If Uggla doesn’t turn things around, Braves are sunk
It seems like Dan Uggla has been swinging half of a bat all season. (AP photo)
When the Braves signed Dan Uggla to a five-year, $62 million extension in January, I didn’t have a big problem with it. True, it was a significant commitment from a team that has been struggling to create some payroll flexibility in recent years. But if Uggla’s next five seasons were similar to his previous five, the investment was worthy.
The problem: Uggla has face-planted. If he doesn’t turn it around, this contract will turn into one of the worst albatrosses in pro sports.
He is hitting .172 through 60 games. Perspective: He would have to add 66 points to his average just to be as good as Nate McLouth (.238). It’s even worse over the last 16 games: Uggla is 5-for-60 (.083) with an on-base percentage of .152.
But the Braves have no options here. The contract extension means Uggla can’t really be benched for an extended period, and he certainly can’t be traded. Sending him to Triple-A Gwinnett, which he likely would have to sign off on, also seems implausible, although the Braves have done it with other high-priced fizzles.
In short, they have no choice but to wait and hope that Uggla turns it around.
This is a bad position for a general manager to be in, because no matter what Frank Wren eventually decides to do with the roster, he’s going to have to work around the annual salaries that the team has committed to Uggla though 2015: $10 million (including a $1 million signing bonus) this season, $13 million in each of the four that follow.
Of all that has gone wrong so far this season, the lack of production from Uggla and Jason Heyward stands out. The Braves are sunk unless that changes. Manager Fredi Gonzalez continues to hope that the numbers eventually reflect the back of the players’ bubble gum cards.
So, how confident are you? Is this an aberration for Uggla or do you expect him to struggle all season? Also, what were your thoughts on the $62 million contract back in January (be honest)?
By Jeff Schultz
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320 comments Add your comment
mdbraves fan
June 6th, 2011
4:43 pm
BTW, should have hired Valentine. Don’t think he would blame the “baseball gods ” for poor hitting and luck. He would shake this relaxed team up!
Phillisux
June 6th, 2011
4:43 pm
Here’s how Dan Uggla breaks out of his slump: 1) He needs to wear a sailor uniform to the plate; 2) he needs a corn cob pipe; 3) right before each at bat, he needs to open a can of spinach with his bare hand. As he begins to ingest the spinach, the organist needs to play “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man…” We’ll all know Uggla is about to get a hit when he flexes his massive bicep, and twin turbines are humming in an imaginary tatoo. Then Dan grabs a telephone pole and hits a mile long home run to the strains of “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Slump over, guaranteed.
Phillisux
June 6th, 2011
4:45 pm
Sad part is Uggla has a better chance of breaking out of his slump pretending he’s Popeye than he does listening to Larry Parrish’s hitting advice.
dmr
June 6th, 2011
4:45 pm
This isn’t a management problem. Wren tried to put good pieces together and for the most part he did. This is a coaching and performance problem. Nobody is telling Uggla anything he doesn’t already know. Whatever happens, happens.
phil
June 6th, 2011
4:52 pm
Amazing that some this afternoon are still asking for patience on Uggly’s behalf…
Are you people insane? Nuts? Perpetually happy and giddy over abject failure?
He’s batting .172….on June 6th.
The time for patience is over.
Fire someone…
StingerSplash
June 6th, 2011
4:53 pm
When you don’t work walks, when you don’t put pressure on opposing defenses because there is no threat of a steal, the problems of Uggla and Heyward become even more magnified. Waiting for the home run is great;but so is Waiting for Godot.
But I digress. Patience at the plate and taxing a pitcher’s pitch count leads to shorter outings by starters and more frequent appearances by middle relief, which is usually the weakness of average to bad teams. Yet the Braves don’t put pressure on opposing staffs with their reluctance to work walks (funny, they were good at that last year and their runs per average was higher last year, no?) and since they don’t run, or can’t run, they cannot manufacture offense when it’s needed.
It’s a bad philosophy that has met its nightmare when two guys relied upon to drive in runs, well, can’t.
There is no indication that Struggla’s troubles are anywhere near over. When will Heyward return and return to form? Who knows? In the meantime, you’ve got to find a way to push across runs, even if it’s one at a time and not in the form of a solo homer question, Alex.
Brave Hokie
June 6th, 2011
5:01 pm
chbeyer
June 6th, 2011
4:39 pm
Frenchy was run out of town and hated by many fans for a long slump that dropped his average to the 230’s. Thats about sixty points better than Uggla. Jeff F. is now hitting .285 and has 9 HRs and 35 RBI’s Interesting.
Yo:
Frankwhore was a complete headcase & MADE us run him out of town… those numbers mean nothing to me, ’cause I watched that hack swing himself into the ground nite after nite…for seasons.
SO glad he is gone.
Mooseberg
June 6th, 2011
5:04 pm
Uggla = Andruw Jones(his last two seasons as a brave)
Chuck M
June 6th, 2011
5:07 pm
DOB You are right,in the long run the team is sunk without the services of Uggla,they have lost too may games by one and two runs,It will catch up to the Braves soon,Uggla must turn it around,can not depend on Jayson,this year!
Kentavo
June 6th, 2011
5:22 pm
Bobby V was really dogging Uggla last night – called him the man with no hands, or something like that.
sldkfjslk
June 6th, 2011
5:26 pm
I’m going to take a nap. Wake me when Uggla gets another hit or it’s 2015, whichever comes first.
sldkfjslk
June 6th, 2011
5:32 pm
Nick Esasky could have hit better with vertigo than Uggla is hitting this year.
sldkfjslk
June 6th, 2011
5:33 pm
Maybe we can trade for Damaso Garcia.
Farnsworthy
June 6th, 2011
5:49 pm
MLB needs to adopt an annual pay for performance system. Can you imagine anybody performing that bad, for that long, in a real job and not getting fired/demoted?
Phillisux
June 6th, 2011
5:53 pm
Jeff: Why has Larry Parish remained so seclusive? Even when Terry Pendleton was incurring the wrath of Braves’ fans, he was always in sight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Larry Parish dring a Braves’ broadcast.
bostonbravo
June 6th, 2011
5:55 pm
Braves year based on 1 man’s lack of performance? Ridiculous.
McClouth sucked worse than Ugg…and Braves finished “OK”.
Pitching is the worry now…if they don’t pitch shutout ball we have to hope for some miracle long ball at the end of the game. That sounds exciting…but, it has been very very BORING!
Dan Uggla
June 6th, 2011
5:57 pm
Top Ten reasons it’s not my fault:
1. The umps
2. LP
3. My underwear is too tight
4. the ajc
5. bloggers
6. who can hit with a last name like Uggla?
7. Chipper calls me names
8. I spent the off season practicing hitting pink wiffle balls with a mashie niblick
9. I like to wear lipstick but Fredi won’t let during games
And #10………….At every at bat, I wet my pants.
mdbraves fan
June 6th, 2011
6:01 pm
Good question Phillisux. Where is Mr. Parrish , Jeff?? At least TP took his medicine. This team is TOO RELAXED AND COMFORTABLE. Hudson,in post game interviews, sounds like more of a manager than FG. Uggla is an easy and deserving target for Braves fans, but the offense in general is a mess and way too conservative. I find myself envying the Padres and Mets with their aggresive baserunning. They know they can’t score and at least TRY to manufacture runs. FG SUX.
ray k.
June 6th, 2011
6:06 pm
Give Dan a chance,
You honestly believe Uggla is going to hit 23 HR in the next 100 games? That’s one every four games. Really?
mdbraves fan
June 6th, 2011
6:08 pm
Dan, those are valid points. You are off the hook… Now where’s Troy Glaus?!
klmbbfan
June 6th, 2011
6:08 pm
UGGLA, you have no clue what you are doing at the plate, Please go join a beer league softball team. Your swing reminds me of mine when I played slow pitch softball-open my stance take an upper cut and swing as hard as I can. You might impress the girls in that league.
ray k.
June 6th, 2011
6:18 pm
Brent,
You want to put a guy who is 0 for his last 23 with RISP in the 5 hole? 23 of his last 25 hits were singles. Alex should hit no higher than 7th.
phil
June 6th, 2011
6:21 pm
who are the atlanta braves
Hiesenberg
June 6th, 2011
6:26 pm
klmbbfan
June 6th, 2011
6:08 pm
If you had seen Uggla’s wife, you would know there is nothing at a beer league softball game he would be interested in impressing. Gotta find another motivation.
Martin Elginbrod
June 6th, 2011
6:26 pm
As hard as it is to imagine it, the Braves can win with an albatross contract like Uggla’s. But that would have to be nearly the only thing to go wrong. Cuts down their margin of error to nearly nothing.
But if they get 5+ WAR years out of studs like Heyward and Teheran, and if Venters stays this valuable and Kimbrell improves, and if they spend the Chipper, Lowe, and Hudson money wisely over the length of Uggla’s hypothetical bad contract, they could win. After all, they’re winning right now with CF injury issues, a hacking SS, limping Jones, and the dunkheadedest manager I’ve seen since Frank Robinson.
I’m not saying they can shrug it off. But a bad Uggla contract, by itself, won’t cripple the Braves.
Steve-o
June 6th, 2011
6:29 pm
It’s so annoying that the Braves gave up Infante, last year’s utility all-star, for Uggla.
Robbie
June 6th, 2011
6:31 pm
Get rid of him
Martin Elginbrod
June 6th, 2011
6:37 pm
Robbie, how do they do that? Shoot him?
Tim
June 6th, 2011
6:42 pm
The Braves are basically an average team. Might go .500 plus or minus a few games. Definitely not a contender for a playoff spot. The Uggla signing doesn’t look too smart right now. It’s done though. Personally, I’d like to see him go to Gwinnett for a while to see if he can work himself out of it. Heyward and McLouth need to both grow a pair and get back on the field. Still, it’s not a playoff team any way you cut it.
The Nature Boy
June 6th, 2011
6:45 pm
I slept w/ a girl I didn’t know…now I have herpes…how can I “get rid of it”..?? that’s where the Braves are Robbie…
Double Zero Eight
June 6th, 2011
6:47 pm
Uggla is synonymous to Joe Johnson of the Hawks.
His signing has significantly decreased the Braves
options. Let’s hope he turns it around soon!
lee
June 6th, 2011
6:51 pm
told ya so, first y’all were sooooooooo happy to take freddi g off the marlins hands and then you laughed uproariously when you suckered the fish out of Uggla. thanks for Infante and Dunn.
bravesfanbob
June 6th, 2011
7:02 pm
It’s sad what Uggla is going through right now, but ANY hitter knows to keep your foot pointed evenly with the front of the plate. Are you people saying Bobby Valentine is a genius? Haven’t you heard Joe Simpson saying all year that Uggla is opening his foot and causing him to open up his swing? Is that a mystery? Seriously, what Larry Parrish needs to do is to put a bungee cord on the front of each foot every time he gets in the batting cage, and every time he begins to open up, the bungee cord will prevent it. It then becomes muscle memory, and within a week, Uggla won’t be opening up on the outside pitches. Trust me, it works!
dawggone
June 6th, 2011
7:03 pm
If Uggla really means it when he says the pressure of his contract is getting to him then just give the damn money back Dan and then you can start hitting then the Braves can give your money back to you, oh yea, thats right, it doesn;t work that way
Damon Barryhill
June 6th, 2011
7:07 pm
He could certainly hit 30 home runs, but he’s going to bat .240 at best. And that’s going to take a heck of a turnaround to reach. He’s always been a hacker, so the whiffs shouldn’t be an alarm.. but his unwillingness to take a pitch and just get on base is what concerns me.
WWBD?
count_schemula
June 6th, 2011
7:14 pm
I’m not sneezing at it, but, $62m? It’s not _that big of a contract. I think he may be feeling the pressure to be “the man”, but, he should be over that by now. He just needs to be average to be an improvement at this point.
joe
June 6th, 2011
7:19 pm
With or without Uggla the Braves are a pitiful collection of offensively challenged baseball players……
count_schemula
June 6th, 2011
7:19 pm
“Hayward is the one who troubles me. Supposed to be the next Willie Mays, but so far has shown he can’t hit major league pitching.”
Heyward has shown he can hit major legue pitching. He has not shown he can stay healthy enough to hit major league pitching.
LakeDawg
June 6th, 2011
7:21 pm
Hayward is the one who troubles me. Supposed to be the next Willie Mays, but so far has shown he can’t hit major league pitching. I’m also curious about his long stay on the disabled list. Do you think the Braves have been using this time to get JHay some secret, emergency batting instruction?
Johnny
June 6th, 2011
7:25 pm
braves have 4 players making appx 46 mil a year – 3 are entering downhill slides (lowe, jones, and hudson) and uggla is killing them – probably in for a few down years -
don
June 6th, 2011
7:27 pm
On the whole, players tend to play much better once they leave Atlanta.
On the whole, players tend to play worse when they are traded to Atlanta.
count_schemula
June 6th, 2011
7:27 pm
Zambrano for 2b? He would bring fire and passion and a big stick.
LakeDawg
June 6th, 2011
7:35 pm
Uggla’s problems are myriad. He is a home run hitter and even mired in a horrendous slump, one would figure he would guess right a few times and hit a few homers during the slump. He was actually doing that at the beginning of the year. Reminded me of Dave Kingman…either homer or strike out. But now he can’t hit ANYTHING. You can see him guess right a few times, but he misses the ball. Not only is he pulling away from the outside pitch, but when he guesses right on a fastball down the middle he is undercutting it and popping it up.
LakeDawg
June 6th, 2011
7:38 pm
Also, I haven’t given up on FG, but I’m afraid he’s too much of a clone of Bobby Cox. That’s why they hired him.
Joe for 3
June 6th, 2011
7:40 pm
For all those still mentioning Infante’s name,
.253 average
.294 obp
8 extra base hits for a whopping .303 slugging percentage.
17 rbi
LakeDawg
June 6th, 2011
7:41 pm
@count_schemula….that is a neat trick. You read and commented on my post before I posted it! Do you have ESPN?
LakeDawg
June 6th, 2011
7:45 pm
“Heyward has shown he can hit major legue pitching. He has not shown he can stay healthy enough to hit major league pitching.”
What was his avg. before going on the disabled list? What was his avg. the second half of last year. Pitchers have adjusted to him. He has yet to make an adjustment. Not saying he won’t, just saying he hasn’t yet. I think he will figure it out. He has superstar written all over him, but starting to worry though.
New hampshire Brave Fan
June 6th, 2011
7:51 pm
That is a big hole in the lineup. He seams to have no bat speed. I know heyward will get healty and hit 25 homers but I am afraid Uggla is going to be bad all season Long. And no I did not like the contract. & I did not like the trade we gained very little even if he does hit. Infanti will hit 270 with 15-20 homers in left feild and we could have left Prado at second. The defense would have been just as good
count_schemula
June 6th, 2011
7:52 pm
“@count_schemula….that is a neat trick. You read and commented on my post before I posted it! Do you have ESPN?”
Let’s do the time warp again! The blogs are kinda messed up. The junk up the order of the posts, kind of turning this into a deconstuctivist romp of random thoughts and words that we have to put back together to please our own subconscious.
I do not have ESPN or cable TV.
Joe for 3
June 6th, 2011
7:56 pm
“Infanti will hit 270 with 15-20 homers in left feild and we could have left Prado at second.”
In what crazy world do you see him hitting 15-20 homers this year. He currently has one. Only one season (2004) has he even broken double digits in homers.