Just Mets

The Mets, still searching for offense despite acquiring Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson on Friday, have spoke recently to the Padres about outfielder Justin Upton, but are at an impasse.

San Diego appears ready to become sellers as the trade deadline vastly approaches and while Upton will be just a rental as he is a free agent at the end of the season, the Padres asking price reportedly remains too high for Sandy Alderson’s liking.

After the Padres asked New York for one or maybe two top prospects, and refused to pay any of what’s left of the $14.1M Upton’s making this year, the Mets walked away, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports.

The buzz I’ve heard recently is that the Mets tried to sell the Padres of a package involving outfield prospect Brandon Nimmo. If what the Padres asked for was enough for the Mets to balk, however, that would lead me to believe that they may have wanted more, perhaps one of Noah Syndergaard or Steven Matz, or maybe both.

Upton is hitting .248/.326/.420 this season with 10 doubles, 15 home runs, 49 RBI and 17 stolen bases this season and would bring some authority to what has been a punchless Mets lineup. However, if the Padres were indeed asking for one of the big four pitchers, Alderson and company were right to balk at is, as Heyman said they did.

The risk in acquiring Upton now is substantial, although it has nothing to do with the production he would provide the Mets, although he has dealt with recent oblique tightness which has kept him out of games.

He can be a free agent following the World Series. If the Mets acquired Upton now, that would disallow the Mets from making Upton a qualifying offer, as a player traded in-season is not eligible to receive such an offer, per the collective bargaining agreement.

So if the Mets send pieces to San Diego to get Upton – and those pieces are obviously very significant – the Mets run the risk of Upton testing free agency, signing somewhere else, and having neither the player, the prospects or the draft compensation to show for the transaction.

And, if the Mets do not make the playoffs and all of the above come to fruition, then the Mets would have sacrificed a lot of talent for nothing more than a fruitless pennant race.

With 2 1/2 months to go before the end of the season, Upton, who is 27 and will likely be the premier right-handed bat on the free agent market this winter, has very little reason to negotiate a new contract now. In fact, Upton reportedly is unwilling to negotiate a contract in-season, making the risk even greater for the Mets or any team who acquires him in trade.

And, that risk evidently concerns the Mets to the point they may not think it’s wise to acquire him, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post. Presumably, other teams are equally concerned about these risks as well.

There are still six days remaining before the July 31st trade deadline, so it’s possible that the Padres asking price could decrease if other teams won’t give up the kind of package that they want. That being said, while the Mets continue to look for more offensive help, it’s appearing less and less likely that Justin Upton will be that guy.