According to Ken Rosenthal, the Florida Marlins plan on trading 2B
Dan Uggla after failed extension talks. The San Francisco Giants, of course, are listed as one of the eight potential suitors for the 2010 Silver Slugger. Many Giants fans are salivating at the idea of acquiring the two-time all star, but there's plenty of reasons not to go after him.
First of all, there's no room for him. As long as
Pablo Sandoval gets in shape, and
Freddy Sanchez remains injury-free, third base and second base are occupied. There is of course, a vacant starting job at first base, but that will likely go to
Aubrey Huff. Many fans might wish to see Uggla starting at third instead of Pablo, but I'm sure he'd put up similarly great numbers -- he could easily hit above .300 with solid power (maybe 25 homers).
Secondly, he's costly. Uggla will likely get $10MM this year and then his contract is up. So what do the Giants do then? Sign him to an extension? He already turned down a 4yr/$48MM extension offer from the Florida Marlins, so what does this mean? He could make a huge dent in the Giants payroll for the next several years.
Third of all, his defense is atrocious. His career UZR/150 is -4.5, but in recent years, his defense has gotten even worse. He'll likely move to first base within a few years. That's
huge. The reason he is so valuable is because his offensive production is rare, coming from a second baseman. If he moves to first base, he loses a lot of that value. Also, the Giants have an up-and-coming first baseman in their farm system by the name of
Brandon Belt. The Giants probably want to have a spot available for him when he's called up to the majors -- rather than occupying first base for the next four to five years.
This isn't even including what the Giants would potentially give up to have Uggla for one year. They'd likely have to part ways with one or more great prospects -- a myopic move for any GM of a team that has just won the World Series.
So anyway, there's no need for
Dan Uggla. The Giants could get great offensive production out of
Pablo Sandoval for a
much, much, much lower cost. And Uggla is expensive -- it would not be wise for the Giants to take on his contract unless they're going to make him an everyday player. Lastly, his defense is just
bad. If they were to put him at first base, assuming they don't re-sign Huff, there will be no room for the promising
Brandon Belt when he receives his call-up.
