Uribe Leaves Giants for Dodger Blue

Well, if you've been following Giants' news over the past few days, your no stranger to the fact that Juan Uribe was in talks with the Dodgers about signing in LA to play 2nd base. It looks like those talks are coming to fruition, as Uribe has now signed the deal and is just awaiting a Tuesday physical in the Dominican to wrap things up.

Uribe and the Dodgers have agreed on a 3-year, $21 million deal that will put Uribe in the Dodgers' infield along with Casey Blake, Rafael Furcal and James Loney. The 31 year-old figures to spend most his time at 2nd in LA, but as Giants' fans know, has the versatility to move around the infield. I'm not surprised Uribe is leaving, just a little surprised, in a middle-infield thin market, he signed so soon. He was a steady contributor for the Giants in his 2-year stint here, but I don't blame Sabes for not wanting to match the Dodgers offer of 3 years. 2 years at $7 million for Uribe would be doable, but that 3rd year is the killer. That's probably what Sabean was talking about when he said the parties weren't in the same waters during early negotiations... Never the less, Juan Uribe, the man who was so crucial for the Giants in the NLCS and World Series, will be an enemy next season, and not just a regular enemy either. In the same month as winning a World Series with the Giants, he signs with the Dodgers of all teams! After Huff signed his deal, I was hoping it would be a matter of days before the Giants announced an Uribe re-signing, because now the cupboard is pretty bare for them as far as shortstops are concerned.

We talked pretty extensively about the other free agent options at shortstop in our previous post here, so I don't need to run through the less-than-impressive list of names that remain available at the position now that Uribe is has gone south. And all I have to say to you Derek Jeter-dreamers; wouldn't you rather see that money go into Carl Crawford (who's 7 years younger and an ideal fit at AT&T Park)? I don't expect Sabean to make any knee-jerk reaction and go out and sign/trade for a middle infielder within 48 hours, in-fact, I think it would be wise of him to back off of the shortstop position for a bit now that the one plausible free agent is gone, and focus elsewhere. There are a few names on the arbitration list who may be available via trade or even possible non-tenders (though I doubt any club will just non-tender a valuable middle infielder in this market). I keep hearing the name Miguel Tejada thrown out there, and I just cringe, cause he'd seem to fit Sabean's MO. A veteran who can play the left side who may come cheaply and turn out to be a diamond in the rough, a la Huff and Uribe. The Giants have supposedly already had talks with him too, but if they did in-fact bring in Miguel Tejada, I doubt he'd be the only guy shouldering the SS load. I think Sabean would have bring someone else aboard who is a little more able with the glove(maybe his old pal in Baltimore, Cesar Izturis)... Again, we're still finishing up November, and the offseason is still young, but the shortstop options are few and far between, and the Giants lost their top-candidate Monday. I'm anxious to see what Sabean has up his sleeve after this one.