Justin Upton Trade Rumors: ESPN's Buster Olney Stirs The Pot

With the MLB trade deadline just around the corner, it's time to start thinking of an many outlanding trades that could possibly be thought of to fill time on ESPN's baseball tonight. One such rumor has already taken hold care of ESPN's very own Buster Oleny, as reported on by Arizona Diamondbacks beat reporter for the Arizona Republic Nick Piecoro on Twitter:

. @Buster_ESPN this morning speculated the Rangers as another fit for Justin Upton, citing Double-A 3B Mike Olt as a possible match.

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) July 11, 2012

Trading Upton for a Triple-A prospect? The D-backs area game about .500, not the Padres. There woud certainly need to be more to this deal than just a trade for these two straight up.

Piecoro goes on to suggest that trying to land a bigger fish with Upton as trade bait could also be possible, using shortstop Elvis Andrus as the example.

Another thing the Rangers have is shortstop depth. With prospect Jurickson Profar coming fast, could it make Elvis Andrus available?

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) July 11, 2012

Mike Trout and Bryce Harper have made people forget that most prospects are just that, and take years to develop. Profar will be a MLB shortstop sooner than later, though Andrus is signed through 2014 with a decent contract (3 yerars, $14.4 M), is a perennial all-star and is one of the most productive shortstops in the game.

Upton is coming off of his best year as a pro in 2011, but has raised numerous eyebrows with his poor showing in 2012, mostly due to injury. He's only 24 and signed through 2015, so Arizona should want something big in return, possibly even a starting pitcher or third baseman as well.

For more on the D-backs, head to AZ Snake Pit.