Justin Upton Trade Rumors: San Diego Padres Could Trade Upton, Craig Kimbrel Before MLB Deadline

Justin Upton trade rumors have arrived again. The San Diego Padres could trade Upton, as well as Craig Kimbrel, before the MLB trade deadline on July 31. A report from NBC Sports on Thursday (July 9) states that the team may already be close to a small fire sale in order to get back some assets. This is bad news for Padres fans, as Upton and Kimbrel were just acquired during the 2015 MLB offseason to get this team back to the postseason.

The Padres have quite a few players in the final seasons of their contracts, suggesting the team could be very active at the trade deadline. In addition to Upton, outfielder Will Venable, starting pitcher Ian Kennedy, and relievers Joaquin Benoit and Shawn Kelley are all free agents in the MLB offseason. Other pieces that could also become available are pitchers Craig Kimbrel, Tyson Ross, and Andrew Cashner. They each have several years of team control left, but haven’t performed as well as the Padres would have liked.

Entering play on Thursday (July 9), the Padres are at 39-48, which puts the team in fourth place in the National League West. They are 9 and a half games out of first place (behind the Los Angeles Dodgers), and 8 and a half games behind the second wild card slot (the 46-38 Chicago Cubs). Time is starting to run out on making a run toward the postseason, despite all the money that the front office absorbed during the offseason trading. It clearly makes the San Diego Padres one of the most underperforming teams in the MLB, and makes the Justin Upton trade rumors equally unsurprising.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Padres gave up quite a few prospects and young players to make a series of offseason trades. Acquiring Upton, Matt Kemp, and Craig Kimbrel highlighted a huge push to be relevant in the NL West again. It hasn’t worked out very well, as the team cannot even get past the Arizona Diamondbacks, let alone catch up to the defending division winner (Dodgers) or defending World Series champions (San Francisco Giants).

While there aren’t any teams linked to the Padres in trade discussions yet, it is easy to start projecting which teams around the league would like to improve in the outfield. Any Justin Upton trade rumors will attract buyers, especially with the power numbers he could put up in a hitters park. The big question becomes how much will another team pay to rent him for the rest of the 2015 MLB season.

[Image Source: Denis Poroy / Getty Images]