Late Innings

People have been asking me to write stuff in this blog, and I’ll start doing that. Just need a good category…

News item: the Marlins trade All Star second baseman Dan Uggla to the Braves for All Star Omar Infante and reliever Mike Dunn.

I’ve been seeing the reactions from everyone, and there seems to be accord. This is for the most part an underwhelming return on the Marlins’ star second baseman, especially since the Marlins are trading within their division nonetheless. Uggla presumably would have been a Type A free agent after the 2011 season, and the Marlins (assuming they offered him arbitration) would have received some draft picks.

I’m not sure whether the fish are going through a fire sale right now or not, but the past few days they’ve decided to build their bullpen via acquisition:

• Trading SP Andrew Miller to the Red Sox for Dustin Richardson
• Trading Cameron Maybin to the Padres for Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica
• Uggla to the Braves for Dunn

And it’s not like they haven’t taken this route before:

• Trading First Baseman Mike Jacobs to the Royals for Leo Nunez
• Trading SP Rick VandenHurk to the Orioles for Will Ohman

So as a result of this dealing spree, the Marlins are incredibly weak up the middle, but should have a rock solid bullpen which should close out 35% of the games that they’ll win. The Braves get a great middle-of-the-order bat who should prosper in Turner Field. And the Padres get a (cheap, team-controlled) talented outfielder who should easily be an upgrade over Tony Gwynn Jr. And the Tigers still have Miguel Cabrera, who should garner a few votes in the MVP ballot (announced next week.)

I’m not really sure what’s going on in Florida, but I’m glad not to be a Marlins fan. And I wonder what the asking price is on Josh Johnson and Hanley Ramirez, not that I’m kicking tires or anything…

Grand Theft Second Baseman