Tribe Talk 2.20.16: The Pros & Cons of Juan Uribe #Indians

By Alex Hale, @DaSportsGenius7

While Pitchers and Catchers reported for Spring Training earlier this week, the Cleveland Indians were not done making final adjustments to their roster.  On Friday afternoon, the Indians signed veteran IF Juan Uribe to a 1 year deal worth over $4 million.  The Indians plan on having Uribe fill in the role at 3B after Giovanny Urshela struggled offensively last year.  While I do have a lot of problems here with this signing, in fairness to the Indians we're going to give Tribe fans a fair analysis of the Indians signing Uribe with the Pros and Cons of the Indians latest move.

Pros:

- Uribe is a savvy veteran clubhouse presence-  Look at the teams Uribe has played with over the past few years, since 2009, Uribe has played with consistent playoff teams in the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and was a member of the 2010 World Champion San Fransisco Giants (and even earlier a member of the 2005 WS White Sox).  Uribe has been with multiple winning teams and knows what it takes to get to the playoffs and more importantly, how to win in the playoffs.  Indians really have been lacking that kind of a presence since Jason Giambi left.  It's small things like having clubhouse leaders that really can make all the difference.

- Uribe is an offensive upgrade compared to Giovanny Urshela- If we look by the stats, yes Uribe is a major upgrade at 3B.  But at the same time, critics can say Giovanny was a rookie and he can always improve in Year Two.  The bottom line is the Indians are a team that can win the division, and arguably the American League pennant right now.  The Indians can't sit around forever waiting for Giovanny to learn how to hit at the big league level.  Uribe has been known to have some pop in his bat and still has the ability to hit 15 HRs a year.

- Uribe knows the division- Uribe's career really took off in Chicago in the mid-2000's and knows how competitive this division is.  While Uribe has been out of the division for a while now, the one thing about Baseball is the division normally stays the same rivalry-wise.  Having Uribe could help the core of this team clearing the biggest hurdle they have left, beating Detroit when it matters.

- It's only a 1 Year deal- No matter what happens with Uribe this year, he's only signed for 1 year.  Nobody can ever complain about 1 year deals, this buys the Indians time to continue to develop Giovanny Urshela as a hitter, and more importantly buys highly touted prospect Yandy Diaz time in the minors to continue to make strides and climb up the system.  Worst case scenario with this deal is the Indians don't live up to expectations, and Uribe becomes a small trade chip at the Trade Deadline for a contender.

- He plays the entire infield- The Indians lose Mike Aviles and gain quite possibly a better version of Aviles in Uribe.  While Uribe doesn't play the outfield, Uribe has experience at the Middle Infield positions to go with his ability over at 3B.  Francona does love his versatile fielders and Uribe is an upgrade to what Francona already had in Aviles, so this is a move you gotta believe Francona is loving right now.




Cons:
- He's a significant downgrade defensively- When Juan Uribe makes multiple errors at 3B this year, don't come complaining to me.  While he does have a career .970 fielding percentage at 3B (which to the naked eye is good), comparing the number of games he's played at 3B with some of the greatest fielding 3B in the game's history is ridiculous.  Uribe has played in a fraction of the games at 3B they played.  Plus a reminder of his days in Chicago, I remember looking at him as a comparison for Jhonny Peralta, he can hit but he can be a liability defensively.  I wouldn't rely on Uribe to play gold glove defense that Urshela offered, I would instead brace for the problems we complained about defensively at 3B last year before Urshela.

- Uribe's numbers at Progressive Field are horrible- In 37 games, Uribe at Progressive Field is hitting .180 avg with 4 HRs, 17 RBIs, and a .206 OBP.  Bottom line is Uribe has never had success at Progressive Field and that's not a good sign for a guy you're paying $4 million to be an offensive upgrade.  The argument could be made here that last year, Brandon Moss was known to hit very well at Progressive Field and that really didn't help.  Only time will tell if Uribe's struggles at Progressive Field are for real or not, but at first glance...this is questionable.

- Indians are now pretty much maxed out in payroll- The Indians before the Uribe signing were on the books for around $80 million (that's not counting potential Minor League deal bonuses).  After the Uribe deal, the Indians are now pushing around $85 million in payroll, which is really at the max budget the Dolan's would like to spend. If you count maybe 2 more Minor League deals adding to the payroll in time, the Indians could be close to pushing $90 million.  The Dolan's really don't want to go over that which kills any trades the Indians could make at the Trade Deadline.  So if the Indians need another bat, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff have to make one hell of a presentation to the Dolan's explaining why the Indians need a $100 million payroll.  Money says, the Dolan's won't budge.

- There were more pressing needs- My opinion has always been about 3B, it's a defensive position first.  If you can hit, that's a bonus.  That's why the Royals stuck with Mike Moustakas through his hitting struggles and more importantly that's the biggest trait for every great 3B in the game today (Arenado, Machado, Beltre, Seager).  All the top 3B in the league are outstanding defenders.  The Indians had one in Giovanny Urshela, but are choosing offense over defense.  The Indians could've found that offense at a biggest position of need, the Outfield.

 With Brantley out for a while and we don't know how long it'll take him to get up to speed, the Indians need a more proven bat in the outfield.  Having the speed of Rajai Davis and moving forward with Lonnie Chisenhall in RF are great, but you had Dexter Fowler and Austin Jackson available.  Fowler would've given you a better offensive upgrade, but Jackson gave you better defense, solid hitting, and his familiarity with the Tigers.  The Indians should've inquired more on those two and tried to lure one of them in, even if they got a 1 year deal.

At the end of the day the Indians did what the fans asked them to do, build a better offensive team and Uribe technically will bring that to the Indians at 3B.  In my personal opinion, I'm against the signing, I think Giovanny Urshela needs time to develop his major league game and shows all the qualities of a solid MLB hitter with Gold Glove ability at 3B.  The Indians needed to learn from their mistakes last year which was when we don't have great defense at 3B, the Indians suffer.  Let's all hope Uribe can be serviceable defensively and provide enough offense to push the Indians back to the top of the Central Division.

Leadoff with Lee 8.21.14

-Tuesday afternoon Mike Pettine wasn't prepared to name a starter, but that all changed Wednesday morning when he told the world Brian Hoyer was going to be the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback. Johnny Manziel didn't seemed fazed that he was going to be a backup and simply said, "I'm not ready to be the Browns starting quarterback". In my opinion, it's either lack of leadership, lack of composure or lack of knowledge of the playbook. Either way, he needs to get mentally tough and grasp the playbook and study with Rex Grossman so he can wrap his head around this situation and earn his place.

-Defensive end Desmond Bryant may miss the season opener against Pittsburgh. Bryant had surgery on his wrist Monday and his status will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks to check how well it heals.

-Another Browns player was under the knife Monday in Buster Skrine. Skrine had a fractured thumb and will be re-evaluated weekly.

-Since we are talking surgeries, Nick "Brohio" Swisher had surgery on both knees yesterday to alleviate pain and hopefully prolong his career. Swisher, 33, is obviously out for the remainder if the season. Swisher hopes to make a strong comeback for the 2015 season. I'm sure he's not happy about his 2014 season, besides the paycheck he's getting.

-Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavs will invest $23 million dollars into Quicken Loans Arena for the upcoming basketball season. Upgrades will include a new scoreboard, sound system and video production room. A new roof is also on deck for the 20 year old structure.

-The US Men's National Basketball team destroyed the Dominican Republic, 105-62 in FIBA exhibition play last night at Madison Square Garden in New York. Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving shot 5 for 5 for 12 points and also had 5 assists. Irving got the start over Derrick Rose who was resting his knees. The current 16 man roster is expected to be reduced to 12 for World Cup play later today. Irving should be a lock to make the team.

-The Indians won their second straight game, besting the Minnesota Twins 5-0. Starter TJ House got the win for the Tribe, going 5.1 innings, giving up only four hits with all of them being singles. He also struck out five. Mike Aviles went 3 for 4, hitting a home run and knocking in 2, with a run scored and a steal. New Indians fan favorite Zach Walters also hit a homer for the Tribe. Every player in the Indians lineup had at least one hit, except Michael Brantley who went 0-4. The Indians improve to 64-61 and remain 4 1/2 games out from the last wildcard spot.

-Pittsburgh Steelers running backs Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount were pulled over early Wednesday morning and charged with possession of marijuana (20 grams to be exact), while Bell was also charged with DUI. It's going to be interesting to see how Roger Goodell handles this one.

Leadoff with Lee 6.1.14

-The Indians got their second straight win against the Rockies yesterday afternoon with a 7-6 victory. The bat of Mike Aviles was on fire yesterday as he drove in four runs. Aviles hit a 3-run homerun in the second inning and then followed it up with a single in the eighth inning to break the 6-6 tie for the game winning run. Lonnie Chisenhall's bat continued to cooperate, letting him go 2-3 with a homerun and 3 RBI's. Trevor Bauer got the start for the Tribe, but pitched a no decision after having a 4-0 lead at the end of the second inning. Bauer did have a good outing going 6 innings, striking out 8 and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. Bryan Shaw came in as the setup man, pitching 2 1/3 innings and Cody Allen pitched the 9th inning for his 3rd save of the season. The Indians will be back on the diamond this afternoon to close out the set versus the Rockies at 1:05. Josh Tomlin is expected to get the start.

-"How ya doing Johnny?" Johnny Manziel and fellow first round pick Justin Gilbert will throw out the first pitches at Wednesday's Tribe game against the Boston Red Sox. Running back Ben Tate will throw out his first pitch a day prior on Tuesday. It's about time that the Browns and Indians P.R. departments got together to unite the fan bases.

-More of Johnny. He was in L.A. this weekend for the trading card company, Topps, taking pictures for his football card and signing autograph inserts. Best believe this is going to be the most sought after card on the market this year.

-Despite Russell Westbrook's epic 34 point, 8 assist, 6 steal, 7 rebound game, that was not enough to overcome the Spurs. San Antonio closed out the Western Conference Finals with a 112-107 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, in overtime. Spurs point guard Tony Parker missed the entire second half of the game with ankle soreness, that was seen during pre-game warmups. Boris Diaw led the Spurs with 26 points and Tim Duncan contributed 15 in his effort. The Spurs will have a rematch of last year's NBA Finals against the Miami Heat which will start Thursday on ABC.

-I will also be covering the Women's College World Series on Tuesday, June 2nd. If you haven't been watching, you don't know what you have been missing!

Leadoff with Lee 5.9.14

-Be on the lookout later today for Browns React where we cover the Cleveland Browns draft picks in the 2014 NFL Draft.

-The Miami Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 94-82. King James had a game high 22 points, Chris Bosh added 18. Deron Williams couldn't hit a shot, going 0-9 from the field with 0 points for the Nets. Mirza Teletovic set a Nets playoff record, hitting six 3-pointers scoring a total of 20 points off the bench. Miami leads the series 2-0. Game 3 will be Saturday in Brooklyn.

-The Spurs topped the Blazers 114-97 to go up 2-0 in the series. As always, the Spurs played a great overall team game with Kawhi Leonard leading the way with 20 points. San Antonio had 7 players score double figures. Other notables for the Spurs, Tony Parker had a double-double scoring 16 points and 10 assists. The Blazers shot a dismal 43% from the field. Nicolas Batum had a team high 21 points for the Blazers. Game 3 will be on Saturday.

-The Indians racked up 15 hits in their 9-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins yesterday afternoon at Progressive field. Asdrubal Cabrera, Michael Brantley, David Murphy and Mike Aviles all had 3 or more hits in the game. Cabrera and Brantley both hit home runs for the Tribe. Justin Masterson improved to 2-1 on the season with the win. He went 6.1 innings giving up 4 hits and 2 earned runs in the series finale. The Indians open up their weekend series versus the Rays in Tampa on Friday at 7 PM.

Leadoff with Lee 5.8.14

-With Asdrubal Cabrera on third base and a Mike Avila liner to centerfield, the Cleveland Indians earned their first walk off win of the season over the Minnesota Twins, 4-3. Danny Salazar got the start for the Tribe, pitching 6.1 innings with 7 strikeouts, giving up 3 earned runs and 6 hits. John Axford earned the win with one inning pitched. The Indians will close out the 4 game set without the Twins this afternoon with a start time at 12:05 PM.

-Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman signed a 4 year extension for $57.4 million dollars with $40 million guaranteed. As I said last week, I expected Browns cornerback Joe Haden to sign his extension after Sherman's deal was complete.

-With Lob City up 0-1 in the series, the Oklahoma City Thunder came storming back with a 112-101 win. Russell Westbrook had a impressive night with his triple double, scoring 31 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Kevin Durant fell just short of a triple double, with 32 points, 12 boards and 9 assists. The Clippers had a chance to win but they lost the rebound game 52-36. Leaders for the Clippers include J.J Redick with 18 points, CP3 with 17 points, on top of 11 assists and Blake Griffin who scored only 15. The series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 on Friday in L.A.

-Roy Hibbert finally woke up in Game 2, scoring 28 points and 9 rebounds for the Pacers with a 86-82 win over the Wizards. Washington's John Wall had a rough night shooting 6-27 from the field. Marcin Gortat had a impressive 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards. Washington also had a tough time from the free throw line, missing 7 of their 12 free throw attempts. I have always said it's fundamentals that win or lose a game. In this situation its all about the free ones. Game 3 for this series will be Friday night in Washington.