Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Ken Rosenthal of Fox more or less simultaneously reported that the Braves are expected to release Dan Uggla.
There was speculation about this over the weekend when the Braves had a roster crunch. That was alleviated by Uggla being suspended for one day due to showing up late to the ballpark (and possibly more; everyone was kinda cagey about it). But really, this was a long time coming. Uggla has lost his starting job and he has been utterly ineffective as a pinch-hitter. His inability to play elsewhere on defense means that, effectively, the Braves have been playing with a 24-man roster for weeks.
Uggla has hit just .175/.295/.332 since the beginning of last season. He’s owed around $19 million through the end of next season, so no one is going to claim him on waivers (if, in fact, he is designated for assignment instead of just given his outright release). It’s possible that someone may look at his power and his past and take a chance on him for the major league minimum — the Reds and Giants could both use help at second base — but after watching him every night for several years now, I’m gonna say that, nope, this dude has nothing to offer.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, me and all of the Braves fans are going to be having an Ewok-style Yub Nub party in which we play drums on all of Dan Uggla’s old batting helmets.
