The blockbuster trade of Justin Upton is dominating headlines around baseball today. We've already looked at one batch of reaction to the deal as well as Arizona's hopes of quickly signing Martin Prado to an extension, but here are some more news items out of the desert…
- The Diamondbacks are "a team stressing culture over talent," writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, dealing Upton and Trevor Bauer because neither player fit the club's preference for "the dirt-on-the-uniform, all-out, get-concussed-or-go-home sort of player."
- The D'Backs will keep Jason Kubel, GM Kevin Towers told reporters during a conference call, including USA Today's Bob Nightengale (Twitter link). This comes as no surprise, as it was expected that Arizona would only move one of Kubel or Upton from a crowded outfield that also includes Gerardo Parra, Adam Eaton, Cody Ross and A.J. Pollock in the mix. Kubel had drawn interest from a number of teams, including the Padres, Orioles, White Sox, Mariners and Mets.
- Speaking of the Mets, they talked to the D'Backs about Upton at various points this winter but the two teams never got far, Metsblog's Matthew Cerrone reports. The Mets didn't have the Major League-ready young infielder that Arizona wanted, nor were the Mets willing to trade Zack Wheeler or Matt Harvey.
- The Diamondbacks' payroll in 2013 "will start with a nine," according to managing general partner Ken Kendrick, reports Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona (via Twitter). This would represent a significant bump from the Snakes' 2012 payroll, which Cot's Baseball Contracts lists as a little more than $75.4MM.
