Justin Upton is back in the NL West after a two-year hiatus, this time with the new-look San Diego Padres. The Padres landed Upton in a deal with the return to the Braves being a prospect package.

For now, let's take a look at things from the San Diego point of view, as Upton is the big fish in the deal.

After going 77-85 despite an embarrassing offense last season, it was obvious something needed to be done and new general manager A.J. Preller is really getting after it.

The Padres were last or next-to-last among the 15 NL teams in six offensive categories last season.

No offense
Stat NL rank
Runs 15
Doubles 15
Home runs 14
Batting avg. 15
On-bace pct. 15
Slugging pct. 15

No player had more than 15 homers, only one had at least 20 doubles (Seth Smith with 31), the RBI leader was Jedd Gyorko with 51 and Smith led the team with 55 runs.

Yikes. Again, they were only eight games below .500 with that junk. Rather impressive, really, but that doesn't mean they should've been standing pat.

Upton, 27, hit .270/.342/.491 with 34 doubles, 29 homers, 102 RBI and 77 runs last season alone. He averages 26 homers per 162 games and has a career slugging percentage of .476. He's familiar with the NL West and actually has hit well in the pitcher's paradise that is Petco Park, sporting a career .291/.359/.541 line with 11 doubles and 10 homers in 192 plate appearances in San Diego.

Upton joins Matt Kemp, who hit .287/.346/.506 with 38 doubles, 25 homers and 89 RBI last season. Kemp exploded in the second half last season, hitting .309/.365/.606 with 17 doubles and 17 homers in only 64 games after the All-Star break, making him one of the most prolific power hitters over that span. Given what we've seen in the past from him, it was a return to form in the batter's box.

Wil Myers, the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year, has also been added. He had 23 doubles, 13 homers along with a .293/.354/.478 line that season in only 88 games. Last year was a down year, though he was hampered by a wrist injury. The former top-five prospect had 37 homers in the minors in 2012, so we know he can bring the thump.

Don't forget about Thursday night's late addition, either, in Derek Norris. In 442 plate appearances last season, Norris hit .270/.361/.403 with 19 doubles, 10 homers and 55 RBI. It's not spectacular, but he would've been one of the Padres' top offensive players last season with that line.

Now, there's still plenty to sort out. Neither Kemp nor Upton belong in center and Myers has mostly played right in the majors. He does have experience in center (53 innings) and 100 of his 363 games in the minors came in center. It's possible they go with these three outfielders. It's also possible someone moves to first base while Cameron Maybin/Will Venable remain a platoon in center. There's still the matter of Seth Smith and -- if we include first base -- Yonder Alonso, too. As well, we could get into how the left side of the infield leaves something to be desired.

Like I said Thursday night, it would appear Preller isn't yet done shaping this roster.

One thing he is doing is adding some thump to his lineup, something it sorely needed after last year's offensive debacle.

Addendum: Yep, Preller keeps going. He's now flipped Ryan Hanigan for Will Middlebrooks.

Middlebrooks has 34 homers in 894 career MLB plate appearances, with translates to roughly 24 every 162 games. He's shown promise at the big-league level but has greatly struggled since his excellent rookie campaign in 2012. He's only 26, so there's still time to get back to where things were in said rookie year, when he hit .288/.325/.509 (121 OPS+) with 14 doubles and 15 homers in just 75 games. The league switch will help but the ballpark switch won't. Still, it's more right-handed power that Preller has acquired and I'd like to again note Preller doesn't seem done. Not by any stretch.

Justin Upton is headed to San Diego along with some other power hitters.
Justin Upton is headed to San Diego along with some other power hitters. (USATSI)