After having their four-year, $48MM extension offer to Dan Uggla rejected, the Marlins seem intent on trading their second baseman. Uggla has his faults; he's not a gifted defender, strikes out in more than one of every four plate appearances for his career, and he's due a nice raise on his $7.8MM salary for 2010. What Uggla does best is hit the ball far, and hit the ball hard. He's never hit fewer than 27 home runs, and has topped 31 long balls in each of the past four seasons.
ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that two rival executives have told him Toronto would be the favorite to acquire Uggla in a trade, should the Marlins indeed follow through on their trade intentions.
The Blue Jays may not seem the most apparent fit at first, given Aaron Hill's presence, however they could intend on moving Uggla to third base. And Uggla certainly fits in with the Blue Jays' mold from 2010. Toronto led the Majors with 257 home runs, and the club parted ways with third baseman Edwin Encarnacion earlier in the week.
Toronto also has a depth of pitching talent available, something that other teams no doubt covet. While the Marlins have acquired three young relievers in the past week (Ryan Webb, Edward Mujica, and Dustin Richardson), they'll no doubt still be on the lookout for young, controllable talent in any return for Uggla.
In a second tweet, Olney also notes that the Rockies were interested in acquiring Uggla midseason in 2010, but the Marlins slugger is likely to be too expensive for their tastes now.
