The Case Against Dan Uggla

As of now, Dan Uggla's name is not really being connected to the Giants. But the Giants have had rumored interest for a couple of years now and all of a sudden Uggla is in the news. It's being reported that Uggla turned down a 4 year/$48 million extension from the Marlins mostly because he wants a five year deal worth something around $58 million. Just a couple of months ago, when I was thinking of potential Giants' lineups in 2011, or rosterbating, as we baseball types like to call it, Uggla was one player I wanted. Now, the Giants have Cody Ross, who is best friends with Uggla, and a report from a couple of months ago said Ross was telling him how much he loved playing for the Giants and how Uggla should join him in San Francisco. That combined with the Giants' need for offense and a middle infielder has Giants fans wanting Uggla. But I've settled on the idea that trading for or signing him in free agency next year would NOT be a good idea for many reasons.

Uggla would be a lot more valuable if he was good defensively, but he's not. In his career he's only had two UZR scores above average: 5.5 in his rookie year, 2006, and 0.7, which is barely above average, in 2008. Otherwise he's always been a very bad defender, finishing with UZR scores of -9.9 and -7.6 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The stats suggest he will not be able to stay at second base as he gets older, which is a problem. Uggla's value comes from being a great hitting 2nd baseman. In 2010, he had a career high .877 OPS and his OPS has never dipped below .800. Those are very good numbers for a second baseman. But if he's forced to move to first base or left field, he's a good hitter but not a GREAT hitter. So, if the Giants were to acquire Uggla, they'd have a terrible defensive 2nd baseman for the first couple of years and then just an okay-hitting 1B or LF for the next few years. And that's assuming his offensive production doesn't drop off drastically as he ages, which is a real possibility.

Uggla's contract demands coupled with his age would also have to be considered concerning. He is already 30 years old and will be 31 on Opening Day 2011. And he wants a 5 year deal worth about $12 million per year? I'm not necessarily saying Uggla doesn't deserve it. He's been one of the best offensive second basemen in the game for a few years now. But that just would not be a good long-term investment for the Giants. Not to mention the fact that the Giants probably don't even have the money to pay Uggla because they are already financially burdened by the terrible long-term investments in Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.

If the Giants were to trade for Uggla now, they'd probably have to give up a good starting pitcher (Sanchez?) and a pretty good prospect. Then they'd have to give him the huge contract extension that he wants. Do not want. If they wait to sign him in free agency next year, they have a 32 year old second baseman who is still bad defensively, whose best offensive years are probably behind him, and he still wants that big contract. Do not want.

Dan Uggla is tempting. In the first couple of years of a deal, he'd be a huge help for the offense. And hey, if Cody Ross can convince him to sign next year for 4 years and $20 million, I'm all for it. But that won't happen. Ultimately, it would be a bad idea. Whether it's this year or next year, just say no to Dan Uggla.

As always your comments, opinions, and disagreements are always welcome in the comments section.

Game Recap: SF 10, FLA 9

There's so much to talk about from today concerning the Giants, so let's begin at the end. Andres Torres "singled" in the 10th inning with the bases loaded and 1 out, to give the Giants a 10-9 victory. In the 10th, Rowand, Renteria, and Schierholtz singled to load the bases, and Torres hit a fly ball over the heads of the drawn in outfielders. This came on the heels of Brian Wilson blowing a two run save in the 9th inning. Wilson gave up a game tying ground rule double to Dan Uggla on a 3-2 fastball. There was a lot of discussion on Twitter about Wilson and Posey's pitch selection, but if hindsight tells us anything, it's that Uggla should have just been intentionally walked.

Of course, Wilson should have never entered this game. The Giants took an early 4-0 lead in the first inning, when 6 Giants collected singles. They increased the lead to 7-1 when Juan Uribe tripled in 2 runs, and then scored on a wild pitch. Then, in the 6th, Andres Torres hit a 2-run splash hit to make the score 9-2. Up to that point, Jonathan Sanchez had pitched well, but he fell apart in the 7th inning. After a 3-run HR, Denny Bautista came in to relieve Sanchez, and promptly gave up a 2-run bomb to Dan Uggla, to make the score 9-7. It felt like one of those games where the Giants had scored early and fallen asleep, only for the Marlins to come storming back. When Wilson faced Uggla with the tying run on base and Wes Helms on deck, it should have been obvious to walk him. In 3 games, he's hitting .500 with 4 home runs.

But the Giants won the game, and they can thank Andres Torres. Torres, who looked like he might have been cooling down last week, went 4-5 with a long HR and 3 RBI's. Jonathan Sanchez's meltdown in the 7th inning did not help his trade value, although it probably doesn't matter. The Giants don't appear poised to make any big deals before Saturday. Bullpen help is likely, and maybe a mediocre hitter is Sabean has steady phone reception. The Giants were apparently in on the Scott Podsednik negotiations before he was traded to the Dodgers. Thank God we didn't get him. If you need to know why we don't want Scott Podsednik, just visit the now-defunct firejoemorgan.com and search his name. However, Jorge Cantu is still a threat to join the team.

Last thing: On Andres Torres' game winning hit today, Kruk & Kuip mentioned that the Marlins were wondering if Schierholtz had safely reached 2nd base. By rule, if there is a runner at first, he must touch 2nd base before the winning run counts, otherwise the opposing team can get a force out at 2nd, nullifying the run. This is interesting because there is an infamous situation in Giants' history involving this very rule. In 1908, the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs were in a pennant race, and played each other on September 23. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th, 19 year old Fred Merkle singled, moving the winning run in Moose McCormick to 3rd. Al Bridwell singled on the next pitch, scoring McCormick, and winning the game for the Giants. But Merkle, who was on first, went to the plate to celebrate instead of reach 2nd safely, and the Cubs shortstop complained to the umpire. The umpire ruled in Chicago's favor, and play continued until the game was called due to darkness (remember, 1908). At the end of the season, the 2 teams were tied for the pennant lead, and replayed the game, the Cubs winning 4-2. They would go to the World Series and beat the Detroit Tigers. The Cubs have not won since. But the Giants believed they were robbed of a pennant because of an umpire enforcing a rule that was often overlooked in those days, and it remains one of the most controversial plays in baseball history.

Game Recap: SF 6, FLA 4

It's not often these days that Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria are the reason the Giants win. I mean, Uribe did have a grand slam the other day, but still, he has been slumping hard. 8thInningWeirdness was at the game tonight, and what a game it was. Let's dig into the details.

Josh Johnson is the leading contender for the Cy Young at this point, so I wasn't expecting the offense to do much against him tonight. I gave myself low expectations, and as a result I was pleasantly surprised that the Giants were able to score first. In the 3rd Inning, Andres Torres doubled, of course, and Aubrey Huff proceeded to hit a double that would bring him home. The next batter, Buster Posey, blooped a single to score Huff and extended his hitting streak to 20 games. It was nice to see our 3 best hitters this year combine to score against the league's best pitcher.

Matt Cain was solid tonight giving up just 4 H and 3 BB in 7 IP, but he threw 2 pitches that he probably wishes he could take back. A 2-run homer by Cody Ross tied the game in the 5th inning, and after the Giants scored in the bottom of the 5th on a Freddy Sanchez RBI single, Cain gave back the lead again on a solo home run from Dan Uggla in the 7th. Overall, giving up 3 ER in 7 IP isn't bad but the Giants probably weren't going to score many runs against Johnson, so Cain needed to be flawless to get the win, and he wasn't.

The real fun started in the 8th inning. In a 3-3 tie, Juan Uribe belted a deep home run to left center field to give the Giants a 4-3 lead. The atmosphere was exciting and there was a buzz in the ballpark. Like I said when he hit his grand slam, the Giants could use an improved Juan Uribe. A couple of batters later, Edgar Renteria hit a 2-run homer down the left field line to give the Giants some insurance runs and a 6-3 lead. Edgar's game last night was brutal, but I felt good for him after all of the fans in the ballpark booed him before the game today.

Also notable: Andres Torres was 3-for-4 with a BB tonight. He's good, real good.

Really fun, exciting game to be at tonight. Always feels good to win against the best pitcher in the league.

Game Recap: FLA 4, SF 3

It's interesting that even when the Giants are hot, they never go on winning streaks. Even during this stretch where they've won 16 of 21 games, their longest winning streak has been 5 games. Maybe that's a good thing because it means they've been consistently good. But tonight, they were not very good and it was mostly the fault of the offense.

Specifically, the offense was terrible in the first 6 innings, never even getting close to scoring a run. Ricky Nolasco shut them down. But as soon as Nolasco came out of the game and I tweeted this, magic was in the air. Aaron Rowand came in to pinch hit for Travis Ishikawa, which seemed like a questionable move to me, but he proceeded to hit a two-run homer to cut the Marlins lead down to 3-2. Let me break it down for you: Aaron Rowand saved the day. Amazing. The Giants were still losing, but there was hope.

Unfortunately, the bullpen was not very good again. In the top of the 8th inning, Guillermo Mota allowed a run scoring double, giving the Marlins a 4-2 lead. It'd be nice to solve that problem. Soon.

In the bottom of the 9th inning the Giants tried really hard to come back, but ultimately failed. Andres Torres grounded out to bring a run home, but then up came Edgar Renteria. Up to that point in the game he had been 0-for-4 with 2 K's. Well, he struck out to end the game with a runner on 3rd, so make that 0-for-5 with 3 K's. Ouch.

Barry Zito didn't pitch great: 6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER with 1 BB and 3 K's. But he wasn't terrible either, and when a pitcher only allows 3 runs through 6 innings, a good offense will get that pitcher the win. You've gotta feel a little bad for the guy, and Zito's hard luck continued as he fell to 8-6.

A win would've been extra sweet tonight because not many teams have beaten the guy who is pitching for the Marlins tomorrow. Josh Johnson has a 1.61 and a WHIP under 1 and he is the leading contender for the Cy Young Award this year (screw Ubaldo Jimenez). Fortunately for San Francisco Giants fans everywhere, 8thInningWeirdness will be at the game tomorrow night and we have an impeccable W-L record. Believe it. Even though it's not true.