It seems as though the Marlins have spent more money over the past week than they have over the last five years. It’s certainly close.
Uggla and the Marlins agreed to a one-year, $7.8 million contract, avoiding arbitration. The Marlins took Uggla to arbitration last winter and lost, the result being a $5.35 million contract.
The Marlins, trying to save money, attempted to trade Uggla at the winter meetings. He said Monday that he was happy to avoid arbitration — the deadline to do so is 1 p.m. Tuesday — and is optimistic that he will start the season with the Marlins.
The deal comes on the heels of signing Josh Johnson to a 4-year, $39 million dollar deal, and it’s both surprising and refreshing to see the Marlins as buyers for once going into the new season. Uggla still may get traded, but at least the Marlins don’t enter a situation where he’s unsigned going into Spring Training.
I’d say that Uggla is worth about $8 million a year, so this is a fine deal for both parties. Sure, he hits only .240, but if you look to batting average for a player’s value, you probably don’t know too much about baseball. He’s hit 30+ home runs the past three seasons (as a middle infielder) and managed to get on base at a respectable .354 clip last season. He’s not Craig Biggio, but he’s pretty awesome.
I expect this to be Uggla’s final season with the Marlins, and he still may be traded. Lots of teams have shown interest in him and the Marlins have Coughlan to play second base, his natural position.
Still, it looks like the Marlins are coming to play ball this year, and I see only Philly as a better team in that division.
