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At the end of the 2009 season it would have been hard to find many people who would have envisioned Dan Uggla returning to the Marlins. However there’s been little in the way of him not being on the team thus far.

Despite early trade rumors of Uggla going to Atlanta or Baltimore to transition to the outfield nothing has been on the horizon for weeks now. The team offered him arbitration instead of giving him up for nothing and today it was announced that the two sides had agreed on a contract worth $7.8 million for the upcoming season.

While his defense has been suspect at times, Uggla has been one of the more reliable hitters in the league the last four seasons. The naysayers will point to strike out numbers that have topped 150 each of the last three years and a career batting average of .257 but Uggla has also hit 27 or more homers each season, driven in 88 plus and scored 84 or more each season. In addition his OPS has topped .800  and his walk totals have gone up.

The biggest number mentioned above is of course the $7.8 million Uggla will be paid this season. The Florida Marlins were recently read the riot act about not spending enough money after the front office suggested they would field a team with a payroll of $40 million this season.

Since then the Marlins have come to terms on a contract with ace Josh Johnson worth $39 million over four years.

It’s possible, if not probable that the Marlins will start the season with Uggla at second base and by the time the trade deadline comes around send him somewhere else. They were unable to find a taker this winter with much of the talk centering around the team simply trying to unload his contract.

The Marlins could choose to pay Uggla for the first half of the year then trade him to a contender who will be willing to pay the remaining sum of his salary as well as send a mid-level prospect or two to Florida. That way the Marlins get something in return for him. Either way it’s hard to imagine Uggla plays all of 2010 in Florida and if he does so healthy he’s almost impossible to see the Marlins offer him arbitration next season where his salary would f

igure to rise again.

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Yesterday I noted that Dave O’Brien won’t let the trade rumors around Dan Uggla die and went ahead and commented on them as something that would potential help the Braves in 2010.

Uggla isn’t going to hit .300 or win the NL MVP and sure he strikes out a good amount.

I simply said he was quite an offensive upgrade over Cabrera whose biggest value to the Braves is as a trade chip and provided reasons why this trade could work/happen for both sides.

Being honest here I think Cabrera is actually a downgrade from Jeff Francoeur and the numbers support that.

Here’s also an interesting stat.Which I have to give credit to this guy for.
I checked it and it’s accurate.

Last season Prado’s UZR/150 at second base was -3.6 which was the best in his young career.  Most people believe this to be more indicative of how well he can play the position.  Now compared with Dan Uggla, who’s career UZR/150 is -2.9, Prado’s best season is still worse than Uggla’s average season.

Uggla may have had a UZR/150 of -9.6 last season but just a year ago it was 2.0 and while he’s not likely to be that good or bad in 2010 he’ll probably fall somewhere between which is more or less where Prado would end up.

Given that Chipper Jones’ 133 games played at third base were his most in the field since the 149 he put up in 2003 in left field it’s important that the Braves an some options in the infield. Throw in Troy Glaus’ history of being Troy Glaus and you see where I’m going.

So with all that being said you add a big bat, you get to use Prado where ever the leaky hole shows up in the infield and throw him in the outfield a few times.

The reason Uggla may be of more value to the Braves is he plays second base where guys like Nick Swisher and Xaiver Nady are purely corner outfielders who can play first base which leaves you with a problem should something happen at second or when Chipper Jones needs to take time off.

Either way it should be interesting to see how things shake out.

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In an article highlighting what he believes to be an unfinished off-season thus far David O’Brien noted that the Braves have at-least $7 million left in their budget, which matches up with what everyone has been saying following the trades of Rafael Soriano and Javier Vazquez.

O’Brien, like many Brave bloggers, kept the name Xavier Nady in the mix as an option to play the corner outfield and first base. He also threw in the name of Marlins second basemen Dan Uggla whom the Braves had been linked to earlier on this winter.

The speculation of O’Brien is that the Braves could flip Melky Cabrera to the Marlins in exchange for Uggla.

Uggla is a massive upgrade over Cabrera as the track records of the two suggest, he also would eat away most of the remaining money left in the Braves budget but would in essence finish off the roster.

Most teams would find it difficult to trade away Uggla (.243/.354/.459, 31 HR, 90 RBI) but the Marlins are trying to shed some money themselves and at the end of the season there was even speculation that the team would non-tender him to avoid his contract.

Aside from the financial standpoint there are other reasons the Marlins could trade Uggla. The Marlins see Uggla as a bit of a defensive liability, he had a rift during the season with star Hanley Ramirez and the team does have Chris Coghlan on the roster. Coghlan was the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year after he hit an impressive .321/.390/.460. While Coghlan played just one game at second base in 2009, he spent 246 of his 288 minor league games at the position and is seen as an upgrade over Uggla. So in other words the Marlins already have a replacement for Uggla on their big league roster.

The Braves though would have to decide what to do with Martin Prado. Prado appeared in 63 games at second base last season, but also appeared at three other positions. It’s also unclear if the Braves like Prado at second base or as a versatile infield option who would provide Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus days off in addition to Uggla.

I didn’t mix any words after the Braves traded Vazquez to the Yankees for Cabrera and prospects. Obviously if the Braves are able to land Uggla or another accomplished slugger (for Cabrera) it takes away the sting of that trade. Of course this is all speculation on my part at this point.

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