News came out on Monday that Fredi Gonzalez had benched All-Star second baseman, Dan Uggla, for the foreseeable future. This was surely a difficult decision for Gonzalez who has managed Uggla for 5 1/2 of the past six seasons and has a close relationship with the star player. As a matter of fact, after he was hired by the Atlanta Braves in late 2010 to replace the retiring Bobby Cox (the man who helped groom him), Gonzalez was instrumental in trading to get the Marlins star second baseman via trade. Upon completing the trade, Uggla signed a five-year, $60 million contract extension with Atlanta.
The problem with Uggla since coming to Atlanta is a severe
case of inconsistency. He has had two
good half seasons and two of the worst half seasons anyone with his talent
could possibly have. Uggla struggled in
the first part of the 2011 season trying to live up to his new contract. His first half stats were atrocious, to say
the least (15 HR, 34 RBI, and .185 AVG).
However, he rallied in the second half, boosted by a 33 game hitting
streak (ended by a sensational play by Cubs second baseman, Darwin Barney). His second half splits were as follows: 21
HR, 48 RBI, and .296 AVG. Amidst a
monumental team collapse last September, Uggla was one of the few Braves to
have a decent month.
Uggla started the 2012 season much better, but not at the
same pace at which he finished the previous season. Based on his great numbers post All-Star
break a year ago, Braves fans had reason to believe that he would do much the
same this season. Uggla finished the
first half as the National League starting second basemen (at best a flawed
selection system) with decent numbers (12 HR, 45 RBI, .221 AVG). He was poised for another second half
Superman routine. But what seemed to be
a once in a career slump last season turned into a twice since coming to
Atlanta slump. His second half numbers
show as follows: 5 HR, 19 RBI, .182 AVG.
With the harsh memories of last September in the front of
everyone's mind, Fredi Gonzalez was faced with a difficult decision. Should he stick with his three-time All-Star
second baseman for the season or should he go with hot hands and see what
happens? The safe play would have been
to stick with Uggla because history says that he is better than what he has
played. But Gonzalez didn't play it safe;
he took a risk. Martin Prado returns to
second base where he played in 2010 when he was selected to the All-Star team
that season. Prado is the ultimate utility
man having made multiple starts at five different positions this season (LF,
3B, SS, 2B, 1B).
This isn't the first time Gonzalez has taken a risk. As mentioned earlier, that risk cost him his
job as the manager of the Florida Marlins.
In mid-May 2010, Marlins superstar shortstop, Hanley Ramirez, misplayed
a ball in shallow left field and accidentally kicked it into the left field
corner. After misplaying the ball, Ramirez
lackadaisically pursued the ball allowing two Arizona Diamondbacks to score and
the hitter to reach third. Immediately
following the end of the inning, Gonzalez sent Ramirez to the shower and he did
not play for a few days after the incident.
Dan Uggla, then a Marlin as well, supported his manager and was quick to
reprimand the superstar shortstop. A
month later, Gonzalez was fired. (A quick
postscript on Hanley Ramirez. He butted
heads with flamboyant manager Ozzie Guillen and was sent packing to L.A. in
July after finally wearing thin on Marlins management.)
It will take the rest of the season to determine whether
this decision works. The Braves have
played two games since Uggla was informed that he would not be in the starting
lineup for a while and they have won both (the first on Sunday in dramatic,
comeback, Chipper Jones walkoff fashion).
Dan Uggla has stated that even though his is not happy with the
situation he will handle it the best way possible and still be a great
teammate. Having watched Uggla play the game
since coming up in 2006, I have no reason to expect anything less from
him. As for Fredi Gonzalez, it is his
job to put the best team on the field to win games, and if that means making
tough calls, then so be it. In a day and
age when you have so many people leading teams who appear to be puppets, it is
extremely refreshing to see one take a stand and make the tough decision. After all, when it comes to making the
postseason, it's not guts, no glory.
Good read once again.....I like it when managers and coaches do what they feel is best for team and not afraid of the consequences.....More teams could use a manager like this....
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you read my post on ESPN about the benching, but what you said above is exactly why Gonzalez was hired to take over the team after Cox retired. He was Cox protege and with good reason--the two men think a lot alike. Both have had to sit guys who let their egos get in the way of their play and both made the right decision. I believe the reason Gonzalez has struggled over this decision is because he knows the type of player and guy that Dan Uggla is, but at the same time Uggla has not lived up to expectations since coming to Atlanta. Hopefully the benching will ignite something, because I'd hate to see him traded in the off season. Last year seemed like a fluke in the first half, until June of this year since. Not sure what it is, but Uggla needs to do some soul searching while he's riding the pine. Otherwise, it won't just be Atlanta he won't be playing for anymore. No one will take a chance on him if he can't find it again. So here's hoping this builds his character, which is will, and help him figure it out to help his team. The Braves need him, but he needs to be the man they signed to come play again. If it were an injury, as is the case with McCann, you might understand more, but there's just no rhyme or reason for the slump. It's really a lot like Gant's issues during the 92 season. He never was able to figure it out and it cost him his starting job later that year as well. Course, in 93, he was awesome! Let's hope for the same for Uggla.
ReplyDelete