Trade Billy Hamilton + other prospects for Justin Upton?

[texasdave]

I always thought Arizona had a glut of starting pitchers.

[dkamberi25]

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blo...nclick_check=1

I stumbled upon this where the writer lists what the D-Backs have listed as there top priorities.

*Add a veteran starting pitcher;

*Upgrade at third base and/or shortstop;

*Strengthen the bench (ideally with a left-handed bat, a la Lyle Overbay last season);

So the pitcher and short stop requirements are there. This got me to thinking that a deal for Upton would have to start with either Leake or Bailey. I would perfer to give up Leake, but with Latos, Cueto and Chapman moving forward including Bailey wouldn't be a dealbreaker. From there I would offer up Didi and Corcino. That would be the meat of my offer. Outside of that the only other prospects I would throw in would be middle of the road guys who are outside of our top 10-15 prospects.

While the thought of Upton on this squad and batting between Votto and Bruce with Fraizer batting 6th is very enticing, I would not go any higher than what I called out in this thread. Upton's injury history and lack of consistent production keeps me from offering a better pitcher, Stephenson, Cozart, or Hamilton in any trade for Upton.

[foxfire123]

Originally Posted by Redsfansince72

Billy Hamilton has to be untouchable.. heck the Reds have gone years without a legit leadoff hitter.. now everybody wants to trade him?? Not me!.. Let him play CF and bat leadoff in 2013 and get rid of Stubbs.. talk about a threat at leadoff this team hasnt seen in years!!!

Yeah, this. Hamilton has been one our most exciting young players in a long time, and a bunch of y'all want to ship him off... Doesn't make sense at all to me.

[Salukifan2]

Originally Posted by foxfire123

Yeah, this. Hamilton has been one our most exciting young players in a long time, and a bunch of y'all want to ship him off... Doesn't make sense at all to me.

Aroldis Chapman, Bruce, Bailey, Cueto, Votto, Frazier, Stubbs. Reds have had plenty of big prospects come through in the last 5 years or so. Also, i always get confused between Yasmani Grandal and Yonder Alonso but one of those two was ranked as a higher prospect when they got shipped to San Diego than Hamilton is right now. And that deal worked out really well for you.

[Girevik]

Originally Posted by foxfire123

Yeah, this. Hamilton has been one our most exciting young players in a long time, and a bunch of y'all want to ship him off... Doesn't make sense at all to me.

I'm old enough to remember the "glory days" of the 80's when the Reds had prospect after exciting prospect in the minors that never amounted to squat at the big leauge level. Generally speaking, I'll take the proven over the potential any time. One in the hand vs. two in the bush, and all that.

[Redlegs Homer]

When you're in the Reds position, you can trade your prospects for big league players. The Reds can win the World Series with some improvements, and trading for Upton would be a huge step towards that. If it is similar to the Latos trade in terms of what the Reds give up, then that's an easy yes. I'm a pretty big fan of the Upton brothers (more BJ than Justin though) and I would love to have one on the team.

[[deleted]]

For what it's worth: MLB Trade Rumors did their NL Central Live Chat today. Someone asked what would happen if the Reds offered Billy Hamilton and Zack Cozart for Justin Upton.

Tim Dierke's response was, "I think they hang up."

[Larkin88]

Originally Posted by Brittingham.Sam

Also, i always get confused between Yasmani Grandal and Yonder Alonso but one of those two was ranked as a higher prospect when they got shipped to San Diego than Hamilton is right now. And that deal worked out really well for you.

Honestly man - and this might just be my opinion - I'm not sure using those numbers alone is a fair means of evaluation here.

And I'm not saying that I would absolutely take no offers on Hamilton or that he is somehow untouchable. I think it's unlikely he gets moved, but there's a cost for everything. I just think he easily has more value than either Grandal or Alonso did beyond some number ranking alone. His tools are historic and his upside is unprecedented in that sense. I'm not sure he gets to the apex we all are hoping for, but if he does, he has the potenail to change how the game is played.

[Salukifan2]

Ive already had this discussion on another thread. Its simply my idea that its smart to keep an open mind

[joshua]

This team hasn't had a legit leadoff hitter in how many years? 10? 15? We are no longer in a three year window to win like we were before Votto's extension. We have a young club with most of the important pieces locked up. And we can compete with what we have and afford to wait a season for Hamilton. Our leadoff/CF of the future is on his way. We just need to find our LF/Cleanup guy by then and we are set. By the time all of this comes together (2014-15) Corcino and Cingrani will also be ready to come up. I know we have pitching depth, but we can afford to wait until we literally have seven guys competing for a rotation spot, while their value is highest, to make our move. That's why I don't see all that much happening this offseason. Why move pieces now before their value is at its peak when we can wait? Why trade a historic prospect to compete this season when its not an urgent year?

[HometownHero]

Peter Gammons thinks the D-Backs like Gregorius so you never know.

Homer, Didi and something else of value the Snakes may like could get it done if the Braves and Rangers don't offer their SS prospects. Still seems like a long shot but they seem to be flipping out over a SS badly.

If they got that done and added Victorino on a short deal we could be looking at something like this.

Shane Victorino
Brandon Phillips
Joey Votto
Justin Upton
Jay Bruce
Todd Frazier
Zack Cozart
Ryan Hanigan

That's quite the order with 20 HR potential 1-7 and could be 1-8 if Mesoraco gets it figured out at the big league level. Would take a commitment from ownership to spend some extra cash and then the fans to show up and support the product but if nobody got hurt and Chapman could make the move to starter and be good this is a WS quality team with an extended window to dominate with Hamilton pushing to take CF soon.

[MoneyInTheBank]

Originally Posted by HometownHero

Peter Gammons thinks the D-Backs like Gregorius so you never know.

Do you have a link? Or did he mention it on TV?

[HometownHero]

Originally Posted by MoneyInTheBank

Do you have a link? Or did he mention it on TV?

https://twitter.com/pgammo/status/274806333100937216

[MoneyInTheBank]

Originally Posted by HometownHero

https://twitter.com/pgammo/status/274806333100937216

Thanks for the link. That has to be something the Reds are interested in, right? I happen to prefer Gregorius to Cozart long term but if you have a chance to get Justin Upton without surrendering Hamilton, you have to be aggressively pursuing that

[HometownHero]

Originally Posted by MoneyInTheBank

Thanks for the link. That has to be something the Reds are interested in, right? I happen to prefer Gregorius to Cozart long term but if you have a chance to get Justin Upton without surrendering Hamilton, you have to be aggressively pursuing that

If Gammons' read is correct and they would be interested in him for the SS prospect they crave I would be all over it as long as the other players aren't deal breakers since its dealing from depth. Upton is a very good player now and just turned 25 so there is still plenty more upside.