Cleveland Sports Forum

Siurprised they had to ante up this much.

Juan Uribe - 3B - Mets

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Indians have reached an agreement with Juan Uribe, pending a physical.

The Tribe has been connected with Uribe for over a month now and it appears they've finally reached a deal. ESPN's Buster Olney says the contract is worth "just shy" of $5 million and that it might take Uribe a while to arrive in camp due to visa issues.

It's a good fit, as the Indians really need offensive help and he'll likely be an upgrade at third base over Giovanny Urshela. Uribe turns 37 in March and batted .253/.320/.417 with 14 home runs last season between the Dodgers, Braves and Mets.

No truth to the rumor the Tribe hired Ray Farmer as a special talent evaluator.

Not only do they sign a washed up bum, they overpay to do it. That's our Indians.

"there's no such thing as a bad one year deal".

TFIR~ normally I would agree with that statement. Unfortunately, 10 or 12 of those 1 year deals mounted up to about 12 million this year so far and we still don't have a viable alternative to Urshela at third base or a Khris Davis type for left field. Add Napoli, Davis, and now Uribe to that total and it jumps another 17 million. That's about 30 million in 1 year deals. Money better spent elsewhere. I'm not counting option years. What's worse, they average 35-36 years in age. Sucks! This is insane! Fiscal responsibility at its finest.

Crap! That 30 mil total gives us one year of Puig, Cespedes, and Abreu. Now that's the kind of 1 year contracts that I like. 3 for the price of 12, 13 ?!?!?! players.

might take Uribe a while to arrive in camp due to visa issues.

WTF is "visa issues"?

Why the Cleveland Indians' signing of Juan Uribe makes (temporary) sense

Zack Meisel, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When a team has holes on its roster, has limited funds and doesn't want to part with prospects, it ends up with a 37-year-old Opening Day third baseman.

And, really, Juan Uribe isn't a poor fit for the Indians. Not yet, at least.

With no way to know what Giovanny Urshela can provide with his bat -- and with the Indians hesitant to find that out in April and May, when they will likely be without Michael Brantley -- Uribe offers somewhat of a safety net.

Maybe he'll flame out by midseason, a la Mark Reynolds. Maybe he'll be part of a mass exodus of underperforming veterans in July, a la Brandon Moss, Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher. Or, maybe he'll force Urshela to truly earn playing time at the hot corner, rather than fall into it because Lonnie Chisenhall needed a change of scenery.

Though Uribe will turn 37 two weeks before Opening Day, even at that heightened age -- he played with Larry Walker, Ron Gant, Denny Neagle and Sal Fasano, for goodness sake -- he might be a better alternative than anyone else in-house.

The Indians could have landed Todd Frazier, but they scoffed at Cincinnati's asking price. Instead, Frazier relocated to a different American League Central team, the White Sox.

How much of an upgrade would Frazier have been over Uribe?

Over the last three years:

Uribe: .281/.329/.432 slash line, 114 OPS+, 10.5 WAR

Frazier: .255/.320/.457 slash line, 113 OPS+, 12.2 WAR

Granted, Frazier has logged 700 more plate appearances during that stretch and has socked 48 more home runs. There are reasons he has played more, even though their rates of production have been similar.

Uribe will be a one-year stopgap, at most, which follows the front office's recent operating trend. With this ownership, the Indians are never going to hand out a sizable contract to a free agent. Uribe, Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis will combine to earn base salaries of about $17 million in 2016. All figure to be one-year Band-Aids.

Many, like Joe Z. in Chicagoland, have asked why the team doesn't simply pool that $17 million and funnel it toward one imposing slugger. If a hitter would take that sum for one or two years, it might work. That's rarely the case, though, and the Indians aren't in the business of offering five- or six-year commitments.

For what its worth, Uribe has made a name for himself as a valuable clubhouse presence (and, on an unrelated note, he is not a football fan).

Defensive metrics rated Uribe highly at third base in 2013 and '14. He totaled 32 defensive runs saved, with a high zone rating, during those two years, per FanGraphs. Last year, he checked in with an average rating.

Defense is the one area in which the Indians have no qualms regarding Urshela. For now, the 24-year-old will likely have to hone his offensive ability at Triple-A. He posted a .225/.279/.330 clip with the Tribe last year.

This off-season, the Indians added a 34-year-old first baseman, a 35-year-old left fielder and a 37-year-old third baseman to an offense that escaped from misery only after the club dealt away its aging veterans last summer.

Will it work this time around? Time will tell. Handing Uribe $4-5 million isn't really a high-risk maneuver, though.

The Indians are just in a position in which they have more confidence in a stocky, soon-to-be-37-year-old than any of their other third-base options.

The good news is Yandy Diaz is just about major league ready. He's 24 (older than Urshela) and has a season at AA under his belt. Hopefully he send Uribe to the bench where he belongs sooner rather than later.

What a waste of paper space! It's coming back to me now. I'm just remembering why I disappeared for 6 months or so last year.

When a team has holes on its roster, has limited funds and doesn't want to part with prospects, it ends up with a 37-year-old Opening Day third baseman.

What a load of crap!!!!!

They just spent $30 million on 1-yr contracts !!!

The worst part.......how many of them will be around in 2017???

Swisher and Bourne all over again!

The Indians are just in a position in which they have more confidence in a stocky, soon-to-be-37-year-old than any of their other third-base options.

Does this mean he has been eating rice and beans all winter and may have to ride the pink bike?

Austin Jackson - OF - Cubs

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reports that the Indians "seem to be considering" Austin Jackson.

It's a fit that makes a lot of sense on paper. The Indians are currently planning to start Abraham Almonte in center field and are generally hurting for outfield depth, especially with Michael Brantley (shoulder) slated to get a late start to the season.

Jackson's production has been down the last two seasons (.261/.310/.364), but he just turned 29 and could make for a solid buy-low signing. Heyman also lists the White Sox, Angels, Brewers and perhaps the Rangers as potential landing spots for the outfielder.

OK, now Austin Jackson, under the circumstances, would make a TON of sense.

Right handed, and premier defensive center fielder. Let's do that one!

Cleveland Indians
Indians sign 3B Juan Uribe to one-year deal pending physical
By RYAN LEWIS Published: February 19, 2016
Uribe
The Indians on Friday signed veteran third baseman Juan Uribe to a one-year deal worth roughly $5 million, according to multiple media reports. The deal has not yet been made official by the club and is still pending a physical.

Uribe, who turns 37 in March, provides the Indians with a veteran option in addition to Giovanny Urshela, and will act as the primary third baseman this season. Last season Uribe hit .253 with a .320 on-base percentage, 14 home runs and 43 RBI in 119 games between the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. He had a 1.9 WAR in 2015, according to FanGraphs, after amassing a 3.6 WAR with the Dodgers in 2014.

While Uribe and Urshela are both quality third baseman defensively, Uribe certainly has more of a track record offensively and brings a veteran presence. The Indians had been tied to Uribe for several weeks. It was reported by ESPN that Uribe was originally dissatisfied with the Indians’ offer of “about $3 million.” Uribe was also rumored to be negotiating with San Francisco this winter, among other teams.

The question now becomes what the Indians do with Urshela. The most likely option is that Urshela would be sent down to Triple-A so he can continue to receive regular at-bats. Though the Indians do have options in terms of roster construction. For instance, Jose Ramirez’s name has been previously mentioned as possibly an option in the outfield in a backup role. That could still hold true, and if Ramirez were to be tested in the outfield this spring and responded well, it could allow Urshela to split some time with Uribe at third base. The Indians started to experiment with some of these options last season.

When discussing Urshela, it has at times sounded as if the Indians have been caught between two trains of thought. The first is that they couldn’t properly evaluate Urshela last season, so he should get some benefit of the doubt. He’s still only 24 years old, it was his rookie year and he dealt with back and shoulder issues nearly the entire time he was in Cleveland, which is less than an ideal situation. On the other hand, the Indians perhaps didn’t want to automatically hand the everyday job—and its expected pressures—to Urshela just yet.
Uribe has reportedly been having visa issues in the Dominican Republic and could be delayed several days. Indians pitchers and catchers reported to camp on Wednesday, with everyone else on the roster reporting to camp this Sunday.

Austin Jackson makes more sense TFIR.

That would be another, I'm guessing 2-3 million a year. That would put us up to about $33 million on one year deals.

I would like to be the general manager for a day and see how much fun I could have trying to spend that $33 mil

If we could turn back the clock $33 million dollars ago and shake some trees hoping some deals would fall, like seeing what it would take to pry Jorge Soler, (he with the 9 yr $30 million contract) away from the Cubs.

I don't know if the Indians were aware of Khris Davis's availability or not, but I'm sure we could have offered more than it took Oakland to pry him away from Milwaukee. He was under team control for 4 years @ 1/2 million/Yr.

Add Jackson (does make a lot of sense) !

We then could have a starting outfield of Davis, Soler, and Jackson for less than 8 million/yr under team control (depending on how many years you want to invest in Jackson) for at least the next 4 years.

Davis in left, Jackson in center, and Soler in right. Cheap! Talented!