Diamondbacks Reaping Benefits of the Justin Upton Deal
It was actually Martin Prado that went from Atlanta to Arizona but in July 2014 the D-backs sent him to the New York Yankees in exchange for O’Brien. He was assigned to Double A Mobile and proceeded to get hurt almost immediately, missing most of the remainder of the season. O’Brien has a tremendous amount of power; he had 33 home runs before his arrival in the organization and in 2015 that reputation only grew as he smacked 26 homers and drove in 107 runs, tops in the Pacific Coast League. For his efforts, he was named the D-backs’ Minor League Player of the Year and was called up when the rosters expanded. Although his initial position was behind the plate, O’Brien has transitioned to the outfield where like Drury, he has encountered a logjam. Tough choices will be made.