With trade talks stalled, Justin Upton might stay with D-Backs

The Rangers and Mariners have been trying to land Justin Upton, but there's no evidence of progress.

The Diamondbacks are not any closer to trading Justin Upton, people familiar with the situation say.

There has been such a lack of movement in trade talks, people around the game suggest now that they won't be surprised if Arizona keeps its star outfielder.

Arizona has been talking to several teams about possible deals involving Upton, but it hasn't been able to land any of the few shortstops it targeted, and while there were many three- and four-team combinations in play during the winter meetings, nothing appears to have progressed from there.

While Upton has hit the trade block often for a star player, the Diamondbacks have identified only a select few prime young shortstops they'd want in return, including Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar of the Rangers and Andrelton Simmons of the Braves. There was talk of a possible deal involving the Indians shortstop, Asdrubal Cabrera, but it appears the Diamondbacks seek a shortstop that's younger and under team control for more than two years.

Texas said no on both Profar and Andrus, and the Braves have shown no inclination to trade Simmons, either.

Upton is viewed as a supremely talented player, and his value has to have soared in recent days as a player like Shane Victorino got a deal similar to what remains on Upton's contract. Victorino signed with the Red Sox for $39 million over three years, $1 million more than Upton has left on his Diamondbacks deal over the same three seasons.

At the owners' meeting last month, Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick said it wasn't likely Arizona will trade Upton. But all the talk has made folks assume something will get done.

Upton is a potential superstar who's only 25 years old but didn't have a great year in 2012, when he had 17 home runs, 67 RBI and a .280 batting average (he did score 107 runs) and probably hasn't fulfilled early outsized expectations.

The Mariners are another team that's tried for Upton. Upton's four-team no-trade list includes Seattle, though he could always decide to waive his no-trade clause if it came to that.