Padres “all over” Justin Upton according to Ken Rosenthal

While the Winter Meetings might be now in the rearview mirror, the trade talks surrounding Justin Upton continue to loom in front of the Atlanta Braves–and apparently, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the San Diego Padres:

"It’s true — the Padres want Justin Upton in addition to Matt Kemp. They’re also looking at other hitters, but one rival executive says the Pads are “all over” Upton, confirming a report by Mark Bowman of MLB.com."

The interest in Upton this offseason has been well-documented this offseason, and seeing that the Padres are heavily involved in the sweepstakes is no real surprise to me, even with their recent acquisition of Matt Kemp.

It seems like the Padres have been looking for real hitters for the past decade, and now they are finally acting on the interest.

As far as what San Diego would be able to package in return for the younger Upton, Rosenthal doesn’t get into too much detail, but throws a few names out on the table:

"For the Padres, that seemingly would translate to a controllable starter — say, righty Tyson Ross — and a prospect. But the Pads, now that they’re acquiring Kemp, do not want to trade Ross, Ian Kennedy or Andrew Cashner, sources say.Perhaps the Braves, following the Howie Kendrick-for-Andrew Heaney template, would take a top prospect such as catcher Austin Hedges or right-hander Matt Wisler. The Pads then could get a draft pick for Upton if they made him a qualifying offer at the end of the season."

Whatever it is John Hart is looking for in return for Upton, he hasn’t found it yet. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Hart has had conversations with “six to eight” teams about Upton.

We’ll continue to update the situation as it unfolds over the offseason.