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          Buster Olney Blog

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          Sizing up offseason salary-dump market

          It's been another long season for B.J. Upton. Could he be on his way out of Atlanta? Leon Halip/Getty Images
          • Buster Olney, ESPN Senior WriterSep 1, 2014, 11:56 AM ET
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            • Senior writer ESPN Magazine/ESPN.com
            • Analyst/reporter ESPN television
            • Author of "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty"
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          KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- August may be over but these are the dog days of player evaluations, the time of year when teams are ready to turn the page, ready to say something hasn’t worked and isn’t going to work. They’re looking for something different.

          It’s the time of year when executives are beginning to mull over the possible salary dump in the offseason, and some are scanning other rosters for matches. “Your trash contracts for somebody else’s trash contracts,” as one official noted the other day.

          Here are 16 players (and contracts) who figure to be analyzed and perhaps discussed in deals after this season ends.

          1. B.J. Upton | Atlanta Braves

          Owed: $46.35 million over the next three seasons

          He’s batting .205 this season after hitting .184 in 2013, and he’s already posted his sixth straight season of 150-plus strikeouts. The Cubs could again have interest after trade talks that involved Edwin Jackson crumbled earlier this season. There might be a match with the Indians, as well.