The Braves Are Locked In And Loaded With Youth

I know that I have mentioned in past posts how many teams have been locking in their young talent to long term contracts before letting them reach free agency. So far this 2014 season, the Atlanta Braves have gone way above and beyond in locking up their young talent. This offseason/spring training the Braves have extended Freddie Freeman, Julio Teheran, Craig Kimbrel, Jason Heyward and Andrelton Simmons. These are five players that are 26 years of age and under. They also join the B.J. and Justin Upton who are 29 and 26 respectively, Evan Gattis at 27. Even counting the old man in the group (Dan Uggla is 34), this is a core group that will be together for at least another two seasons.

Courtesy of Baseball Reference.com 

Heyward, Uggla and Upton are signed through the 2015 season. B.J. Upton and Kimbrel are signed through 2017. Gattis is under contractual control through 2018. Teheran is signed though 2019. Andrelton Simmons is signed through 2020. Freddie Freeman is signed until 2021. The Braves do need to address their starting pitching but then again what team in the majors doesn't. Aside from that I think the Braves are poised for some special things to come in the future.

I have to admit that I like how teams are locking up their talent. Though I still think a maximum of a five-year deal is ideal for Baseball contracts, giving a player who is 24 a seven or eight-year deal is much more appealing than giving a player in his 30's the same kind of deal. It is also promising to see teams making a real effort to invest in their young players by signing them long term and paying them rather than utilizing the system to just keep control of the players and letting them walk after the end of their rookie contracts. I think it sends the right message to the fan base that the team is committed to winning with their homegrown players year in and year out.

I hate to wax poetically about this, but I think that it is important that fans (especially the younger fans) grow up watching the same group of players on the field like it was in yesteryear. I understand the economic dynamics are different from then to now, but it is good to feel that young fans will be able to follow their favorite players on their teams for hopefully the player's entire career. That remains to be seen but I think the teams are not only do right by their bottom lines but by their fans as well.

Sisco Kid

What Happened to Dan Uggla

It hindsight seems that the Miami Marlins who take a lot of heat (and deservedly so) for their salary dumps is definitely the winner of the Dan Uggla trade that they made with the Atlanta Braves in 2010. Granted Omar Infante was traded to Detroit last season with Anibal Sanchez and 2013 compensation draft pick round A to the Detroit Tigers for minor leaguer Brian Flynn, Rob Brantly, Jacob Turner and 2013 compensation draft pick round B and Mike Dunn is a fixture in their bullpen, if they had chosen to resign Uggla, they might be stuck with a player who is playing way below expectations. Here is what I said about the trade in my blogpost The Florida Marlins Play the Trade Game from November 16, 2010:

It was reported that the Marlins were trying to sign Uggla to a 4-year 48-million dollar extension which Uggla rejected. It is believed that Uggla was looking for a deal in the 5-year 71-million dollar range...From what I've read, the general consensus believes that the Marlins basically gave away Uggla and to a division rival no less. Uggla has been an offensive force for the Marlins from the second base position who in 5 major league season is hitting an average of .263 with 32 Homeruns and 97 RBI. Uggla is good for about 161 hits a season (35 2B/3 3B/32 HRs) and an OPS of .837 (.347 OBP/.488 SLG). Uggla is also a consistent player having played an average of 155 games per season. Economically, the deal might benefit the Marlins more...Had they not traded Uggla now, they might have ended up trading him during the season with risking losing him after next season.

Look at his numbers while with the Marlins: .263 with 32 Homeruns and 97 RBI. Uggla is good for about 161 hits a season (35 2B/3 3B/32 HRs) and an OPS of .837 (.347 OBP/.488 SLG). I don't know if it was the tropical sunshine in Miami that had Uggla hitting like that but he sure isn't hitting that way in Atlanta.

In his two seasons with the Braves, Uggla is averaging a .227 batting average with 28 homeruns and 80 RBI. He's been good for 132 hits (26 2B/0 3B/28 HRs) and an OPS of .750 (.329 OBP/.421 SLG). He's below his career average in all catergories. I can't even blame it on him striking out more in Atlanta than when he was in Florida. He averaged 158 K's with 76 walks with the Marlins and in Atlanta he's averaged 162 K's and 78 walks.

Perhaps he has regressed in terms of plate discipline. And looking at his spring training performance this season, the regression seems to have continued. In 55 at-bats Uggla is hitting .182 with only 10 hits with 1 HR, no other extra base hits, 3 walks and 19 strikeouts.

Defensively he's no worse than he was in Florida. He's a decent fielder who you can count on playing 154 or more games a season (his lowest was 146 in 2008). I would say that perhaps a change of scenery would benefit Uggla but with the Atlanta Braves on the hook for $39 million dollars over the next three season, it would seem that they are both stuck with each other.

Can Uggla snap out of his apparent hitting funk? Can hitting coach Greg Walker help Uggla find his stroke or will this go down as one of the worst trades ever made by the usually reliable Atlanta Braves.


What do you think. Let me know.

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading
- Click Here to Access Dan Uggla's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

The Florida Marlins Play the Trade Game

A few days ago I posted that the Oakland Athletics were making waves this offseason on the West Coast. Well folks, the waves are not exclusive to the Oakland. Over here on the East Coast, the Florida Marlins have been making their own waves though the reaction to the waves have been anything less than positive. The Marlins have made three trades with the biggest being the trade of second baseman Dan Uggla to the division rival Atlanta Braves. Before I go into that trade, allow me to shed light on the other two trades that went down earlier this week.

- Andrew Miller to Boston
When the Florida Marlins traded starter Dontrelle Willis, first baseman Miguel Cabrera to the Detroit Tigers for Dallas Trahern (minors), Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller and Mike Rabelo in 2008, shockwaves were felt throughout the majors. If I'm not mistaken, Andrew Miller was deemed to be the jewel of Tigers' prospects that were shipped to South Beach.

According to the Andrew Miller page on the official North Carolina athletics page Miller in 2006 was chosen as Baseball America National Player of the Year and won the Roger Clemens Award winner as nation's top collegiate pitcher. Miller was also a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Brooks Wallace Award. In addition, Miller was chosen to the Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, NCBWA and Rivals.com first-team All-America. While at North Carolina, Miller set North Carolina's single-season (133) and career strikeout records (325).

His production at North Carolina led to his being picked by the Detroit Tigers with the sixth overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft (ahead of current major-leaguers Clayton Kershaw and Tim Lincecum among others). His massive potential led to a call up in August of 2006 just months after being drafted. In two seasons with the Tigers, potential remained just that as Miller compiled a 5-6 record with a 5.69 ERA in 21 games. Miller struck out 62 and walked 49 while giving up 81 hits for a WHIP of 1.749.

After the trade to Florida, Miller's troubles continued. From 2008-2010 Miller accumulated a 10-20 record with an ERA of 5.89 in 58 games. Miller struck out 176 while walking 125 and giving up 256 hits for a WHIP of 1.732. After running out of Minor League options, Miller was dealt to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Dustin Richardson.

In Richardson, the Marlins get a 26-year old left-hander who two seasons with Boston accrued a 0-0 record with an ERA of 3.31 in 29 games. Richardson struck out 12 while walking 14 and giving up 18 hits for a WHIP of 2.020. Meanwhile, Miller will join the Red Sox and his North Carolina teammate Daniel Bard. Maybe this change of scenery will prove more successful to Andrew Miller.

- Cameron Maybin to San Diego
Another piece to that big 2009 trade was outfielder Cameron Maybin who after a breakout season of sorts was traded by the Marlins to the San Diego Padres for relievers Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica. Since I wasn't very familiar with these players, I decided to look to my twitter log for some insight.


According to the Twitter feed of Mickey Koke from the Friarhood blogpage dated November 13, I got the following information on the players involved in the trade:

The #Padres lost two solid arms in Webb (the centerpiece of the deal) and Edward Mujica. Having said that, the #Padres did not give up their top arms in Bell, Adams, Gregerson and Freri. Very solid deal for a 5-tool Of with loads of potential that is still ONLY going to be 24 in April.

Ben Badler of Baseball America also states the following about Maybin on his Twitter feed:

Does Maybin's swing have holes? Sure. Worth taking a chance on a 23-y.o. CF w/ a .325/.401/.477 AAA line in 486 PAs last 2 yrs? Absolutely

From what I can tell both teams benefited from this exchange. The Padres get a 5-tool, 24-year old outfielder who has tremendous potential while the Marlins get two relievers who help to shore up their bullpen. Webb was 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 54 games. He struck out 44 while walking 19 and giving up 64 hits for a WHIP of 1.407. Mujica went 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA in 59 games. He struck out 72 while walking only 6. Mujica gave up 59 hits for an impressive WHIP of 0.933. In the short term I think the Marlins have the edge with this trade. We'll have to see how Maybin plays this season with the Padres.

- Dan Uggla to Atlanta
In the big trade to rock the baseball world today was the trade of second baseman Dan Uggla to the division rival Atlanta Braves for infielder Omar Infante and pitcher Mike Dunn. It was reported that the Marlins were trying to sign Uggla to a 4-year 48-million dollar extension which Uggla rejected. It is believed that Uggla was looking for a deal in the 5-year 71-million dollar range.


From what I've read, the general consensus believes that the Marlins basically gave away Uggla and to a division rival no less. Uggla has been an offensive force for the Marlins from the second base position who in 5 major league season is hitting an average of .263 with 32 Homeruns and 97 RBI. Uggla is good for about 161 hits a season (35 2B/3 3B/32 HRs) and an OPS of .837 (.347 OBP/.488 SLG). Uggla is also a consistent player having played an average of 155 games per season. Economically, the deal might benefit the Marlins more.

Had they not traded Uggla now, they might have ended up trading him during the season with risking losing him after next season if they didn't deal him. According to J.C. Bradbury of Sabernomics.com:

I estimate Uggla’s play to be worth $11 million in 2011, while collecting a salary of $9-$10 million in his final year of arbitration. I estimate Infante to be worth $5.5 million with his salary contractually set at $2.5 million. Dunn is expected to be worth $800,000 with an estimated salary of just over the league minimum of $400,000. The values reveal that the Braves become a better team, but they will be paying for it. Infante will be in the last year of his contract, while Dunn still has five years of service time left...Infante will immediately fill Uggla’s hole in the lineup, and while I don’t expect him to repeat his 2010, he’ll do a fine job on a reasonable contract. Dunn’s performance projection has wide variance; he could become a regular reliever or never make a big-league roster again. He’s a junk bond that the Marlins are willing to gamble on. When the Marlins open their new stadium in 2012, they’ll have salary room to add a player or two and be on the fringe of contention as they seem to be every year.

Alden Gonzalez in his blogpost You can't really blame the Marlins this time from Gonzo and "The Show" also believes that the Marlins did the right thing in trading Uggla. This opinion goes against the general consensus who believe that the Marlins are once again selling off their best players. Time will tell on that one.

On the Atlanta Braves side, the deal shores up a big hole the Braves had with second base. Watching Brooks Conrad make error after error in the NLDS against the Giants proves that the Braves needed help and Uggla will be a defensive improvement. Uggla also helps bolster the Braves lineup and moves into the lineup with such hitters as Heyward, McCann and a (hopefully) healthy Chipper Jones. Hopefully the Braves can resign Uggla to a deal or risk losing him to free agency after the 2011 season.

Already the financial freedom for the Marlins has translated to results for the Marlins with the signing of catcher John Buck to a 3-year 18-million dollar contract. Maybe the Marlins will still be in the hunt for a few more players this offseason. Still it is hard to think that the Florida Marlins couldn't have gotten "more" from other suitors for Uggla throughout the league.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for Alden Gonzalez's article from MLB.com on the Andrew Miller/Dustin Richardson trade
- Click Here for Corey Brock and Joe Frisaro's article from MLB.com on the Cameron Maybin trade to the San Diego Padres
- Click Here for Mark Bowman's article from MLB.com on the Dan Uggla trade to the Atlanta Braves
- Click Here to read J.C. Bradbury's article Breaking Down Uggla for Infante and Dunn from Sabernomics.com
- Click Here to read Alden Gonzalez's article You can't really blame the Marlins this time from his blogpage Gonzo and "The Show"
-Click Here for Joe Frisaro and Alden Gonzalez's article from MLB.com on the signing of John Buck by the Florida Marlins
- Click Here to access The Friarhood.com

A Few Baseball Milestones

In the last few weeks a number of Baseball milestones have been reached by various players throughout the league and I just wanted to highlight a few of them for you. Here goes:

- Dan Uggla
The Florida Marlins' second baseman for the became the first second baseman in the history of Major League Baseball to have four consecutive seasons of 30 homeruns. Uggla is also the first second baseman to have three consecutive 30 homerun seasons. I find that truly impressive since power hitting second basemen such as Jeff Kent, Chase Utley and Alfonso Soriano have put plenty of balls into the seats while playing second, through Kent and Soriano also played other positions. Michael Jong in his article named Dan Uggla Reaches Another Milestone HR on the MarlinManiac.com webpage compares Uggla to other players that have been homerun hitters at the second base position. Congrats to Dan Uggla on his continued success in Florida.

- Evan Longoria
Since I was in the sunshine state I decided to move north to Tampa-St. Petersburg to highlight the milestone of the Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria. On Sunday September 5th in a game against the Baltimore Orioles, Longoria hit his 20th homerun of the season. This achievement couples with his 30 doubles has made Longoria the fifth player to achieve this accomplishment within their first three seasons in the league. Who are the other four players: Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Orlando Cepeda and Albert Pujols. Longoria is definitely keep up with some impressive Major Leaguers and I doubt he'll let up in the least.

- Alex Rodriguez
In a truly off year for the New York Yankees third baseman, Rodriguez has become the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to have fourteen seasons of 100 or more runs batted in. Of these fourteen seasons of 100 or more RBI's, thirteen of them have come consecutively. In doing so, Rodriguez passed Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Babe Ruth, who each drove in at least 100 in 13 seasons. Rodriguez also tied Gehrig and Foxx with his thirteenth consecutive 100-RBI season. Even though A-Rod is at only 23 homers for this season, his RBI totals show that he has been able to adapt his hitting style from pure power to contact hitting. Tine will tell if this is truly an off year for Rodriguez or if his career is in a decline.

- Derek Jeter
Staying in New York City and profiling another Yankees player who is an off year, shortstop Derek Jeter continues his climb up the baseball hit list. During this past weekend's series against the Texas Rangers, Derek Jeter hit his 2,900th his. This places Jeter in thirty-sixth place behind Al Simmons (2,927 hits). Currently at 2,903 hits, Jeter's detractors (and some supporters) are starting to call this season as the beginning of the end. My thing is this, isn't someone allowed to have a bad year? Sure, Jeter is 36-years old and batting 50 points under his career batting average but damn, give them man credit for what he has done. Let's not send him out to pasture just yet. I still stand by my claim that Derek Jeter has the best chance to catch Pete Rose among current Major leaguers. Whether he does or not, only time will tell. But don't sleep on the Yankees captain. October is right around the corner.

- Albert Pujols
Pujols is currently in the thick of the NL Triple Crown and MVP races. While doing so, he's finding time to hit milestones. Pujols became the seventh player in Major League history with at least nine seasons of 30 home runs, 100 runs and 100 RBIs. This is truly amazing since he has only been in the league for TEN years. Barring any major slump during the last two weeks of the season, Pujols will become the fifth player in history with nine seasons hitting .300 with 30 home runs, 100 runs and 100 RBIs. Truly amazing.

So you folks don't think that I am biased toward batting, here are some pitching milestones.

-Trevor Hoffman

Last week, Milwaukee Brewers reliever Trevor Hoffman reached the 600 save plateau. He is currently the only pitcher with 600 saves though Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera is right behind him with 556 saves. Though Mariano will go down as the best closer in the history of the game, I've always said that Trevor Hoffman was severly underrated. Had he played his career in such venues as Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston or New York instead of San Diego and Milwaukee he'd be seen in a better light. As it is he is almost an after thought when talking about the best closers in the game.

- Derek Lowe
With his victory over the Washington Nationals this past week, Derek Lowe struck out his 1,500th batter. This ties him Paul Derringer in 175th place on the career strikeout list. Congrats to Derek Lowe on this achievement.

Ok folks, I'm wiped out. Have fun watching the pennant races. I know I am.
FH