GREAT MOVE: Giants bring back Juan Uribe

Posted on December 30, 2009

Juan Uribe #5 of the San Francisco Giants gets ready in the dugout before the game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on June 23, 2009 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

It’s not as sexy as signing Matt Holliday, but the San Francisco Giants made a great move today to bring back infielder Juan Uribe for the 2010 season. Uribe signed a minor league deal with the Giants last season and ended up being a huge contributor to the ballclub hitting .289 in 432 plate appearances. He also played solid defense at second base, shortstop, and third base.

Uribe did not get much playing time at the beginning of the 2009 season, but ended up the season as one of the club’s biggest contributors, both on and off the field. San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Bruce Jenkins said Uribe was, “one of the most upbeat guys I’ve ever seen in baseball, and is extremely popular with everyone, particularly the Latin players.” Just watching the Giants in the second half of 2009 when they played well and battled the Rockies for the wild card you could see the fun the younger players were having in the dugout and on the field, and Uribe was usually in the middle of all the fun, especially when it involved Pablo Sandoval.

I remember early in the season when Uribe hit a home run on the road (in Phoenix I believe) and Sandoval organized the dugout to freeze out Uribe and not acknowledge him when he came back into the dugout after running around the bases. It was a classic old-school baseball prank and after Uribe came into the dugout and high-fived imaginary players Sandoval came over laughing and gave him a big bear hug. That’s the kind of guy Uribe is and that is one of the reasons the Giants needed to being him back for 2010.

I remember covering Uribe back in 2005 when he was a vital part of the Chicago White Sox run to their World Series Championship over the Houston Astros. Uribe was the starting shortstop for the Sox and helped to anchor the left side of their infield, along with third baseman Joe Crede.

The Giants are stuck with another year of Edgar Renteria and his big contract so they will trot him out to shortstop to open the season, but don’t be surprised to see Uribe getting tons of playing time over there once the season gets going. Adding Uribe to the Giants roster also gives them so much versatility. Manager Bruce Bochy will be able to mix and match his guys in so many different combinations depending on who is pitching, who is hurt, etc. with guys like Uribe, Freddy Sanchez and the newly-signed Mark DeRosa on the roster for 2010. These guys can play anywhere and will help to solidify the ballclub. Now they still need to get a bat!