Written by Jon Tayler at SI.com
The champagne has barely dried in the visitors’ clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, but the hot stove has already been fired up. On Thursday afternoon, the Angels announced that they have signed leftfielder Justin Upton to a five-year, $106 million deal, locking up the late August acquisition through his age-35 season. Upton was widely expected to exercise an opt-out in his contract to test the free-agent market; instead, he’ll stay in Los Angeles to help preserve a dangerous middle of the order alongside Mike Trout in a needed move for the Angels.
Rescued from the sinking ship that was the Tigers on the final day of the waiver trade deadline last season, Upton was a force for the Angels down the stretch, hitting .245/.357/.531 with seven homers in 115 plate appearances over 27 games. That was roughly even in terms of overall performance with his time in Detroit, where he hit .279/.362/.542 amid one of the best offensive seasons of his 11-year career. It wasn’t enough, though, to help the Angels catch the Twins for the second wild card, as Los Angeles fell apart late, going 11–17 from Sept. 1 onward.
Despite not being able to carry the Angels into the playoffs, Upton had cost nothing in terms of acquisition—Los Angeles sent two lesser prospects to Detroit for his services. The trick was going to be keeping him in the fold. Upton signed a six-year, $132 million deal with Detroit back in January of 2016, but that contract contained an opt-out clause following the 2017 season; Upton could either stay put and earn $88.5 million over the next four years, or try his luck as a free agent. Given the weak state of the market—where Upton was easily set to be one of, if not the best, outfielder available for mere money—it was almost a guarantee that he would choose the latter.
To continue reading this article, click here.
