NL East Question #8

2011 MLB Season Preview

Biggest Questions in the NL East

8. What impact will Dan Uggla have on the Braves?

If the Phillies wouldn’t have won the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, then the Braves acquisition of All-Star 2B Dan Uggla would have been the division’s biggest off-season move. Uggla is 30 and in the prime of his career and hitting in the best line up of his career. Frank Wren made sure that the Uggla trade would not go down the same way the Mark Teixeira trade did, by signing Uggla to a five year deal in mid-November.

Make no mistake, the Uggla trade was about one thing and one thing only for the Braves: power.
There has been a severe power outage in Atlanta over the past few seasons. The Braves haven’t had a 30+ homerun season since 2006 when Andruw Jones hit 41. They haven’t had a 100+ RBI man since 2007 when Jeff Francoeur had 105. For the past two seasons, Brian McCann has led the team with 21 HR. Uggla has more than 30 HR in the past four seasons, and had 105 RBI last year with the Marlins. His bat in the middle of the Braves order will give Atlanta the pop they have been looking for. Whether Uggla hits 4th in front of Brian McCann or 5th behind him, there is no doubt that it will make opposing pitchers flinch. Despite the order, opposing pitchers will have to run the gauntlet of Prado, Jones, McCann, Uggla, and Heyward. (Man the Braves need a leadoff hitter!). If Uggla can repeat his power numbers of the past four years the Braves lineup will be the deepest it has been since 2005.

As soon as the trade was made, the first question people wondered was whether the defense of Dan Uggla would be a problem. Obviously, Uggla defense isn’t his strength, but he should benefit from the good defense that is expected from Freddie Freeman at first base. Errors can hurt, but Uggla’s bat is well worth the risk of his glove. Not to mention, it couldn’t be any worse than Brooks Conrad was at the end of last season.

With a pitching rotation that should be one of the best in baseball, the Braves offense has to improve over the 2009/2010 output. The Braves have wasted the good pitching they have had the past two seasons, hopefully Uggla’s bat can provide the pop that the Braves have been looking for.

At the end of the day, the Uggla signing is nothing but good for the Braves.

27 Days until first pitch between the Braves and Nats!

Coming tomorrow: What Impact will the loss of Jason Werth have on the Phillies lineup?