The Seattle Mariners have made a number of moves this offseason to try to address their offensive struggles, but things hit a snag on Thursday, as Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton nixed a deal with the team using his no-trade clause, according to sources who spoke to ESPN.com.
Upton's rejection of the proposed deal was first reported by Foxsports.com and confirmed by the Arizona Republic. According to the report, the Mariners were willing to give up a "substantial package'' that likely included top prospects to get Upton.
"We have interest in improving our club any way we can,'' general manager Jack Zduriencik said in an email to ESPN.com earlier this week. "We have had a lot of dialogue regarding offense, but we would be open to anything.''
Upton has been mentioned in trade rumors over the past two seasons and Arizona general manager Kevin Towers has been exploring deals for the outfielder over this current offseason. Upton's no-trade clause included four teams, one of which was Seattle.
The 25-year-old outfielder had a down season in 2012, hitting for a .280 batting average with 17 home runs and 67 RBIs, prompting Towers to float his name during the July trading deadline.
Upton was coming off of a career season in 2011, finishing fourth in the National League MVP balloting after hitting .289 with 31 home runs and 88 RBIs. He has proven to be an excellent outfielder and has shown speed on the bases, averaging 19.8 stolen bases over the past four years.
Upton is about to enter the fourth year of a six-year, $51.25-million deal that runs through 2015 and will make $9.75 million next season. The package that the Mariners offered to the Diamondbacks was not made public, but Arizona reportedly asked a high price from the Baltimore Orioles, who were also interested in Upton.
According to the Sun, Arizona asked for either third baseman Manny Machado, right-handed pitcher Dylan Bundy or right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman to start any deal for Upton.
The Mariners have been one of the worst offensive teams in the league over the past few seasons, ranking last in the American League in runs scored and team OPS last year. Zduriencik has attempted to upgrade the offense during the offseason, signing free agents Jason Bay and Raul Ibanez and trading for Kendrys Morales from Los Angeles Angels.
Last season the team ranked 27th in the league in runs and finished 30th in batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage. The Mariners have solid pitching with Felix Hernandez and Jason Vargas, but unless they start driving in more runs, the team is going nowhere fast.
The best offensive player on the team was third baseman Kyle Seager, who hit 20 home runs and drove in 86 runs to lead the team while hitting just .259. The Mariners went only 75-87 last season, but it was the most amount of games the team has won since 2009 when they were 85-77. The team has finished in fourth place in the AL West three years in a row and only won 61 games in 2010.
There were a few bright spots last season, including the combined no-hitter in June and of course, Felix Hernandez's perfect game on Aug. 15, the first-ever for the franchise.
The acquisition of Upton would have been the power bat in the middle of the order the Mariners have been searching for since losing third baseman Adrian Beltre to the Texas Rangers a few years ago. Towers likely felt comfortable trading Upton since signing free agent Cody Ross to a three-year, $26 million contract. The team also has a glut of outfielders with Jason Kubel, Gerardo Parra and prospects Adam Eaton and A.J. Pollock.
There is a chance Upton could still be traded, considering the Seattle deal went so far that he had to veto it. Towers has interested trade partners in Texas, Baltimore, Atlanta and San Diego, with other possibilities likely as well. The four teams on Upton's no-trade clause list are the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs.
Seattle has been active in trade talks this year apart from the Morales deal and were rumored to be interested in acquiring Kansas City Royals first baseman Billy Butler. The Mariners also looked at free agent Mike Napoli, but he eventually signed a 3-year, $39 million contract with the Red Sox.
"We liked Napoli," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said to the Seattle Times following the signing. "Congratulations to him on his contract and to Boston for getting him. I think that Napoli brought things to the table that we liked. He's an offensive guy, a right-handed guy. A veteran guy. But, he's no longer available."
Morales was the biggest acquisition for the Mariners this year. Seattle traded pitcher Jason Vargas to the Angels to bring over Morales, who hit 22 home runs and 73 RBIs while playing in 134 games. The first baseman appeared to be fully recovered from a serious ankle injury that sidelined him for 2010 and some of 2011.
