Major League Baseball

D-backs trade Upton to Braves

Published Jan. 23, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

Ken Rosenthal

Justin Upton is joining his brother in Atlanta.

The Arizona Diamondbacks finally found a deal they liked for the right fielder, sending Upton and third baseman Chris Johnson to the Atlanta Braves in a seven-player deal.

The Braves sent Martin Prado and pitcher Randall Delgado as part of a five-player package to Arizona in return. Atlanta also included Zeke Spruill, Nick Ahmed and Brandon Drury.

Prado, the key player from Atlanta’s side, is only under club control for one more year. The Diamondbacks are expected to sign him to a long-term deal in the near future, according to Jack Magruder of Fox Sports Arizona. He was popular in Atlanta, with one former Brave saying letting Prado go was “a bad move.”

Upton, 25, joins his older brother, center fielder B.J. Upton, 28, and right fielder Jason Heyward, 23, to give the Braves one of the best outfields in baseball for at least the next three years.

Upton is owed $38.5 million over the next three seasons. The Diamondbacks recently agreed to trade him to the Seattle Mariners, but the M’s were one of four teams on Upton’s no-trade list, and he rejected the deal, sources say.

The Braves were not on Upton’s no-trade list. B.J. Upton recently agreed to a five-year, $75.25 million free-agent contract with the Braves, and Atlanta is relatively close to the family’s home in Virginia.