Cleveland Indians: Juan Uribe could be a smart addition

The Cleveland Indians appear to be “done” adding  through free agency, but that might not be the case. Versatile infielder Juan Uribe is on the radar, and would be a solid addition for the Tribe.

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The

have added

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, as well as a plethora of low to mid-tier additions to help fill some of the holes on last year’s roster. With a small budget to work with, it wouldn’t seem like there isn’t a lot of room to do anything substantial, but adding a guy like Juan Uribe could be affordable as well as beneficial.

Giovanny Urshela is a more than capable MLB third baseman defensively, but he’s still finding his way at the plate. After being called up in June after starting the season on the disabled list at Triple-A Columbus. He got off to a solid start at the plate, but once the calendar turned to August it seemed that most teams had him figured out and exposed his holes.

Having a player like Uribe to handle the duties at third while also spelling others around the infield could be the grand solution in the infield. Urshela may in time find his stroke at the plate, but having some backup at third may take some of the pressure off of him. Uribe has also logged a good number of games at shortstop and second base, so he offers some protection there as well. With Jason Kipnis having injury issues over the past few season, that’s a great safety net to have.

A .256 hitter over his career, Uribe isn’t going to win any batting titles. But he’s shown some flashes of power in his career, hitting 20+ home runs four times including a career-high in 2010 with 24. That was also the season he won the second of his World Series rings and has been there three times, including last year with the New York Mets.

Next: Should the Tribe gamble and bring up Frazier?

At 36, Uribe will likely be looking for a one-year deal which will keep the Indians from having to commit to anything that could come back and bite them. Uribe would allow some flexibility, as well as give Urshela a mentor to help him learn the ropes in what we hope is his first full season in Cleveland.