Meet the hitters who are less productive than Dan Uggla

By Aaron GleemanSep 3, 2012, 3:15 PM EST
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Dan Uggla has been benched by Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez after hitting .152 in 74 games since June 6, which is remarkably awful production for a remarkably long time.

However, during that three-month stretch Uggla didn’t even have the lowest OPS in baseball. In fact, among hitters with at least 200 plate appearance since June 6 he doesn’t have one of the 10 worst OPS totals:

                    OPS
Justin Smoak       .465
Josh Thole         .506
Rafael Furcal      .551
Jeff Francoeur     .553
J.J. Hardy         .564
Daniel Descalso    .574
Brian Bogusevic    .575
Jemile Weeks       .576
Gregor Blanco      .578
Clint Barmes       .579
Brian Dozier       .579
DAN UGGLA          .580

Some pretty big–or at least recognizable–names on that list, although one key difference with Uggla is that a) he’s also a poor defender at second base, and b) he’s making $13 million while being owed another $39 million for the next three seasons.

Twins to retire Joe Mauer’s No. 7

AP Photo/Jim Mone
By Bill BaerDec 18, 2018, 4:45 PM EST
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Twins senior director of communications Dustin Morse announced that the Twins will honor former C/1B Joe Mauer by retiring his uniform number 7. Mauer announced his retirement from baseball on November 9.

Mauer will join Harmon Killebrew (No. 3), Tony Oliva (No. 6), Tom Kelly (No. 10), Kent Hrbek (No. 14), Rod Carew (No. 29), Kirby Pucket (No. 34), and Bert Blyleven (No. 28) as Twins to have their numbers retired.

Mauer, 35, spent 15 seasons in the majors, all with the Twins. He posted a career .306/.388/.439 triple-slash line with 143 home runs and 923 RBI. He won the AL MVP Award in 2009, won the batting title three times, earned three Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers, and made the AL All-Star team six times. Sadly, his career was limited due to injuries, including a concussion that caused him to move from catcher to first base.

Five years from now, Mauer will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot. There will certainly be some arguments for and against his candidacy. He retired with 55.1 career Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference, which definitely puts him in the conversation. But, as always, there’s never a consensus.