Dan Uggla and Bradley Emaus

By Jack Flynn

The Atlanta Braves made one of the best trades of the off-season back in November, pilfering second baseman Dan Uggla from the Florida Marlins in exchange for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn.

It was the type of trade that well-run organizations will always make. A savvy general manager will identify a weakness in his team and will look to fill it with a player who can be obtained at a reasonable cost and without being forced into a long-term commitment. Uggla fits the bill perfectly for the Braves.

The price was right, both in terms of dollars and players. Although Uggla will get an arbitration raise over last year’s $7.8 million salary, his power numbers from the second base position (33 home runs and a .221 ISO during the 2009 season) made it worth stretching the Atlanta budget for one season.

The Braves won’t be terribly affected by the players being shipped to Florida, either. Infante is a solid utility infielder who had a career season in 2009, but the Braves recognized that his trade value was as high as it was ever going to be. Dunn is a generic left-handed reliever who is unlikely to have an impact on a pennant-winning team.

There is talk that the Braves may try to sign Uggla to a long-term deal before the 2011 season begins. Even if Uggla doesn’t sign a contract extension and bolts Atlanta after next season, the Braves will be compensated with two high draft picks as a result of his departure. All in all, the Braves and their fans have to be very happy with their new second baseman – and with the front office that acquired him.

This, of course, brings us to the Mets.

The Mets acquired a second baseman this off-season too, in the exact same fashion that Uggla himself was once acquired. The new man in New York actually has quite a bit in common with Uggla – the most obvious connection is that both were Rule V Draft picks (Uggla was stolen from Arizona in 2005). Both players are also known more for offense than for defense and both have even spent time at third base in the minor leagues, although Uggla hasn’t played the position since debuting on the major league stage in 2006.

Bradley Emaus, however, has not excited the Mets’ fan base the way Dan Uggla has for Braves fans. This is perfectly understandable, of course – Uggla has had four straight MLB seasons with 30 or more home runs, while Emaus split time between AA-New Hampshire and AAA- Las Vegas last season. The final numbers were solid (.290/.377/.496 with 15 home runs), even if they were somewhat inflated by the Pacific Coast League’s hitter-friendly environments.

Met fans who have become accustomed to splashy off-season player moves are bound to wonder why their team wasn’t in on the Uggla negotiations and why new general manager Sandy Alderson seems to be holding the line on spending this off-season. The answer is simple, really – the big-money free agents and the trades to import veteran stars haven’t worked.

Championship teams aren’t built by continually exporting your best talent from other teams and paying those players a salary based on what they did in the past. It is built with a combination of homegrown talent, low-cost role players and the occasional superstar acquisition that can put a good team over the top.

For too long, the Mets have ignored that philosophy. They allowed the farm system to wither by trading prospects away and refusing to go over-slot in the amateur draft. The previous Met regime didn’t even attempt to identify young talent through avenues such as the Rule V draft. Instead, it specialized in giving one-year guaranteed contracts to players in their mid 30s with a past history of success and a small likelihood of replicating that success.

Bradley Emaus has a very small chance of becoming a star, but scouts say he has a very good chance of becoming a useful utility infielder and a solid bat off the bench. That’s exactly what people said about Dan Uggla when the Marlins picked him in 2005 – except that Florida ended up getting much, much more than that.

I don’t think that anyone, not even the most optimistic Mets fan, believes that Emaus is going to replicate Uggla’s 2006 season – 27 home runs and a .282/.339/.480 line. That’s not the point. The Alderson regime is betting he’ll hit well enough to force his way onto the major league roster – perhaps backing up David Wright at third base while getting occasional starts at second base.

Now, there’s no reason for the GM to go out and sign a utility infielder for the Mets’ bench. Emaus goes into the mix with Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner to fight it out for two infield slots on the Mets’ bench. If Luis Castillo gets released – and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be now, considering that the Mets have three low-cost, in-house replacements – all three of them have a chance to go north with the big club.

Instead of paying Dan Uggla for what he did with the Marlins, the Mets are paying Bradley Emaus for what he might do in their uniform. It may not be flashy, but it’s the right way to build a team.