"The Arizona Diamondbacks have a lot of holes to fill, and the growing sense, from listening to club sources, is that the best way to address them might be to utilize their most valuable trade piece: Justin Upton.

Since general manager Kevin Towers stated publicly earlier this week that he would be willing to listen to offers, he is said to have been bombarded with attention from interested teams.

Those teams, of course, were trying to gauge the Diamondbacks' asking price, which is certain to be steep. The club will seek a package of at least four or five pieces, according to one club source, with perhaps three of those being big leaguers or big-league ready.

With holes in the bullpen, left field, first base and the starting rotation - and, of course, an Upton trade creating a new hole in right field - there's no shortage of combinations the Diamondbacks could look for in return.

Is a huge haul realistic? That all depends on how you view Upton.

"The value is in the eye of the beholder," said a scout with an NL team. "But I would guess they could get an established big leaguer, two top 10 prospects and a lower-level prospect."

Said a different NL scout: "What if you got a (Mark) Teixeira return? You'd do that in a second if you're the Diamondbacks, wouldn't you? I'd think you'd have to get a starting pitcher, a back-end bullpen piece and an everyday outfielder to start with."

In a trade deadline deal in 2007, the Rangers received five players, including pitcher Neftali Feliz and shortstop Elvis Andrus, in exchange for first baseman Teixeira and a reliever."