The Giants have signed second baseman Dan Uggla, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). It’s a minor league contract that will see Uggla report to Triple-A Fresno, and the deal contains an out clause for August 1st, according to Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Uggla is represented by Turn 2 Sports Management.
Giants second basemen have combined for only 0.3 fWAR this season, and with Marco Scutaro back from the disabled list but not close to 100 percent, adding Uggla seems like a no-lose risk. San Francisco’s interest in the veteran slugger was reported by CSNBayArea.com’s Andrew Baggarly on Friday. Uggla seems badly in need of a change of scenery to revive his career, as the 34-year-old has seen his numbers steadily decline over the last four seasons, bottoming out with just a .472 OPS in 145 PA this year.
Uggla lost his starting job in Atlanta to rookie Tommy La Stella, and things quickly soured from there. Uggla received very little playing time over his final two months in Atlanta, and he was issued a one-game suspension for showing up only an hour before a game. The Braves are still on the hook for the approximately $18.2MM remaining on Uggla’s contract through the end of the 2015 season, as the Giants only owe him a prorated league minimum salary for the remainder of 2014.
It seems unlikely that the Giants will cease looking for additional help at the keystone, but Uggla serves as a reasonable enough buy-low option for GM Brian Sabean. Should he produce for San Francisco, it wouldn’t be the first time that Sabean caught lightning in a bottle on a struggling veteran. In 2010, the Giants’ additions of Pat Burrell and Cody Ross helped fuel their charge to the World Series, in which they defeated the Rangers four games to one.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Why?
Its a minor league, who cares, he could be good or he could be released
If the Giants start giving him AB’s you will care.
Good, solid, low-risk no-reward signing. I like it!
all-risk, no reward
FTFY
no-risk
Taking at bats from other guys in the minors so that he can go up there and strikeout.
AAA Fresno doesn’t exactly have any great 2B right now. If it doesn’t work, he can be cut.
Well yeah, but I rather have anyone else getting at bats. I think he gets cut pretty quick.
Like someone else replied, the Fresno AAA Team don’t have any great 2b down there, so really its not doing any harm, its not like Uggla will be called up to the majors.
No reward? How can that be good?
On a side note, if Uggla goes to SF and hits well, I’ll be finding a wall to bang my head into repeatedly.
You won’t have to worry about that.
I have a brick and cement wall outside you can use.
Watch the Giants coaches find some mechanical change they have him make that completely revitalizes his hitting or something xD
lol
He’s basically a more established Brandon Hicks.
But this version of Hicks comes with horrible defense!
this would have been an exciting pick up a few years ago
I remember crossing my fingers the Marlins would ship him off to SF back when he was still good.
You know…you would think so wouldn’t you…..
LOL
why do we continue to act like a KC or SD in terms of revenue and take obvious risks (cause their cheaper) and pray for ‘lightning in a bottle’ with guys like Uggla, when we obviously have the money to get the Zobriest’s, Utley’s, Murphy’s etc. and also have to contend with the LAD who spend like their $$$ is on fire?!
right now its not about money, sabean doesn’t want to meet the asking price in terms of prospects for those good second basemen
he doesn’t have to meet prospects for Utley just salary relief
The Phillies aren’t trading a guy that amassed 3 WAR in the first half of the season for salary relief. It’s Philly, they don’t care about salary in the first place.
-C
So your saying the Phillies would be interested if the Giants said “Hey we like Utley, mind if we just take his contract off you?” Maybe that would be appealing to a small market team like Oakland looking to get rid of Johnson but even if the Giants agreed to pay all of Utleys contract, the Phillies would still ask for prospects.
He has 10 and 5 rights dosen’t matter what San Fran offers, he doesn’t wanna go anywhere. He has already stated numerous times he wants to retire in Philly.
Teams aren’t looking for salary relief. They want good young cost controlled talent. Something the Giants lack in abundance.
I can’t see the use for this. If anything, the Giants should be signing a true utility infielder with a bit of batting ability. Uggla has a career -4.1 defensive WAR
When I read the “Giants second basemen have combined for only 0.3 fWAR this season” I thought, that’s a lot better than Uggla at his peak
Hey, he had a 1.0 defensive WAR once in his career.
its been a trend for the Giants picking up 2nd basemen in the last 5 yrs….another WS coming our way 🙂
Well, if the Giants are looking for ways to cut down on the number of season ticket holders, this is a good start…
Being in 1st place must be getting boring.
On the bright side, Uggla has put up a 73 wRC+ with atrocious defense over the last couple years. Wait…
Wow, big move. Well, thats game. Dodgers will pack it up for this year and work on next year. No way they can compete with that roster now….
As a Braves fan, I apologize to Giants fans. If we hadn’t released him, you would never have been in this position.
What are you apologizing for? You guys still owe him $18 million.
Adding Uggla seems like a no-lose risk so long as the Giants do let him get any AB’s.
wrong. he still occupies space, both on the bench as well as a roster spot, even if it is in the minors
Desperation move by Sabean. The other day at Fresno AAA there was 5 scouts at the game. Looks like Sabean once again doesn’t want to give up prospects for good players.
He’ll pull a trade, Giants already linked to Utley and few others.
This doesn’t nix any trade rumors the Giants are linked to… they signed Uggla to the AAA club, not to be the everyday second baseman.
What do you mean, once again? Sabean is not a stranger to trading prospects for talent. Here are some of his more recent deals:
Culberson for Scutaro
Joseph and Rosin (and Schierholtz) for Pence
Wheeler for Beltran
Alderson for Sanchez
Turpen for Ramirez
Bowker and Martinez for Lopez
Of all the things you COULD say about Sabean, the one thing you CANNOT say is that he isn’t willing to trade prospects for talent. He’s done it time and time again.
The real problem is that the Giants don’t have a ton of talent in the minors and of the talent that they DO have, Sabean still has to find a team who is interested AND who has the pieces to fill our needs.
Culberson and Bowker were not prospects
You have an odd view of desperation…
Well, they are coming into Philly. He has hit all of his HR’s this year against us. He practically cost us one game.
Well as the guy who tried reassuring fellow Giants fans by saying, “Don’t worry! We already have Dan Uggla in the form of Brandon Hicks, who also has much better defense”, I am eating enough crow to feed a family of 12.
Your already assuming he’ll make the team over Scutaro / Panik? Not a chance.
The word *if* really changes a sentence…
He won’t make the MLB team, honestly its a good low reward, the Giants will pull a trade come deadline to replace probally both at 2B, don’t look at Uggla like we traded something big to get him.
low reward is always a good thing…
If I’m a giants fan, I’d be worried that Uggla gets called up, hits well in a small sample size, then Sabean follows standard Sabean operating procedure and gives him a two yr deal in the offseason.
I’m a Giants fan, and like the deal, as he’s a low reward, if Giants fans recall Sabean did the same thing for the 2010 WS. However I do see Sabean going for a trade come deadline that will be far superior than what they currently have for 2B, Panik, Scutatro, Hicks ain’t cutting it.
They’re going to have to. Hate to say it, but Hicks is an upgrade over Uggla. I mean, you always gotta love the little moves that might pay off, but this isn’t one. I’m an ATL fan and he just doesn’t have anything left at this point.
It’s not like SF lost much, though… unless they have a guy at AAA that needs the AB’s.
There isn’t a guy in AAA that needs AB’s outside of Hicks, Abreu whom they had opt’d out of his AAA contract.
Giants second basemen have combined for only 0.3 fWAR this season…which represents a 0.9 fWAR improvement over Uggla.
Henry Schulman is reporting that Uggla was signed on a minor league deal with an August 1 opt out clause. This means that Uggla will be getting the pro-rated league minimum, and that he’ll have until the trade deadline to get his act together in Fresno……low risk, high reward, that is if they can get anything out of him better than what they’ve been getting out of 2B and/or their bench right now. If it doesn’t work out, they can just shove Uggla back out the door again in 10 days.
Plus it let’s Sabean focus on trading for a CF/leadoff hitter, since it doesn’t look like they’ll be getting Pagan back anytime soon. Not to mention starting pitching, if the Cain injury situation proves to be worse.
De Aza? He’s been hitting a lot lately
that’s an extremely generous interpretation of what a “high reward” is. the guy is completely toast. nothing left. its been kind of sad watching him the last couple years… he’s not going to all of a sudden become a different person at age 34.
I’m glad he’s at least going to be doing more than riding the bench, though. felt bad for the guy for having to ride the bench for two months (just 16 ab’s in that time). atl would rather run with a 24 man roster for 2 months than admit they had to let that money go. really sad that that’s where their priorities were… worn out bullpen… shrinking division lead… atrocious bench… nope, none of those things were as important as keeping uggla around in the hopes that they wouldn’t have to admit they made a mistake.
If you haven’t noticed, Pence has been killing it in the leadoff spot. Going after another starting P would make more sense.
They could always buy Gordon Beckham for cheap
Its a MiLB, so long as they keep at AAA until August 1 they can avoid that too.
RIP Giants season
How exactly does signing a player to our AAA team mean the end of our season?
Yes, signing Dan Uggla results in a lost season. That probably explains why the Braves have been in the playoffs, or at least in the hunt, since Uggla has been on their team.
Also, since when has a AAA signing resulted in the loss of a season?
He was so pivotal in getting them into the playoffs in 2013 that they said thanks by forgetting to add him to the playoff roster in lieu of signing released IF Eliot Johnson in Aug, who managed to be better than Uggla by not having a negative WAR.
I remember that (and still wonder why Atlanta didn’t use him as a bat off the bench with some pop… Musta been the allure of having three Johnson’s on one roster) , but that still doesn’t explain how Uggla = RIP Giants season.
Because he no longer is a “bat off the bench with some pop.” Second half last year he hit .133/.298/.231 with 55 K’s in 143 AB and just 4 HR. Based on that the braves had no choice but to drop him from the roster.
Yes, signing Dan Uggla results in a lost season. That probably explains why the Braves have been in the playoffs, or at least in the hunt, since Uggla has been on their team.
Also, since when has a AAA signing resulted in the loss of a season?
I’ve said since the day the Braves cut him that the Giants should take the chance. I love the contract on the Giants’ end… if it doesn’t work out, cut him loose after the 1st of August… if it does work, the Braves are paying $19.5 million for a player who works out.
Let’s not forget, Xavier Nady was batting .157 with a -1.0 WAR before joining the Giants in 2012… he turned around to hit .240 with a 0.2 WAR in 19 games.
Or Pat Burrell… batting .202 with -0.3 WAR in Tampa Bay in 2010… came to the Giants and went .266 with 18 home runs and a 2.1 WAR in the second half of the season…
He could be another Nady or Burrell… or he could be another Jeff Francouer. Sabean seems to make a deal like this every year the Giants are contenders… give it a chance… they won’t bring him up from Fresno unless they think he’ll positively contribute to the team.
Agreed. Pro-rated league minimum on a minor league contract means that there shouldn’t be anyone saying anything bad about this deal. Worst case scenario (and perhaps the most likely), the Giants let him go. But, he can’t possibly hurt the big league club, so there will be no harm done.
And, you do gotta love a dude playing with a chip on his shoulder. I wish him the best and hope that he turns it around–both for him and the Giants.
A lot of times, getting a guy out of his old team, away from the fans that despise him, away from the clubhouse where he likely didn’t fit in can be the best thing for a player. Braves fans are passionate, but often become brutal towards their own… Uggla needs a new place to call home.
And if he’s not out of Fresno after 10 days, he’ll likely go home and eat cheetos and play video games or something and take his checks from the Braves.
Just go for it… you never know what happens… it’s the beauty of baseball.
Lots of pressure on Bossman Jr. at the Ted without Uggla to relieve the valve.
I agree this his a low risk move, however he could absolutely hurt the giants if they call him up and he continues to perform at such a low level. Unless we get extremely lucky with Uggla, I’d rather have Hicks or Panick at second who can at least play solid defense.
For one, no one’s ruled out a trade for an everyday second baseman, so that’s still on the table.
Two, he’s starting off in Fresno… they won’t call him up unless it’s in the best interest of the club.
0-8 with 3 errors this past series. I would say that’s not in the best interest of the club. lol
He’s not getting called up if he continues to hit .162/.241/.231
There’s no way he gets time over Scutaro and Panik if he doesn’t figure out his swing. It’s a smart move taking a chance on a guy who just might have needed a change of scenery.
I wouldn’t stress much honestly, he won’t be called up unless he can prove he still has got it, which at this rate the Giants rather stick with Scutaro/Panik with Arias / Adrianza
I love this move.
Dan Uggla’s unique accomplishments:
1) Over the last 2 years Uggla has struck out more times that he has reached base
2) In 2014 Dan Uggla’s K% is greater than his SLG%
3) Despite these stats Uggla was not released until July
That is amazing.
My favorite Dan Uggla stat was how in 136 games last season, 27.5% of his hits were home runs. 27.5% of his 80 hits.
I swear I’m going to be mad if he finds his swing.
Still hoping the Tribe can work out a deal with SF and trade ACab. Always thought he was a better 2nd baseman than SS. And we have guys that can play SS, like Aviles or Ramirez at AAA. Or…………bring up Lindor?
Still hoping the Tribe can work out a deal with SF and trade ACab. Always thought he was a better 2nd baseman than SS. And we have guys that can play SS, like Aviles or Ramirez at AAA. Or…………bring up Lindor?
Fresno, I am so sorry you have to witness maybe baseball’s worst talents. I feel for you.
Fresno, I am so sorry you have to witness maybe baseball’s worst talents. I feel for you.
About an hour ago, the SF equipment manager had to make the unfortunate call to Dan Uggla and let him know that San Francisco only stocks adult size jerseys. You can always take a Small and soak it in hot water, Danny boy!
As a side comment to the article, I’m a Giants fan, but I really wish the baseball public would stop attributing the Cody Ross move to the Giants as some sort of ingeniously crafted piece of baseball chess. Sabean got him to block him from the Padres and Bochy played him because Jose Guillen failed his drug test. It wasn’t baseball genius, it was baseball luck, pure and simple. Had Guillen not failed his drug test, he would have been the everyday starter.
welcome to Joe Panik’s at bat’s, Mr. Uggla…ugh
I would think TORONTO would have been a good option for him. Look how they turned around Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. They were both struggling sluggers when the Jays signed them.
They were youngsters with undeveloped raw power. Bautista was 27, Encarnacion was 26. Dan Uggla is 34 and his career is behind him — there is no undeveloped anything with Uggla. He may improve upon his dismal Braves numbers, but it won’t be because some new hitting coach fixed his swing or helped him judge the strike zone better. Uggla has been around long enough to be a multi-ASG selection. He just can’t physically do it anymore.
why does it matter who they get or sign its not like they will be making it into October with those scrappy players they call a team
I feel like I’ve heard this before…
As a reds fan this signing makes me happy 🙂
Why?? Unless you thought Jocketty was considering giving him a call. In which case, good answer.
I didn’t think jocketty would sign him
But some reds fan were hoping he would.
Last thing the reds need is another .200 hitter or in uggla’s case a .100 hitter
A Sabean move if I’ve ever seen one.