ESPN's Olney: Braves should target Justin Upton

Olney said Atlanta would be wise to make a play for the Arizona right fielder.

By Navin Vaswani

Jul 11, 2012 at 2:57 pm ET • 1 min read

ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted Wednesday afternoon that Atlanta could make for a nice landing spot for Justin Upton, should the Diamondbacks decide to trade him.

A potential Upton deal could be made between the two teams, with Atlanta sending Martin Prado to Arizona, along with pitching prospects headlined by Julio Teheran. Prado gives Arizona the third baseman they so badly covet -- he's having a career year, hitting .321/.382/.457, with five home runs, 37 RBI, and 49 runs scored -- and a very high-upside arm in Teheran, who, admittedly, has struggled this year with the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves.

With Michael Bourn playing out his one year, $6.845 million contract this season, and in line for a huge raise, and Brian McCann set to earn $12 million in 2013 (should the Braves exercise their club option), Upton gives the Braves both cost and lineup certainty, thanks to his contract that has him signed through 2015 (he's owed $38.5 million from 2013 through 2015).

ESPN noted that if Prado is moved, Dan Uggla would take over at third base for Atlanta.