The Giants officially re-signed the versatile Juan Uribe to a one-year, $3.25MM deal today. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the Giants appeared close to a deal with Uribe on December 24th. Jon Heyman of SI.com first tweeted that the sides had reached an agreement, while ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted the value.
With new addition Mark DeRosa guaranteed a starting job, the Giants could once again use Uribe as a super-utility player. His January minor league deal with the Giants proved to be one of last offseason's best, as he hit .289/.329/.495 in 432 plate appearances while playing solid defense at second base, shortstop, and third base. The 30-year-old split his time evenly between the three positions, playing about 300 innings at each. Uribe, who played center field for the Rockies once in 2003, is just as versatile as DeRosa.
Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.
Do the Giants have a plan? It doesn’t seem like it.
old and mediocre with the lineup, and magnificent in the rotation. it almost got them to the postseason last year.
Do we know how much the contract is worth?
ooo-REE-bay
We’ll probably find out the contract terms tomorrow when the deal is officially announced. I would imagine Uribe gets a raise from his 2009 salary of $1,000,000.
Now is the perfect time to offer Adam Laroche a one year offer similar to Beltre.
Agreed. Not sure how much LaRoche is really worth but he seems to be a fit for SF. Panda would have to play third though, where would DeRosa play? Time to sit Rowand?
Luckily DeRosa can play LF/RF as well…Two possible lineups.
Velez/Torres LF
Sanchez 2B
DeRosa RF
Sandoval 3B
Laroche 1B
Rowand CF
Uribe/Renteria SS
Posey C
or
Rowand CF
Sanchez 2B
DeRosa LF
Sandoval 3B
Laroche 1B
Schierholtz RF
Uribe/Renteria SS
Posey C
I’d say:LF Velez2B Sanchez3B Sandoval1B LaRocheRF DeRosaCF RowandSS RenteriaC Posey/?or2B SanchezCF Rowand3B Sandoval1B LaRocheLF DeRosaRF SchierholtzSS RenteriaC Posey/?Just my two cents (which may not be worth much, but it’s something).
I’d defy both of you and say that Velez and Torres are both career 4th outfielders. Velez’s .308 OBP is not acceptable for a leadoff man.
LaRoche just spurned a two-year, $17 million offer from the Giants, according to rumor, so if we wind up falling back on Ishikawa, the standard lineup (much as I don’t think one will exist) might look something like this:
CF Rowand/Torres
2B Sanchez
SS Renteria/Uribe
3B Sandoval
LF DeRosa
1B Ishikawa
C Posey
RF Schierholtz
And if we manage to nail down LaRoche:
CF Rowand/Torres
2B Sanchez
1B LaRoche
3B Sandoval
LF DeRosa
RF Schierholtz
C Posey
SS Renteria
Obviously, I like the second option much better.
I like the idea of a one-year contract to LaRoche.
Avoiding a multi-year deal is desirable if at all possible. I don’t think LaRoche would accept that sort of contract, but it’s worth a shot.
SF Giants, offensive power house now that they’ve got DeRosa and Uribe! Who needs Barry Bonds now?
Sarcasm of course. The Giants didn’t really improve themselves here since they had Uribe last year, they’ve just treaded water. They still need bats if they’re serious about overtaking the Rockies or Dodgers.
Some Debbie Downer comments, mixed in with some Positive Paul:
1. DeRosa didn’t hit for average last year, but did so for the 3 years before that, so there’s a chance you’ll attend a Giants game, look up at the screen, and see ONE LESS batting average < .260
2. Uribe hit for average for arguably the first time in his career last year, and slugged nearly .495. A repeat performance would be unbelievably valuable, but that seems unbelievably unlikely. Regardless, he'll be worth more what I'll guess is $1.4 MM.
3. Neither guy will be worth what he's paid if age catches up to them. That being said, they're practically insurance policies on each other.
4. DeRosa + Uribe gives us the underrated weapon of daily versatility in our lineup.
5. Neither is the big bat needed. But the combination of the two should mean less Renteria and Rowand AB's. Giants fans, this is undeniably a good thing.
6. I know I'm picking just one stat here, but take from it what you will. 2009 Slugging %'s:
Renteria & Rowand: .328 & .419
Uribe & DeRosa: .495 & .433
Just think if we didn't get either of 'em. Now, chew on 55saveslives: go get Laroche.
Signing Adam LaRoche would add some much needed pop to the lineup. Looking over some of his career splits in NL West parks,
.767 SLG% at AT&T Park in 13 games
.695 SLG% at PetCo Park in 22 games
.556 SLG% at Citizens Bank Park in 31 games
.491 SLG% at Dodger Stadium in 17 games
.477 SLG% at Coors Field in 20 games
CBP isn’t an NL West park. You are forgetting Chase though.
They need any kind of power they can get. If it’s LaRoche, they need to get it done.
Hank Shulman tweeted that there is no option year attached. It’s just a one year deal.
also…
this is a perfect time to snag LaRoche…1 yr. 7.5 mil?
At the start of this offseason, Giants fans were complaining that they needed to replace the power provided by Molina and Uribe, and not get older. Well, re-signing Uribe doesn’t mean they’ll get the same production from him as they did last year (for a while, it seemed like anything Uribe put a bat on fell in for a hit), but if they do, it’s a bargain deal, albeit less of a steal than last season since Uribe proved his worth. And the DeRosa signing puts a hitter with roughly as much power potential as Molina playing in a less strenuous position, with the added bonuses of better patience at the plate not being the slowest player in either league. If there is development and better pitch selection by the rest of the line-up (not totally unreasonable to expect), the Giants could be a more balanced team offensively, provided that DeRosa takes root in LF.
Signing LaRoche is an option, though it will officially shut the door on Ishikawa, which would make me sad as I think he has the potential to be a 2+ WAR player from year to year (Ishikawa was 0.8 in 2009; LaRoche was 2.4). The issues are whether LaRoche will make his demands more reasonable, and whether we have a long term option after LaRoche. Guzman and Pill are waiting behind Ishikawa, and my hope is that Pill turns some heads at ST and winds up taking over at 1B in 2011 or 2012. I wouldn’t pay LaRoche more than 2 years, $14-15 million.
At the start of this offseason, Giants fans were complaining that they needed to replace the power provided by Molina and Uribe, and not get older. Well, re-signing Uribe doesn’t mean they’ll get the same production from him as they did last year (for a while, it seemed like anything Uribe put a bat on fell in for a hit), but if they do, it’s a bargain deal, albeit less of a steal than last season since Uribe proved his worth. And the DeRosa signing puts a hitter with roughly as much power potential as Molina playing in a less strenuous position, with the added bonuses of better patience at the plate not being the slowest player in either league. If there is development and better pitch selection by the rest of the line-up (not totally unreasonable to expect), the Giants could be a more balanced team offensively, provided that DeRosa takes root in LF.
Signing LaRoche is an option, though it will officially shut the door on Ishikawa, which would make me sad as I think he has the potential to be a 2+ WAR player from year to year (Ishikawa was 0.8 in 2009; LaRoche was 2.4). The issues are whether LaRoche will make his demands more reasonable, and whether we have a long term option after LaRoche. Guzman and Pill are waiting behind Ishikawa, and my hope is that Pill turns some heads at ST and winds up taking over at 1B in 2011 or 2012. I wouldn’t pay LaRoche more than 2 years, $14-15 million.
Laroche! He would be a great GIANT! Fill the hole at 1B and in the 3rd spot in the lineup. He is young and has two seaons with 25 and 80+ RIB’s.
They should make an offer to Laroche now! Since the market is obviously showing it’s not going to pay much, a similar Beltre type offer should be made.
I think $3.25 mil is a bit much for Uribe. Granted, he had a solid season in 2009, but couldn’t that money go towards a starting player (i.e. Adam LaRoche)?
supposedly they have an offer out to laroche. he’s not ready to go that low yet i guess.
Laroche should now know he ain’t gettin’ 3 yr / 30 mill lol