When you think of Dan Uggla right now, your mind probably flashes to the Braves second baseman popping up a ball to the right side of the infield and half a season of frustration.
Maybe you think ," Oh damn, we have five more seasons of this?"
But I'm not here to bash Uggla, I think he will come around and will probably end up helping this team. Particularly when he relocates to left field following the 2012 season. More than likely anyway. The question is, how did he come to be on the 2011 Braves roster?
To answer that question you have to start with an unheralded 29th round draft pick named Adam LaRoche. You may remember LaRoche, he was the Braves starting first baseman from 2004-2006 and again in the second half of 2009.
LaRoche along with career minor league pitcher Jaime Romak were traded to the Pirates for the man who would be closer Mike Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge. The trade was sort of a wash for the Bravos as the got sporadic excellence out of Gonzalez and very little out of Lillibridge before he was traded to the White Sox. "The Cobra" left Atlanta after the 2009 season as a free agent but he did net the Bravos a compensation pick in Todd Cunningham, who projects to be a solid fourth outfielder type.
Lillibridge along with blocked catching prospect Tyler Flowers netted the Braves their former nemesis Javier Vasquez and lefty Boone Logan. Vasquez was heroic in Atlanta and helped the fans forget about a rotation that often featured Jo-Jo Reyes, Jorge Campillo and Charlie Morton. Logan was decent in his lone season at the Ted but control problems limited his usage.
The pair were packaged to New York after the 2009 season after a rotation surplus forced the Braves to shed a starter, and the attached payroll. In return they received Melky Cabrerra ,who still gives Braves fans nightmares. A 19 year old fireballer named Arodys Vizcaino who gives them hope, and Mike Dunn who with the help of Omar Infante gave us Dan Uggla.
Infante was one of the oddest trades that actually worked pretty well for Braves, he was acquired from the Cubs with Will Ohman for a promising youngster named Jose Ascanio. Ohman was a very good lefty setup man for a season, and Omar became an All-Star while backing up everyone and fighting for a batting title.
So there you have it, I guess what it really boils down to folks is would you trade Adam LaRoche, Jose Ascanio, and Jaime Rumak for Dan Uggla, Arodys Vizcaino, and Todd Cunninham?
Okay it's not nearly that simple, but maybe if a butterfly flaps its wings in Japan, it will cause Dan Uggla to get hot in the second half.
