UPDATE 3:51 PM: Jon Heyman is hearing that there’s nothing serious with Justin Upton yet. He also says the Pirates are “probably not a fit” and that they won’t include Cole or Taillon.
UPDATE 1:16 PM: Jon Morosi reports that the Pirates have a scout in Chicago watching Upton this weekend.
UPDATE 12:45 PM: Stark said on Baseball Tonight that the Pirates could get Upton without losing Gerrit Cole or Jameson Taillon. He also said they were including Starling Marte in the discussions. Keeping Cole and Taillon out of the deal definitely changes the outlook, although it all depends on what the other pieces are beyond Marte.
12:42 PM: We’ve heard a lot of rumors about the Pittsburgh Pirates and Justin Upton. The latest rumors said that the Pirates had expressed interest, but that interest didn’t sound like anything more than due diligence. There have also been rumors that the Pirates don’t match up well for Upton.
Jayson Stark of ESPN says that the Pirates are emerging as serious bidders for Upton. The price for Upton would be high, so if the reports are correct Pirates are emerging as serious bidders, it would mean they’re interested in giving up some big trade pieces. I’d imagine “serious bidders” would include discussions about one or two of the team’s top prospects.
