It may be the case that the Marlins will not enter into arbitration with Dan Uggla if he is not signed to a longterm contract.
The Marlins are still far apart in their negotiations with Uggla, who's entering his final winter of arbitration.
"We definitely are having discussions and it's our hope that a deal gets done with Dan,' he said. "We are being aggressive, in my opinion, in our approach and we'll see what happens.'
Samson would not guarantee that Uggla will be in the opening day lineup in April if the team doesn't sign him to a long-term deal.
Naturally, one must take into account who is making this statement and I trust Samson a whole lot less than I can throw him. If the public statement is being used as a negotiating tool, it is a pretty poor one. Danny's agent knows there are other clubs who will make a trade for him and gladly pay what he is worth.
The underlying interesting thing about this is that if the Marlins can't reach a deal they like with Uggla, they aren't going to do arbitration again and will probably move Chris Coghlan to second and leave Logan Morrison in left. Assuming that is the fall back plan, expect for the Marlins to lowball Danny as best as they can.
There is still a lot road to walk down before we know the final outcome. But at the moment it looks like the Marlins are prepared to cut ties with Danny, assuming he won't agree to their number.