The Atlanta Braves trade rumor mills are spinning and they primarily concern second baseman Dan Uggla. It is crazy how his career plummeted and now the team that acquired the slugger for practically nothing, is trying to get rid of the man at all costs. Yeah sure, the Braves need a veteran starting pitching, but with Howie Kendrick's name floating in the trade market, Frank Wren (Braves' GM) will try to work some magic and should consider pulling another deal off with the Los Angeles Angels.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed when it comes to the trade market. The Braves and the Angels made two trades last season involving relief pitching and they exchanged players back in 2008 when Mark Teixeira was still finding a home. This time, however, the deal concerns consistent hitting for a consistent hustler.
How Kendrick Helps
Kendrick is a career .292 hitter who averages about 12 home runs a year. He is an eight-year veteran who has spent his entire career with the Angels. Again, he is not a power hitter, but look at the production the Braves received from Chris Johnson who remained solid all year long and only hit 12 home runs all year long.
Kendrick would provide hitting fundamentals. He gets on base about 30 percent of the time and has only struck out 100 times or more twice in his eight seasons in the big leagues. He uses the entire field, picking up 36 hits to right and 83 up the middle. This beats Uggla's six hits to the opposite field and 32 up the middle. As a dead pull hitter, the trick to pitching against Uggla is getting the ball in the outside corner. He will stubbornly chase, not adjust, swing through and strikeout.
It is fair to say the Braves could have done better with Uggla in the lineup during the postseason. He injects power and some fear since he is a threat to go deep. However, if Kendrick were to join the Braves, he would be a table setter for guys like Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton and Johnson. The Braves are bound to hit less home runs in 2014 with the expected departure of Brian McCann, Kendrick would allow the Braves to play small ball more frequently, making them less dependent on the long ball.
Kendrick's Contract vs. Uggla's
It's baseball, so money does a lot of talking. What the Braves would love about Kendrick, which is probably what the Angels do as well, is his salary. His production is great and he is set to make under $20 million in the final years of his four-year, $33.5 million deal. Uggla will be worth $26 million over the next two years.
Mark Bowman, the Braves beat writer, suggested Atlanta would at least pay "70 percent" of Uggla's salary, which would still help as the team pursues starting pitching as well.
What would be in it for the Angels?
Uggla hustles and can hit home runs. Left field might be a little deeper in Angels Stadium, but the gaps are closer, which would help Uggla if he can make solid contact. The Braves have never complained about Uggla's efforts on and off the field, but at $13 million remaining in each of the last two years, the Braves cannot bare to see one of their players making top dollar continue to struggle.
Make no mistake about it, if the Braves can add another contact hitter to go along with Freeman and Johnson, the team would be better prepped for the playoffs as their sluggers went to sleep against tough Los Angeles Dodgers' pitching in the 2013 N.L. Division Series. Kendrick, along with another second baseman rumored to possibly being traded, Ian Kinsler, would provide the production the Braves seek and only sporadically received from Uggla in his three years in Atlanta.
