The Mets and Diamondbacks have had discussions about potential trades involving outfielders Justin Upton and Jason Kubel, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
Heyman adds that Arizona’s asking price was too rich for the Mets’ tastes on Upton, while Kubel wasn’t a perfect fit for the team.
I wonder what they wanted for Upton?
With Alderson you just never know because when he’s buying everything is “too pricey”, but when he’s selling “teams are not offering enough”.
Original Post 1/6
The Diamondbacks are looking to get young pitching from the Orioles in a trade for outfielder Jason Kubel, but Baltimore has been reluctant to do that to this point, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
Arizona has a surplus of outfielders and some believe that they would prefer to trade Kubel instead of the more desirable than Justin Upton.
The 30 year old Kubel batted .253/.327/.506 with a career-high 30 home runs in 141 games with Arizona last year, and is set to earn $7.5 million in 2013 with a mutual option for the same amount in 2014.
While the Mets could certainly use his power, the problem is that he’s a lefthanded batter and the Mets already have outfielders Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Mike Baxter swinging from that side of the plate.
The D’Backs are looking for young pitching they can continue developing, so maybe a Domingo Tapia or Rafael Montero can entice them. We may even be able to swap back Duda along with one of them them. It would give the team the only proven veteran in their very questionable and inexperienced outfield for the next two seasons.
Kubel is a high strikeout guy, but no more so than any of our current outfielders so it’s really a non-issue. His lefty-righty splits are not disparaging so he can play everyday. Defensively he would be an upgrade over Duda, although he’s just average.
At $7.5 million a season the price is right so it’s certainly something to consider.


