The San Francisco Giants have signed free agent second baseman Dan Uggla, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. It a minor league contract, says Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. He will head to the Giants' Triple-A affiliate in Fresno. If Uggla does come up to the major leagues before his August 1st opt-out, he will make a prorated portion of the MLB minimum salary. Uggla is already being paid north of $5 million by the Atlanta Braves for the remainder of 2014. Atlanta released the struggling second baseman back on July 18th, and one suitor for his services from the beginning were the Giants, whom have had poor play from that position on the season. While Uggla is not a major upgrade, a change of scenery may enhance his performance. The Giants still may decide to go after a second baseman before the trade deadline on July 31st. On the season, Giants' second baseman have contributed a low 66 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) on the season. Their primary second baseman has been Brandon Hicks, who is not even on their 25-man roster. On the season, Hicks has a dismal .599 OPS. As a whole, Giants second basemen have a .569 OPS, which ranks third-to-last in the major leagues. The 34-year-old Uggla has had a .162/.241/.231 triple-slash line in 145 plate appearances with the Braves this season. With that has come just two homers and 20 RBI. He has a -0.6 fWAR on the year. However, Uggla is just a few years removed from being one of the best second baseman in the National League. Back in just 2011 Uggla was hitting 36 homers, driving in 82, and posting an OPS of .762. Uggla is under contract through the 2015 season, all of which the Braves owe him. Atlanta owes Uggla $13 million next season. A minor league contract like he just signed is usually only for one year, so if Uggla can show that he still has something left in the tank, he may be able to net himself a MLB-minimum contract next season. As for now, however, he is still looking to prove himself. The Giants have been known to have picked up "washed up" veterans and find one last good season in them. Cody Ross and Pat Burrell are two fantastic examples, as the Giants used both of their excellent play to help them win a World Series back in 2010. Your move, Dan Uggla.
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The Los Angeles Angels have acquired right-handers Huston Street and Trevor Gott from the San Diego Padres, in exchange for second base prospect Taylor Lindsey, who was ranked atop the Halos' top prospect list from Baseball America; righty R.J. Alvarez, who ranked fourth on BA's list; shortstop Jose Rondon, who is highly regarded due to his high potential; and right-hander Elliot Morris, the teams announced early this morning. The deal had been in the works for awhile. The 30-year-old Street and two-time All-Star has had a fantastic pedigree. On the season, he is 1-0 with a 1.09 ERA and a 2.90 FIP in 33 innings pitched. Street's 319 ERA+ suggests that Street's ERA is better than 219% of major leaguers, on a weighted basis through park factors. He has a 34 to 7 strikeout-to-walk ratio and uses control, not power, to finish out games. He has saved 24 games in 25 chances on the year. The addition of Street adds to the relievers the Angels have acquired within the past month or so. On June 27, the Angels added ex-Pirates closer Jason Grilli to their bullpen, and on July 5 they added Joe Thatcher from the Diamondbacks. The Angels bullpen currently has a 3.75 ERA, ranking 21st in the major leagues. The additions of Grilli, Thatcher, and now Street are ones to fill a need. They just might be the difference makers that changes the complexion of the Angels season. Street was drafted in the first round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the Oakland Atheltics, and since first coming into the major leagues, he has been fantastic. Since his big league career started in 2005, Street has a 2.87 ERA, 3.20 FIP, and a 1.019 WHIP in 565 innings pitched. He has a 148 career ERA+ and boasts a fantastic 3.97 strikeout to walk rate. Street averages 32 saves per 162 games played, while posting a really good 86 percent save success rate. Street is in the final year of his five-year, $36 million contract he signed with the Colorado Rockies. It began in the 2010 season. He does have a $15 million team option for next season, but one risk for this acquisition by the Angels is if they cannot win the World Series this year, Street could leave via free agency. This is why the Angels also got a second player in return. The second player the Angels received is Trevor Gott, a 21-year-old minor league right-hander. On the season, Gott is 2-4 with a 3.56 ERA and a 1.326 WHIP in 39 games between High Single-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio. Gott has a fastball that can reach 96 miles per hour, with good sink that keeps balls on the ground. The Padres have used Gott as a late-inning guy. He has experience in high leverage situations. MLB.com ranks Gott as the Angels 15th best prospect. The Padres got a really good return for a really good reliever. First, they received second baseman Taylor Lindsey. A former first round pick, Lindsey is currently hitting a .247/.323/.400 slash line with eight homers and 30 RBI in 333 plate appearances for Triple-A Salt Lake. Lindsey's plate discipline, one of the most important attributes in determining how well a prospect will translate to the big leagues, is pretty good. On the season, the 22-year-old has a 9.3 percent walk rate and a 13.2 percent strikeout rate, both good numbers that show promise. Jose Rondon, a shortstop prospect the Padres received as well, has the chance to be something special. Currently, for High Single-A Inland Empire, Rondon has a fantastic .327/.362/.418 slash line with no homers and 24 runs driven in. This is Rondon's breakout year. He currently ranks 9th of Padres top prospects (MLB.com). He has really good plate discipline, some of which that is considered well beyond his years. In terms of potential, he was likely the best piece the Padres got for Street. R.J. Alvarez and Elliot Morris are the other two minor leaguers the Padres receive. For Double-A Arkansas, Alvarez has a 0.33 ERA and a 0.852 WHIP in 27 innings pitched. The flamethrower--Alvarez can reach 97 miles an hour on the radar gun--averages 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings and only 3.3 walks per nine. If he shows good control, he could be a back-end reliever for the Padres in the near future. Morris is 3-3 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.434 WHIP in nine starts for High Single-A Inland Empire. At the 5:00 pm eastern deadline today, all teams had to have agreed with their draft picks from this year's June Draft. The Houston Astros and number one overall pick Brady Aiken, a left-hander from San Diego, California, had not come to terms coming into the final day of negotiations. When the clock stuck five, no word was heard out of Houston. About 10 minutes later, the news was broken to the world, courtesy of MLB.com's Jim Callis. The Astros could not agree with top pick Brady Aiken, along with 5th rounder Jacob Nix and 21st rounder Mac Marshall (Marshall was expected to return to LSU anyway.). This draft was supposed to be crucial to the Astros future; they responded by whiffing at three top talents that could help boost their farm system even further. Aiken, especially, is a presumably big miss by the Astros. The number one overall pick and Houston got into, what appeared to be, livid negotiations over his new deal. Houston claimed that Aiken had problems with an elbow ligament in his throwing, while Aiken's camp, led by advisor Casey Close, believed that his arm was healthy. Houston offered Aiken a $5 million bonus, one that was $1.5 million smaller than the originally agreed to amount of $6 million. "We tried to engage Casey Close three times today … there was no interest," Astros general manager told Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. Drellich went on to report that the Astros final offer to Aiken was $5 million, the same discount that the team initially wanted after they saw that he had damage in his elbow. It appears that negotiations did not go well between the sides. In spite of not being able to sign Aiken, the Astros will receive the second overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. Currently, the team is in position to finish with the second-worst record in the majors, which means that the Astros could have picks number two and three next year. What does this mean for future negotiations between the Astros and draftees? The Astros pressured their top pick in to perhaps signing for less money. It is hard to know whether Aiken's elbow really is messed up or not, but it is hard to argue against Close, who had Aiken evaluated by many top physicians familiar with the situation. However, I did write about how to fix the issues with the MLB Draft. Getting players adequate representation was one of the improvements I made. With an actual agent, it becomes harder for a player to be pressured into signing for less. Sure, Close had a lot of involvement with Aiken's deal, but it was ultimately Aiken himself that did the negotiations. Aiken-- an 18-year-old baseball player with absolutely no background in sports management--went up against a large cooperation in the Houston Astros. How is that fair? It is not. Aiken will head to UCLA this fall, where he will have to play through his junior season before he can go through the drafting process once again. And wherever the chips fall in three years, it is hard to see Aiken getting a better deal than the $5 million the Astros did end up offering. In a move that was considered quite overdue, the Atlanta Braves have unconditionally released second baseman Dan Uggla, the team announced on Friday. Uggla, 34, was hitting a dismal triple-slash line of .162/.241/.231 with two home runs and 10 runs batted in 145 plate appearances on the season. Uggla only made 33 starts this season, as the Braves called up rookie Tommy La Stella on May 28. Since then, La Stella has impressed with a 105 OPS+ in 176 plate appearances. As Uggla lost playing time, it seemed almost definite that the time had come for his release or designate for assignment. Braves general manager Frank Wren told David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the team was active in trade talks for Uggla for the past month. However, no deal was done, and it makes sense as to why. Uggla still has $5.2 million remaining on his contract for this season and is owed $13 million next season. Finding a trade partner would have been hard considering the money issues there. From 2006 to 2011, the 34-year-old Uggla was one of the better second baseman in baseball. With the Marlins and Braves, Uggla hit a triple-slash line of .258/.343/.482 with an OPS+ of 116. Since that point, Uggla's been hitting a horrible .196/.320/.357 line where power has almost disappeared out of his game. From 2013 on, Uggla, let alone not being able to hit for average, has not been able to get on base at all. He has a horrific .175/.295/.332 slash line since the start of 2013. A team will likely take a chance on Uggla as a change of scenery candidate. Since Uggla will be paid $5.2 million this season via Atlanta, his next home will likely give him a one-year, prorated MLB average salary deal. Whoever signs Uggla is getting a risk-free, once-good second baseman for pretty much nothing. If another team feel he can return to what he was, it might be a signing they are willing to take on. The Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants are two teams that could be large players in the market for Uggla. The Giants have received poor play from their second baseman on the year; they rank 29th in baseball in OPS from that spot. The Blue Jays have been exploring the trade market for infielders, so a run at Uggla should not be unprecedented. Uggla should expect to find another job in Major League Baseball, and perhaps sometime soon. Heading into Tuesday, everyone was focused on Derek Jeter's final All-Star Game. But it was the up-and-coming star, Mike Trout, that stole the show. Trout went 2-for-3. He started the scoring by lacing a triple off the right field wall, scoring Jeter, who got on via a double. Pat Neshek left a slider on the middle part of the plate, and Trout added a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth, hitting a line drive just fair into left field. When Derek Norris came around to score, the American League had retaken the lead 4-3. The American League would not lose that lead. Neshek was replaced by Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard. Jose Altuve took the third pitch off of Clippard and drove a liner into left field. His sacrifice fly scored Alexei Ramirez, padding the American League's lead, 5-3. Altuve had done his job and was a big part of the win. However, the scoring had to start somewhere. In the first, Jeter, leading off, took a 90 mph cutter off Adam Wainwright and drove it into the right field corner for a double. Wainwright would later say that he "grooved" the pitch to Jeter, but later took it back and said that he was trying to be humorous. Regardless of Wainwright actually grooving a pitch to Jeter, it must have not been his night. Two batters after the Trout double, Miguel Cabrera unloaded. He drove the second pitch, a sinker, to the right field stands. The American League jumped out to a 3-0 lead. It was the National League's turn to do some damage. The NL got two back in the top of the second. With one out and nobody on, Aramis Ramirez hit a liner right back up the middle for a single off of Jon Lester. After that, Chase Utley worked a seven pitch at bat off of the lefty, but Utley was the one who prevailed. The seventh pitch, a fastball that was middle-away, became an Utley double off the right field wall, scoring Ramirez. Jonathan Lucroy, the next batter, wanted in on the fun, as he doubled off of Lester as well, scoring Utley. The National League would tie the game in the fourth on another Lucroy double. After the American League took that lead in the fifth, it was all pitching. Including Max Scherzer's shutout fifth inning (he took the win), the American League pitching staff allowed just three hits in five innings, striking out nine National League hitters and walking just one. The crowd of 41,048 in Minneapolis saw a Minnesota Twins battery close out the game in the ninth. Twins closer Glen Perkins, along with Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki, got Miguel Montero to fly out to center field, got Josh Harrison swinging, and got Charlie Blackmon to ground out to second base, securing the American League victory. Mike Trout's fantastic performance got him All-Star Game MVP honors. The American League will now have home-field advantage in the 2014 World Series after taking this one by a score of 5-3. |
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