During the press conference announcing Hanley Ramirez's contract, Loria, Samson and Beinfest all said there weren't any immediate long term contracts to be given to any other Marlins player.
Dan Uggla took it in stride .
Dan Uggla wasn't particularly disappointed upon learning President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest had not recommended additional multiyear signings to owner Jeffrey Loria.
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Based on durability and performance, Uggla would seem the next logical brick to stack on the $70 million Ramirez cornerstone. He's the game's most productive second baseman this side of Chase Utley. Uggla has the fourth-highest on-base plus slugging percentage in baseball.
As Uggla has shown the past two weeks he can carry a team offensively. He may not be a Gold Glove fielder, but the Marlins have the option of moving him to third once prospect Chris Coghlan is ready.---
Assuming he hits another 14 homers and matches his rookie season total of 27, Uggla would join Jeff Kent, Joe Gordon, Alfonso Soriano andRogers Hornsby as the only second basemen with at least three seasons of 27-plus. Utley should join that group after this season
If I did the math correctly, Uggla is 28 years old. He is in his prime. But here is the deal, if he keeps hitting the way he is, he going to be awfully expensive come arbitration time. The way I see it, the Marlins should lock him in for four years, which gets the team to the first year of the new stadium. By doing so, they can save some money in the upcoming years. Give him one of those contracts that doesn't contain a no-trade clause, in case the stadium falls through, and see how Danny progresses through the rest of his prime. A major leaguers prime is normally from age 27 to 32, but that isn't true of everyone.
If the Marlins don't, Danny could get real expensive, real fast.