Justin Upton: 3 Best Fantasy Free Agent Locations

Justin Upton continued his solid MLB career in 2015 with another power laden year in San Diego. Upton’s tenure in San Diego looks to be ending heading into 2016, and his yearly 25+ HR services will be highly sought after.

Upton has been a force in the bigs since 2009, so he has the track record and clout to be held in high regards amongst fantasy owners. Upton has proven to be one of the streakiest players in baseball throughout his career, but when he gets hot he can carry both fantasy squads and whomever he plays for.

Upton will get certainly get a nice pay raise in 2016, especially after the Jason Heyward and Yoenis Cespedes dominoes fall, so here are some of the better fantasy fits for him to land at in 2016.

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New York Yankees

Early off season rumblings seem to indicate that Yankees are looking to make some major upgrades again in the offseason. The Yanks have an extremely left handed dominated lineup, so Upton would go a long way in finally inserting another power righty in the middle of the lineup.With Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira being far from sure things next season, Upton’s fit makes almost too much sense.

They made a deal today acquiring Aaron Hicks from the Twins, so this could lead us to think that the rumors of Brett Gardner being on the trade block as true, which would open the door for the Yankees to move and make a big addition. Upton hit 15 homers in Petco last season, so if they could bring him to the Bronx he would certainly flirt with breaking the 30+ homer mark again.

Baltimore Orioles

The O’s are in danger of losing some of their biggest offensive producers (Chris Davis, Gerardo Parra, and Matt Wieters) during the offseason so they could be in desperate need of a power option. After already losing Nelson Cruz in 2014 and the impending loses this offseason, the O’s may be forced to finally go out and acquire a big name free agent like Upton.

While the O’s lineup would be righty heavy if they bring in Upton, the middle of their order would be able to stand amongst the best in baseball. The combination of a healthy Adam Jones, emerging Manny Machado, and then Upton would prove to be a daunting 3-4-5 to navigate. Like Yankee Stadium, and maybe even more so, Camden Yards would be perfect for Upton and his right handed power. If Upton would land in Baltimore I think he could repeat around what he did in 2014 with the Braves. (.270/29 HR/102 RBI in 14’)

Detriot Tigers

The Tigers find themselves in an interesting situation after a rough 2015 where key injuries decimated their chances at competing in the AL Central. While pitching may be their first priority, they will also have to address the fact that both Victor Martinez and Miguel Cabrera are beginning to miss extended time in the lineup. Without the emergence of J.D. Martinez, the Tigers offense would have completely fallen apart, so Upton could prove to stabilize the order for not only the present but also the future.

Inserting Upton in the middle of the Tigers order could return them to the level of production they were reaching during the height of their success not too many seasons ago. Upton would see the biggest uptick in counting stats possibly hitting behind Miggy, Kinsler, or either Martinez so if he found his way to Detroit he should be able easily improve on his 2015 production.

Upton remains a bonafide OF1 or 2 no matter where he goes and he should remain a mid round target. There are some very favorable places where he could wind up both ballpark and lineup wise, so pay some attention to where he lands because a favorable landing spot would move up the ranks.

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