Who would you trade for... Uggla/Cantu?

[RVAbird]

Uggla is basically a right handed Luke Scott at a position of short term need and at about the same point in his career. Not a bad option.

He is relatively inexpensive, fills our 3B hole for the short term, provides insurance in 2011 if Bell's progress is stymied, and brings a little versatility by being able to fill in as a back up at 2B and 1B. Don't forget he will also be a trade piece if Bell develops as we hope he will.

He is a good option *if* the Orioles believe he can be an average defender at third. His range plays much better there than at second, so the big question for me is his arm and how well he adjusts. He does have experience at the position in the minors so it won't be completely new.

If the Orioles think he can be average at third, I would be willing to give up Hernandez and possibly a lesser piece. I would have to think about giving up Erbe but I would consider it.

Would you all trade David Hernandez and Justin Turner for Uggla?

[SilentJames]

Well the only defensive stats we have on Uggla for 3B are his TotalZone ones from 2005 where he was at a +3 in 18 games.

Fangraphs has him as being worth 2.9 WAR last season. That's pretty decent.

I'd see if they'd be willing to take a package of Sarfate and Hernandez for him.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=uggla-001dan

research to the rescue.

Uggla played roughly 40% of his minor league career at third.

FP of .929 (compared to .962 at second)

RF/G of 2.76 (compared to 4.47)

throughout Uggla's career he has proven that he is not the best at third. Now, is he bad enough to NOT warrant a shot? Would Wigginton be as bad or worse? Don't really know.

Uggla's bat is awesome, would love to have it on this team - but is third the right spot? Would Uggla DH?

[paulcoates]

Uggla is basically a right handed Luke Scott at a position of short term need and at about the same point in his career. Not a bad option.

He is relatively inexpensive, fills our 3B hole for the short term, provides insurance in 2011 if Bell's progress is stymied, and brings a little versatility by being able to fill in as a back up at 2B and 1B. Don't forget he will also be a trade piece if Bell develops as we hope he will.

He is a good option *if* the Orioles believe he can be an average defender at third. His range plays much better there than at second, so the big question for me is his arm and how well he adjusts. He does have experience at the position in the minors so it won't be completely new.

If the Orioles think he can be average at third, I would be willing to give up Hernandez and possibly a lesser piece. I would have to think about giving up Erbe but I would consider it.

Would you all trade David Hernandez and Justin Turner for Uggla?

I really like Hernandez and would like to see if he can stick as our 4 or 5. He was a realtively bright spot last year and never seemed to lose compsure on the mound.

[crawdad]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=uggla-001dan

research to the rescue.

Uggla played roughly 40% of his minor league career at third.

FP of .929 (compared to .962 at second)

RF/G of 2.76 (compared to 4.47)

throughout Uggla's career he has proven that he is not the best at third. Now, is he bad enough to NOT warrant a shot? Would Wigginton be as bad or worse? Don't really know.

Uggla's bat is awesome, would love to have it on this team - but is third the right spot? Would Uggla DH?

Now, he has a lot of power, but there are some major deficiencies there that would have me hesitate calling it awesome.

[JTrea81]

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=uggla-001dan

research to the rescue.

Uggla played roughly 40% of his minor league career at third.

FP of .929 (compared to .962 at second)

RF/G of 2.76 (compared to 4.47)

throughout Uggla's career he has proven that he is not the best at third. Now, is he bad enough to NOT warrant a shot? Would Wigginton be as bad or worse? Don't really know.

Uggla's bat is awesome, would love to have it on this team - but is third the right spot? Would Uggla DH?

FP and RF aren't exactly the best defensive metrics out there IMO. Especially because we don't know the average RF for the leagues that he played in for the 3B position. 2.5 is horrible for a 1B man for example, but excellent for an OFer. TotalZone and UZR are much better indicators.

As a follow up, I think 2.76 is pretty good. Longoria in 2007 was at 2.75 in AAA and AA combined. In the majors this year he was at 2.74.

[paulcoates]

Probably Tanner and Barnes.

Both are rated as C+ prospects according to Sickels.

Here are the guys in our system rated around then. Granted, this is before last season started

15) Oliver Drake, RHP, Grade C+:

10) Troy Patton, LHP, Grade C+:

17) Pedro Beato, RHP, Grade C

5) Brandon Erbe, RHP, Grade B

[RVAbird]

I really like Hernandez and would like to see if he can stick as our 4 or 5. He was a realtively bright spot last year and never seemed to lose compsure on the mound.

That's a fair assessment. I think Hernandez's most likely destination is a very good late-inning reliever, but if he could stick as a back-end starter he would be more valuable.

The thing that makes Hernandez more of a loss (and a more valuable trade chip) is that he has a relatively high floor, if a limited ceiling. From what I've seen of him I think it's very likely that he plays some sort of role on a major league team for the next five or six years.

Erbe has more risk associated with him. He's never pitched above AA, there are some injury concerns, and rumors that his stuff might not be quite what it was projected to be. There is also a good possibility that ends up as a bullpen arm.

Erbe's ceiling is much higher than Hernandez's in my opinion, so I'd prefer to keep him. I have him as a sleeper for a breakout season in 2011.

Back to Uggla, I would deal Hernandez straight up for him. I think that's a fair deal. I would be consider throwing in a lesser piece as well. A lot of this is going to depend on the Orioles' view of Uggla's defense and willingness to adopt 3B as his new position.

[ChaosLex]

The Marlins will probably want Britton. At the very least, they'll want Erbe and an additional prospect (or two).

Suffice to say, we won't be dealing for Uggla, IMO.

[crawdad]

Both are rated as C+ prospects according to Sickels.

Here are the guys in our system rated around then. Granted, this is before last season started

15) Oliver Drake, RHP, Grade C+:

10) Troy Patton, LHP, Grade C+:

17) Pedro Beato, RHP, Grade C

5) Brandon Erbe, RHP, Grade B

They won't be C+ this offseason.

[RVAbird]

FP and RF aren't exactly the best defensive metrics out there IMO. Especially because we don't know the average RF for the leagues that he played in for the 3B position. 2.5 is horrible for a 1B man for example, but excellent for an OFer. TotalZone and UZR are much better indicators.

As a follow up, I think 2.76 is pretty good. Longoria in 2007 was at 2.75 in AAA and AA combined.

This is an understatement, but TotalZone for minor leaguers (particularly from 5+ years ago) is almost as useless.

[paulcoates]

They won't be C+ this offseason.

thats the truth. Wonder where Johnson would rate though.

[paulcoates]

The Marlins will probably want Britton. At the very least, they'll want Erbe and an additional prospect (or two).

Suffice to say, we won't be dealing for Uggla, IMO.

unless Roch is wrong, I can't imagine them asking for Britton. Well, I can imagine it, but I can't see us having to say that he is a potential core guy for us in the minors and possibly untradeable.

I can see us dealing for him. Worse case is we flip him to a contender in a year or so for a similar prospect.

[JeffConine19]

Uggla would possibly hit 35+ home runs in OPACY. The Marlins probably wouldn't be asking the farm for him because the move is essentially a salary dump of an arbitration eligible player.

I would estimate that the return package would be of similar scope of what the Marlins got in return for both Willingham and Olsen in the Nationals trade last offseason. The Marlins will probably want arms but it certainly won't take one of the top names.

The only question would be whether or not Uggla can play third base. I'm skeptical. The Marlins briefly contemplated the idea around the time they received Bonifacio, but never actually attempted it. The Marlins had a team filled with second basemen in 2009 (Uggla, Coghlan, Cantu, Bonifacio) and Uggla was the only one not forced to learn a new position.

What I find interesting is that Boston is also interested in Uggla but they want him to play LF.

[crawdad]

Roch is saying a second tier starter would get it done. I guess that means a Hernandez or Erbe . . . straight up? I'd do that in a heartbeat.

[Robbie]

You cannot directly communicate to the players, but generalities can be struck up with agents.

I'm pretty sure that would still be tampering. Look at what happened to A-Rod.