Diamondbacks rumors & news: Justin Upton, Josh Booty, Miguel Montero

Hey, don't forget about us! Unless you're Ken Rosenthal, you're probably not thinking too much about the Arizona Diamondbacks. They've changed. They're not that same team you fell in love with in 2011. They're certainly not the team inspired you to believe in 2001. But maybe it's you that's changed.

Ok, enough of that. The truth is baseball's love affair with Diamondbacks ended the second the Los Angeles Dodgers were sold to Magic Johnson and a bunch of other guys. The love affair ended as soon as the Giants won two out of the last three World Series. But don't sleep on them. Don't write them off. You don't have to go full Rosenthal and pick them to win the division, but the Dbacks should be competitive. Here are your Diamondbacks news and notes:

The Mega-Trade that wasn't

Remember when the Diamondbacks were going to trade Justin Upton, then they weren't, then they were, then they weren't, then they did? One of those times when they "were" going to move him could have resulted in a massive deal that may have shook the entire baseball landscape. It's no secret they Texas Rangers wanted Upton bad. Bad like a 16-year old wants a car bad. So they were willing to work a three-team deal to get Upton. It just didn't work out.

As Ken Rosenthal reported, the Diamondbacks would have got some premier pitching in return for Upton. The Tampa Bay Rays were prepared to send Wade Davis and James Shields to Arizona, Arizona would have sent Upton to Texas, and Texas would have shipped off a bunch of prospects to the Rays. It was a match made in heaven. Until it wasn't.

As it stands, the Diamondbacks received Martin Prado for Justin Upton. It was a good deal in the sense that the Dbacks got a third baseman with limited power for…wait, was it a good deal? Many in Arizona say no. The Diamondbacks seriously needed a third baseman, but they gave up a power-hitting outfielder in his "prime" to get one. Time will be the judge in this deal. And time will wear a white curly wig and carry a large gavel.

It's not your Booty

In a strange series of events, the Miami Marlins (mostly just Jeffrey Loria) are claiming to have the rights to Josh Booty. Who is Josh Booty? He just knuckled his want to stardom (like Kathy Griffin stardom, but stardom nonetheless), and he is currently in the Diamondbacks' camp. Booty won the Next Knuckler, a reality show that aired on MLB Network, and he got an invite to the Diamondbacks spring training camp. However, Miami wants him. But only if he's good.

As the Marlins have so eloquently put it (and the Marlins' Loria is the epitome of eloquent, isn't he?), Josh Booty can remain a member of the Diamondbacks organization unless he makes the Dbacks' roster. So essentially the Marlins are OK with the Dbacks using Booty as a marketing tool, but they are not cool with Arizona using him to actually win games. This is business after all.

Booty retired as a member of the Florida Marlins in 1999. He was drafted in 1994, but he never could quite make it in the game. Since he is retired, the Marlins claim right to him on their "retired list." It seems the team feels they are still entitled to Mr. Booty's booty if he can prove he has anything left. If he doesn't, the Diamondbacks can have him.

Other things you'd probably like to know

There's plenty of other news surrounding your favorite snakes, so here you go:

• Sandy Alderson really wanted Justin Upton on the New York Mets. But he couldn't make that happen, so he proceeded to NOT make the Michael Bourn deal work as well.
• Miguel Montero missed two-straight games with a strange thumb injury. Turns out that strange injury was a splinter. He's good now. After a detailed tweezering (made that word up), the splinter is out and he returned today.
• The Diamondbacks lost, but won today. Figure that one out.