Dan Uggla and the Marlins have interest in working out a long-term deal, but according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, Uggla's representation is asking for more than twice as much as the Marlins are offering; Uggla would like a five-year $58MM deal, but the Marlins are offering "in the range of three years and $24MM."
If the Marlins go to arbitration with Uggla this offseason, he should earn $10MM easily. He earns a $7.8MM salary this year and seems destined for another big raise given his offensive stats (32 homers, 100 RBI and counting). In a sense, a $10MM salary in 2011 is a given. On top of that, the Marlins are effectively offering a two-year $14MM deal.
Sure, it'd be nice for the Marlins if Uggla, one of the best second basemen in the game, wants to stay in Florida so badly that he'll take a paycut to do so. But Uggla could pocket $10MM in 2011 and hit the open market 13 months from now in search of $40-50MM more. Most second basemen don't hit 30 homers with the same consistency Uggla does, so he'll have no trouble finding multi-year offers if he hits the market next winter.
The Marlins' offer does not appear to be worth taking, but the sides have six months before the 2011 season, so the team's proposal is by no means final. And if he's discouraged by the Marlins' offer, Uggla can look across the locker room to teammate Josh Johnson, who signed an extension last offseason after it seemed unlikely that he and the Marlins would agree on a multi-year deal.
Really? The Marlins have to know that that offer will not get it done. I say he gets closer to what he wants than what the Marlins are offering. Even with his below par fielding.
The Marlins offer is really insulting.
Got to be 24/2, right?
I think the Marlins and Uggla will end up agreeing on a 4-year deal worth $44M.
11:$10M
12:$10M
13:$11M
14:$13M (option year)
The Marlins obviously want to keep payroll as low as possible so that offer is clearly a plea from them to Uggla to keep it in the family and give them a home town discount, but that’s one hefty discount. He’s leaving at least $20MM on the table if he takes that offer. At the end of the day, Uggla has to look out for Uggla and the Marlins will persevere even if they pay him an extra $10-20MM. I think they’ll work something out. 4 years/$45MM would seem to work for both sides.
If the two sides arent able to reach a deal, hopefully the Cardinals will start calling the Marlins GM. We def. could use a new 2B and we need someone to fill in the #5 hole and Uggla would fit the bill perfectly. and if the Marlins farm system doesnt have any exciting talent, then they should consider trading someone like Uggla. im sure the Cardinals have something that they would be interested in. Im not sure what holes the Marlins would want to fill or what they would want in return tho. But having a 3-4-5 combo of Pujols, Holliday, and Uggla sounds very exciting. The question would be: can the Cardinals put together a better package than other teams?
The question is can he fight into there payroll with alberts big contact coming up? i doubt they trade for uggla who could make double digits
Wondering where the other BIG Fish fans are yet on this topic. 3/24 is awful, but so is 5/58. Uggla has such awful range at 2B now that he really needs to be moved to 3B as it is, but doesn’t want to switch and looking over one of the posts above about a move to St.Louis and a fast infield, could one imagine how many ground balls would get past him with his extremely limited range at 2B? He has stated many times that he does not want to move to 3B, where they could try Coghlan there, move him with his smooth hands to 3B and have his power bat and hide his defensive liabilities good.
On the contract.. 3/36m with a team, or mutual option, maybe even 4 years @12M per guaranteed if it’s the only way, but only if he agrees to move to 3B after another year.
I don’t think he’s got the arm to play 3rd.
I also don’t think his range is THAT bad at 2nd; I’ve seen him cover some ground there this year. The issue with Uggla is that he’s just not a good natural fielder — he just looks like he’s making plays harder than they should be.
Yeah he can make some great plays, but youre right, its not so natural. he got a very bad rap defensively cause of the all star game. his defense is average, with days it goes way above and days it goes way below. but he plays the game hard everyday which makes him very valuable
Yeah, this is pretty much how I view him. There are times when you’re like “Wow, that was a really nice play”…and then three innings later, he’ll do something that reminds you why he has that reputation.
I don’t think that he should be written off as a bad player or anything — of course there is value in being able to hit the way he can, and being okay defensively most days. It’s just that the days in which he’s NOT playing 2nd well, you just hope he’s not costing you games — and in the end, that’s what keeps him from being a star.
It’s those smooth hands of his that remain constant for the most part. That double error few nights ago on the grounder that also got by him was one of the few exceptions that was right to him after being botched 1st by Gabby. Also, IMO, his range going to his left seems to vary more that range to his right, but that is just from games watched and not from looking at any stats.
Baseball’s changed a lot. Back in the day 2B was where you stuck some masher who could pick it a bit with an average arm. Hornsby, Carew.. these guys weren’t brilliant fielders.Far be it for me to compare Uggla with Hall of Famers, but let’s face facts. The guy has done absolutely nothing but mash in an extreme pitcher’s park since the day he broke camp.4 year deal, at least $10MM per and you leave him at 2B to slow jog around the bases 30+ times a year. Uggla’s defense isn’t what’s stopping the Marlins from contending every year.
Could the Braves have interest? Move Prado to LF?
Not a Braves player at all. They don’t need another player with subpar fielding abilities and he strikes out way to many times. Prado would stay in the infield even if, God forbid, they get Uggla. The Braves will have some holes to fill next year and they will have some cash to do it. I don’t think that would translate into getting a defensively challenged 2nd baseman that strikes out 150+ times a year. I honestly don’t think Uggla has the arm for 3rd, so I ultimately think he will have to go the DH route at some point or take his iron glove and go the Soriano route and end up in LF where all poor defenders go to hide.