Whoa. That’s a big trade for Waiver Trade Deadline day. Heck, that’s a big trade for any day:
Sources: #Angels close to acquiring Justin Upton from #Tigers.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 31, 2017
#Angels are getting Justin Upton from #Tigers as @Ken_Rosenthal 1st reported
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) August 31, 2017
#Tigers will get pitcher Grayson Long from #Angels in the Justin Upton trade.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) August 31, 2017
If your immediate thought was like mine, you were wondering how the Angels were comfortable acquiring a guy like Upton, who has an opt-out after this season … not knowing whether he was going to use it or not.
Well:
Source adds to The Athletic: Upton opt-out not part of talks. #Angels apparently prepared to acquire him regardless. Likely limits return.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 31, 2017
My best guess, then, is that the Angels and Tigers are both fairly confident that Upton will opt out, and the trade is being made with that in mind. (Consider that after he’s traded, if Upton opts out, he can no longer be made a qualifying offer after the season, making it all the more likely he would opt out.)
Upton is owed a little over $88 million over the next four years. At age 30, hitting .279/.362/.542 (138 wRC+) this year, and posting a 4.1 WAR so far, yeah, he can probably get a better contract than that.
I doubt this move makes the Tigers any more or less likely to trade Justin Verlander today – they are willing to move him whenever the right deal comes along – so I wouldn’t say there’s a big impact there. They may trade him today, they may pick things back up in the offseason. It simply depends on how the discussions go.
As for the deal, itself, how about that AL Wild Card race?
There are eight(!!!) teams within striking distance of a Wild Card spot. The Yankees have a one-game lead over the Twins for the top spot, and those Twins have a one-game lead over the now-improved Angels. And then there are five more teams within three games of the Angels. It’s a mad house!!!