Although the Jays did suffer their 15th blown save of the season after Jon Rauch allowed the Indians to tie this game in the 9th inning, their fearless leader came through with 2 big knocks that solidified his pre-All-Star record at a solid 31 HRs, just 8 short of what Barry Bonds accomplished when he set the MLB HR record. To put it into today’s language, not only does he have the same number of HRs as Joey Votto and Mike Stanton combined, but he is also doing it with a much better line .332/.468/.702. In short, Jose Bautista is having an MVP caliber season. (more…)

Image Courtesy of BC's Sports Weekly

(1:23pm EST) It’s now common knowledge that Dan Uggla has been traded to the Atlanta Braves for IF/OF Omar Infante (.321/.359/.416 in 134 games across 5 positions in 2010) and RP Michael Dunn (1.89 ERA in 25 games in 2010). I wouldn’t normally devote an article to a player that got traded to another team, even if the Jays were rumored to have had heavy interest, but the amount of chatter that was sparked in Jays land over Dan Uggla, combined with the Marlins return for him makes it worth taking a look.

The Marlins managed to receive a super utility man who primarily hits singles in Infante, but there’s a chance he could only be with the Marlins for his club option year and then walk after 2011 when he becomes a free agent. Even after his career year, he qualified only as a Type-B free agent, so the best case scenario for the Fish would likely be that they would receive a sandwich pick next offseason should Infante sign elsewhere. Obviously there’s still the scenario of the Marlins attempting to re-sign Infante as well.

Dunn is a reliever that is pre-arbitration eligible and controllable, but has constantly battled control issues throughout his career. He has a career 4.1 BB/9 in parts of 5 minor league seasons, and has walked 22 batters in 23 Major League innings. He always seems to bail himself out of trouble though, always posting a respectable ERA and has 486 strikeouts in 445.2 career innings across all levels.

What am I getting at? (more…)

I would also add at this point that Leo Nunez could also be included in a deal for Uggla, resolving 2 issues for the Jays simultaneously. Having heard Jose Bautista on MLB Radio yesterday, it seems that his preference is definitely to man RF for the Jays in 2011. He really enjoys using his arm to through guys out and says he likes keeping runners honest. So, in acquiring Dan Uggla, and moving him or Aaron Hill to 3B, the Jays keep their slugger happy and still get better overall.

About Dan Uggla

Dan Uggla will be 31 when the 2011 season kicks off as his birthday is in March. He hails from Louisville and played ball at the University of Memphis. He was drafted by the Dbacks in 2011 in the 11th round and signed early that year. He was taken as a rule 5 guy by the Marlins in 2005 made his debut the following season, 5 years after being drafted. That’s quite a coup for the fish, particularly when you consider the 2B issues the Dbacks have had until last season when Kelly Johnson took over the role. Dan hit 27 HRs as a rookie for the fish, and hasn’t looked back since while hitting over 30 per season ever since. He drove in more than 100 RBI for the first time last season (imagine what he would drive in on an AL team) and consistently maintains an OBP over .350.

Dan’s seeking a 4 or 5 year deal, which means that he will begin the last season of his new contract as a 35 or 36 year old. There’s an inherent risk involved there as his power will surely fade, but this is mitigated by the fact that the Jays could simply move him to 2B and get more than enough power and good D from him at that position. An important note is that he has never played anywhere but 2B while playing in MLB, making a 3B move likely to include some growing pains. Still, between he and Aaron Hill, one should be able to make the move easily enough as both have the arm strength to do it and both put the team first. (more…)