TomahawkCult (07-13-2014)
I think all of those guys made combined what Uggla makes this year.
Forever Fredi
As bad as all of those guys played in the stints relevant to this situation, none of them played as poorly as Uggla has since the middle of last season (Mondesi is very close). The other thing is that Sanders and Jordan could still play good defense.
Uggla is a one-tool player and he never was a very good fastball hitter. His plus in addition to his impressive power was that he could fight enough stuff off to draw walks and hit mistakes 400-plus feet. But when he could no longer hit average fastballs, there was no reason to throw him anything else.
But he plays one position (which he plays poorly) and he can't run. To have any value, he has to be a starter and it's obvious he's not a big-league starter anymore.
PS--There's very little difference between DFA and outright waivers in this instance. If they waive Uggla, he won't accept an assignment to Gwinnett if he clears waivers and as a result he'll simply be released. Given his salary, no one is going to claim him so the Braves will be on the hook for the remainder of his contract.
Last edited by 50PoundHead; 07-13-2014 at 09:42 PM.
BJ was underwhelming but not the gaping vortex of suck that Uggla is. Sanders was given a chance to play through his struggles because of, if nothing else, lack of internal options. He was Uggla 2013-bad, which is less than half as bad as 2014 Uggla. Mondesi was signed for $1M and Jordan for $700K, so cutting them was not an issue, as it is with a guy who's owed $25M.
So, no, none of those situations were more than superficially comparable.
The facts seem to be that Uggla did not arrive at Saturday's game until about one hour before the first pitch. Don't know if he had an excuse, because he was not allowed to be at the park Sunday -- even though his jersey was still in his locker.
Good point someone made that he wasn't even in full uniform in the dugout recently (no jersey under his jacket). Fredi said he expected him to be back on Friday, but it's not Fredi's call -- and he tried to diplomatically point that out after the game Sunday. DOB has hinted that Liberty was more than a little aware of the bind his contract was putting the team in, but this is why businessmen should have little or no say in roster decisions.
Speaking of Liberty, I noticed where the Braves drafted three Colorado high school kids who had no shot of signing and may not have been real prospects. Did they throw a bone to some Liberty daddies?
You know what Dan's #s were before the trade and extension?
In the 2010 season, the year prior before coming to Atlanta, Dan had the following #s..
Batting Avg: .287
OBP: .369
OPS: .508
HRs: 33
RBI: 105
Runs: 100
2B: 31
He avg around 30 to 33 HRs up to that season and was about a .265 to .270 hitter...and more importantly, he was a 2B...
Please tell me how in the hell was this a mistake trading and signing this guy to extension at the time this took place? You think Frank Wren could have foreseen the outcome of his tenure in Atlanta before all of this and signed him anyway? At the time this took place, he fulfilled a HUGE need for this ball club, POWER. I am just a little confused on how you and some others want to tag this as a "Wren Mistake" when Frank, the players, the fan base, and hell even Dan himself never saw this huge drop off coming. Come on man.
NO ONE could see the Uggla-level drop-off coming. Maybe heavy decline, but not among the worst hitters in the league.
jsebe10 (07-13-2014)
Poor Danny Uggla getting treated bad. Him and his millions will be in my prayers.
So is this the unofficial thread now?
thank you weso1!
Hawk (07-14-2014)