Braves and Diamondbacks complete seven-player trade
Atlanta acquires All-Star outfielder Justin Upton and third baseman Chris Johnson
The Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks announced today that they have completed a seven-player trade, as the Braves have acquired outfielder Justin Upton and third baseman Chris Johnson in exchange for infielder Martin Prado, right-handed pitcher Randall Delgado, minor-league infielders Nick Ahmed and Brandon Drury and minor-league right-handed pitcher Zeke Spruill.
Upton, 25, is the younger brother of outfielder B.J. Upton, who was signed by the Braves to a five-year contract as a free agent last November.
A two-time All-Star (2009 & 2011), Justin Upton has spent his entire six-year career with the Diamondbacks and owns a .278 lifetime batting average with 108 home runs, 363 RBI and 80 stolen bases in 731 games. He is under contract through the 2015 season.
Over the last four campaigns (2009-12), Upton has batted .286 with a .485 slugging percentage while averaging 58 extra-base hits, 23 home runs, 92 runs, 78 RBI and 19 stolen bases per season in that span.
Upton batted .280 with 17 home runs, 67 RBI and a career-high 107 runs scored last season. He posted a stellar campaign in 2011, when he hit .289 with 31 homers, 105 runs, 88 RBI and 21 steals and claimed his first career Silver Slugger Award while finishing fourth in balloting for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award. He batted a career-high .300 with 26 homers in 2009.
Selected by Arizona as the top overall pick in the 2005 draft, Upton made his Major League debut with the D-backs in 2007 at the age of 19. He was a part of two postseason clubs while with Arizona, including an NLCS appearance in 2007 and an N.L. West division title in 2011.
Johnson, 28, posted a .281 batting average with 15 home runs and 76 RBI in 136 total games between Houston and Arizona last season. Johnson owns a .276 career batting average in four Major League seasons. He was selected by Houston in the fourth round of the 2006 draft and made his big-league debut in 2009. As a rookie in 2010, he hit .308 with 11 home runs, 22 doubles and 52 RBI in 94 games.