Blue Jays Acquire Melvin Upton Jr. From the Padres

The Toronto Blue Jays added to their already stacked lineup Tuesday morning, acquiring Melvin Upton Jr. from the San Diego Padres in exchange for 19-year-old pitching prospect Hansel Rodriguez and cash considerations.

The soon-to-be-32-year-old Upton certainly comes with his share of baggage. The outfielder ranked among the least-valuable players in baseball with the Braves in 2013 and 2014 after signing the richest contract in franchise history. Atlanta shipped him off to the Padres just before the 2015 season as a salary dump alongside All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel.

Upton managed to salvage his career despite everything else that has gone wrong in San Diego, hitting .259 this season with 16 home runs and 45 RBI, as well as 20 stolen bases. He isn't getting on base much (.304 OBP), which drops his OPS+ to a perfectly league-average 100 - not bad, but certainly not worth the $22 million he is owed through the end of the 2017 season. The Padres sweetened the deal by taking on all but $5 million of Upton's remaining contract, per Jon Heyman.

One year ago, nobody would have predicted that a team would willingly have traded for Upton.

In return, San Diego gets a young, hard-throwing righthander who has posted a 3.06 ERA in 6 starts this season in Class A, as well as the privilege of hearing thousands of Zoolander jokes (Hansel…he's so hot right now!).

The highest potential grade we've got from scouts on Hansel Rodriguez is a 55 (No.3/4 starter). Again though, very, very high risk. #Padres
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) July 26, 2016

It also allows more playing time for outfield prospect Alex Dickerson, who just did this:

Alex Dickerson visits the TOP DECK. https://t.co/QeSRk1N77e https://t.co/kCc4FvHdhG
— MLB (@MLB) July 26, 2016

As for the Blue Jays, they've added outfield depth for this season and an inexpensive insurance policy for next season. Toronto is living under the shadow of a terrifying offseason, as Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders are all set to hit free agency.

There could also be another, more dastardly reasoning behind this deal. The Jays currently trail the Baltimore Orioles by three games (four in the loss column) in the AL East. Baltimore was also in the running for Upton, offering starter Ubaldo Jimenez to San Diego in a swap of albatross contracts. Keeping Jimenez and his ghastly 7.38 ERA on their division rival is the icing on the cake for Jays fans.

Will this be enough to vault the Jays over Baltimore (and Boston) in the race for a second consecutive division crown? Maybe not…but the trade deadline is far from over.