Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Padres and Diamondbacks have talked about trading Chase Headley for Justin Upton for months, but the talks haven't been real fruitful. Here's the pros and cons as Rosenthal sees them:
The Padres likely would need to add to Headley to complete a trade for Upton, who was fourth in the NL MVP voting in 2011. Upton, 25, is younger than Headley, has a longer track record, and is under club control for one more year.
So if Headley is under Padres control for 2 more years and Upton is under Diamondback control for 3 and you could have either one, which would you prefer? Assume for the sake of this question that the Padres wouldn't be able to sign or extend either player after those years.
Padres fans have a serious crush on Headley and don't get me wrong, I'm a fan, but I'm also kind of wondering what got up his butt this past year that made him so good for those 2 months. As Corey Brock asks in his latest column on Headley "How did this happen?" Is there an answer to that? If so I haven't heard it.
It's Upton's age, track record and extra year of control that makes this deal tempting. Also this would mean that the Denorfia and Venable platoon in right field would finally end. Then Jedd Gyorko could move to his natural position at third.
I'm not sure which way to lean. My gut reaction is to take Upton for that extra year, but I could be swayed if enough people call me an idiot.