Juan Uribe Heads South To Los Angeles

I am starting to wonder if the Los Angeles Dodgers are really interested in the players they have signed recently or they are just trying to keep as many players away from their division rivals as humanly possible.

Over the weekend, the Dodgers swiped Jon Garland away from the San Diego Padres and on Monday, the Dodgers took Juan Uribe from the San Francisco Giants.

Uribe signed with the Dodgers on Monday

The Dodgers signed Uribe to a three-year, $21 million contract. The 31-year-old 2B/SS/3B hit .248/.310/.440 with 24 home runs in 575 PA’s for the Giants in 2010.

I am really not sure what to say about this contract.

I don’t see how the Dodgers can justify giving a guy a three-year contract, who is in his 30′s, has a .300 career OBP, and who’s OPS dipped about 100 points from 2009 to 2010. I almost feel this is a “Larry Brown” type deal.

If you remember, after Brown had two huge interceptions and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXX (or as I like to call it “The Adult Video of Super Bowls), the Oakland Raiders gave him a ridiculous contract. It was a contract really based on that one game.

It seems to me, Dodger GM Ned Colletti watched the 2010 postseason, saw Uribe’s two huge HR’s and decided to give him a deal that is well above his market value. Now I will say Uribe has more of a track record than Brown, but not enough to warrant a three-year deal.

The sad part about this deal is that because of the length and dollar figure associated with it, nobody will talk about how this is an upgrade at second base for the Dodgers. The Dodgers’ former starting two-bagger, Ryan Theriot is a nice little player, who has a place on a Major League roster. It just shouldn’t be in the starting lineup.

Uribe is an upgrade over Theriot and can do some things well like hit the occasional HR and play above average defense at three different positions. I just wouldn’t have given him three years and $21 million to do it.

On a side note, I will be curious to see how much money Bill Hall gets this winter. Hall had a .772 OPS, which was higher than Uribe’s and can play about six positions on the diamond.

I might be wrong on this one, but I highly doubt he gets anywhere close to $21 million.

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