Juan Uribe signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 3 years/$21 million. Here's a few reasons why this will not end happily for Uribe or the Dodgers(except of course for Uribe being set financially for life which is a very good thing for him):
Dodger fans will not even notice the jazz hands(yeah, they are that oblivious).
Dodger fans don't know anything about the Ooooreeebaaaaayyyy! chant.
It's going to be harder for him to hit HR's there, about his only offensive positive.(Thanks to OGC for pointing this one out, but yes, the prevailing breeze at Dodger Stadium, when there is one, is from left to right).
He's going to have to face Giants pitchers in 18 games(likely at least 15% of the games he plays).
No way that body plays the middle IF full time for 3 seasons.
Uribe adds a lot of outs to a lineup that already makes a lot of them.
Yes, this leaves the Giants in a bit of a bind, and that seems to be Ned Colletti's major motivation in life right now. Uribe was the simplest solution to a, hopefully, temporary problem at SS for the Giants. I've never thought of Uribe as a full time shortstop, but he almost convinced me with some pretty stellar play there coming down the stretch and in the postseason. Signing Uribe for 3 full seasons, though, was not a good idea and we should all be quite happy Ned Colletti was apparently so obsessed with messing with his former mentor, that he took a swan dive going overboard making Uribe an offer he knew the Giants would not match.
It's going to be fascinating to see who ends up as the Giants SS for 2011. Right now the feverish speculation on the internet is Derek Jeter. To waste as few words as possible, Derek Jeter is not coming to SF! Jose Reyes is not coming to SF! My guess, and IMO the right thing for Sabes to do is bring in the best available 1 year stopgap at the best price available. Here's how I break it down:
1. Ryan Theriot will almost certainly be non-tendered now. He doesn't have Uribe's power, but he would be an upgrade in BA, OBP and gives you a few SB's. I have to believe he would be a better defender, even though UZR is kind to Uribe. Theriot may have several suitors though.
2. O-Cab. Nothing exciting here, just plugging a hole, but he'd give you solid D and not be a disaster at the plate.
3. Miggy T. A shell of his former self, but still might not be terrible. I don't like his lack of range at SS though. That's why he is choice #3 here.
4. Edgar Renteria. Only if the price is right, which would be no more than $1 million. I like him better as a backup, but he might be able to hold down the position long enough to get Brandon Crawford a half season worth of AB's in Fresno.
5. Jason Bartlett or JJ Hardy. Only if non-tendered and the Giants don't have to give up anything in trade. Trading talent and then having to pay arbitration salary just doesn't give you enough added value over options #1-4. If either are non-tendered though they would immediately jump up to at least #2 on the list with Hardy possibly #1.
Sabes is going to earn his pay on this decision! He's already passed on test by not blinking on going more than 2 years on Uribe. I think he can afford to wait it out a bit longer. He can still has room to let the market come to him. It will be fascinating to see how it shakes out.
How do you think it sorts out?
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for the life of me, i cant figure out where ned is finding the caishe
ReplyDeleteuribe got himself a great deal...and ned overspent
good for sabean for not matching the deal....juan was only worth 2 years with an option....and i wouldve gone 6 per tops...with a one mil buyout
yup...the left side is a big prob
in fact, if pablo doesnt return to 09 form, its a huge prob
again i say, if kfran doesnt go to arbitration with the halos, sabean should kiss and make up with the kid
fotenot may be a stich better than kfran with a bat, but kfran has a better glove at third and second...and can do a passable fill in at ss...and will cost less than fotenot
gonna need a solid utility guy without uribe
and with the changeover in personnel...kfran's personality fits better with the current squad
cool thing about all of this...sabean and bochy are being forced to go young...and the org is gonna work double time to get crawford and belt ready to play
If we could get Theriot at 2/4 (or 1/2.5 with a mutual option or something?), I think hands down his value is greater than Uribe at 3/21
ReplyDeleteThere goes Theriot (to Cards) on a pre-tender trade.
ReplyDeleteThe advantage is that the field of buyers is being winnowed, too. Tejada may be this year's bargain, if they wait another couple of weeks. I wonder if Sabean's been planting the reports of Burriss's "sparkling" winter-ball play to drive down the market further.
Looks like it's gonna be Miggy T, 1 year at $6.5 Million. Maybe a bit of an overpay, but for one year, and not having to give up anything in trade, not bad at all! I'm not enthralled with Miggy's D at SS, but I think he can still contribute with the bat. I'd much rather have Miggy T on a 1 year contract than Juan Uribe on a 3 year deal.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of.....Did I read right that the Giants matched the Dogs' offer and Uribe went with them anyway? Well, if that's true, pox on him! I can't imagine what he thinks is better about the Dodgers for equal pay.
Schulman tweets: "Source: Giants last offer to Uribe was 3/20, 1 mil less than he took from LA, but Uribe wanted 25 from SF."
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/hankschulman/status/9789419334664192
I've never understood the it's-all-about-the-money mindset. You get a few short years to live large in the major leagues, I would think the "where" would be as important as the "how much."
if schulman's source is right...uribe is a dick
ReplyDeleteand i feel for him when he returns to the belle....cuz the fans will be merciless
i can live with miggs for one year...even if sabean overpaid by about 3 mil
bay area fans know and like the guy
I agree with Jim, especially when it's $1M separating the two offers plus you just won the World Series with the "home" team.
ReplyDeleteApparently Uribe felt slighted by Giants management: check out his press conference comments, most of it referenced the great Giants fans and doing it for them. Constrast with Huff, who made it a point to thank management a number of times in various interviews, as well as thank the fans.
Uribe forgets but it was the Giants who took him on a minor league contract in 2009, gave him the opportunity to perform great in 2009 and 2010 and earn this great contract.
Also, being a starter at 2B for LA probably appealed more than another 3 seasons as Number One Backup for the Giants. At least that is kind of understandable to an extent.
Still, this is the Dodgers, this is like one big middle finger to all Giants, whether management or fans (players don't seem to care today, as much; Jack Clark really hated them but then was desperate and took a coaching job with them). I can at least accept that they maybe offered a lot more, whether total $ or years, but if the years are the same and there is only $1M separating them, I'm sorry, but that's personal.
I didn't want Uribe on any kind of 3 year contract anyway, so pox on him for accepting the Dogs' offer and pox on Ned Colletti for offering it to him. Once again, it looks like Agent Ned overpayed just for the pleasure of messing with his old mentor.
ReplyDeleteI will get a kick out of going to Dodger Stadium next year and seeing Miggy T hit a game winning HR and Juan Uribe strike out 4 times against whoever is pitching for the Giants that night.