Dan Uggla signs with San Francisco Giants
By Hayden Kane
Dan Uggla put up the kind of terrible numbers while playing for the Atlanta Braves that one could not help but question what his future looked like in the big leagues.
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He would likely get another shot to play somewhere in the big leagues, likely in some sort of part-time role. Right-handed power is too scarce for this to be the end of the line for Uggla, even with his struggles. Maybe he could catch on with an American League team as a platoon DH, but it would take a while for people to forget his putrid ending in Atlanta, right?
Wrong.
Source: Uggla to #SFGiants.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 21, 2014
Uggla had not so much as been a free agent long enough to sit down and have a nice meal before the Giants scooped him up; he only officially cleared waivers earlier this morning. The Giants were rumored to be considering the second baseman and his robust .162/.241/.231 slash line when he was designated for assignment, but you would think they would want to at least sleep on it first once Uggla officially hit free agency.
I guess they were worried some other team would swoop in.
Uggla will not necessarily get a chance to be the everyday second baseman given the recent return of Marco Scutaro. Then again, the Giants have very publicly been shopping for second base help. They were previously linked to guys like Daniel Murphy, Ben Zobrist, and even Chase Utley if they could pry him away from the Philadelphia Phillies. In that context, one has to assume that Uggla will get enough playing time to have a shot at grabbing a hold of the job.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today finds no fault with this signing.
The #SFGiants really have nothing to lose, so why not give released 2B Dan Uggla a shot, joining team, as @Ken_Rosenthal reports.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 21, 2014
Well, I can think of a few things they have to lose: credibility, respectability, etc. But hey, other than that, sure, they have nothing to lose.