' top position-player prospect.  The Diamondbacks filled their young-shortstop need in with a three-team trade in December that brought Didi Gregorius from the Reds. They still are looking for young pitching, and the Braves have more of that commodity than most teams.

Teheran, 21, was one of the top two or three pitching prospects a year ago, but is coming off a lackluster second season at Triple-A (5.08 ERA in 26 starts). He and Delgado were expected to compete for the fifth spot in the Braves rotation in 2013, but were no longer viewed as untouchable by the Braves since the ascendance of major league starters Mike Minor and Kris Medlen and the rise of pitching prospects behind Teheran.

Arizona's Upton quashed a would-be trade to Seattle last week that included three of the Mariners top prospects and a quality major league reliever. Upton had four teams on his limited  no-trade clause including the Mariners, and some believed Towers negotiated with Seattle knowing full well that Upton would veto the deal, but hoping it would set the bar high for other teams to make offers for Upton.

But with the Rangers and other teams indicating the Upton price tag was too high and moving to fill needs elsewhere, the Braves were seen as the last team standing among several that had expressed the most interest in Justin Upton.

The knock on Upton has been his inconsistency. His career-best season in 2011, when he had 31 homers and an .898 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, was sandwiched between two seasons in which he had 17 homers and a sub-.800 OPS. He hit .280 with 17 homers, 67 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 150 games in 2012.

There is also the matter of his home/road splits disparity.  In 2012, Upton had a .924 OPS at home and a .670 OPS on the road. For his career, he has a .937 OPS at Chase Field, and a .731 OPS on the road.