His name is Dan Uggla, and he can be had for the right price this offseason. The 29-year-old Florida second baseman has 121 homers and an .826 OPS in his four major league seasons, but between his war of words with Marlins franchise player Hanley Ramirez and the $7-8MM he is likely to earn in arbitration, rumors have been swirling that the Fish are looking to move Uggla out of south Florida before he becomes too pricey for their taste.
FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal listed the Dodgers, Cardinals, Orioles, Twins, Giants and Diamondbacks as possible suitors for Uggla in an article last month. The Snakes may be out of the running now since, as reported by the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro, Arizona will likely look at internal candidates to play second base. Baltimore already has Brian Roberts entrenched at second, but if Uggla was interested in moving to third base he would surely become attractive to even more clubs.
Of the clubs on Rosenthal's list, Minnesota stands out since it's unusual for the small-market Twins to be looking at picking up high-priced talent, rather than moving it themselves. But with Target Field opening in 2010, the Twins may have some extra revenue to spend on both picking up the tab for Uggla and (the team's top priority) signing Joe Mauer to a long-term contract. Minnesota has holes at both second and third that Uggla could fill.
Would Uggla fit best on one of the aforementioned six clubs, or is there another team out there with both the money and the need for a slugging second (or third) baseman?
