The Tampa Bay Rays are interested in free agent Juan Uribe according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports who said Uribe would play mostly at first base, some at second base, and could fill in for Evan Longoria at third base.
Uribe, who will turn 34 before the 2014 season, is coming off a rebound year. In 132 games, he hit .278/.331/.438 with a 116 wRC+ and 5.1 fWAR. On a rate basis, Uribe produced more fWAR than Longoria, Manny Machado, or Adrian Beltre, the top third basemen in the AL by fWAR.
The previous two years, Uribe had a .199/.262/.289 line with a 55 wRC+ and 0.5 fWAR. An in-play batting average of .241 contributed to his woes as did a 20.5 percent strikeout rate and a woeful .090 ISO.
While the perception of his defense might not be very favorable, this is probably due to his chunky frame. Defensive metrics have consistently evaluated Uribe as one of the best third basemen in baseball. Reasonable people can debate about the effectiveness of advanced defensive metrics over smaller samples, but Uribe has been very good for at least the last ten years.
It seems a little curious that the Rays would move him to first base, as that would diminish his ability to contribute defensively. As an older player with two disastrous seasons in his recent past, Uribe is a wild card. Expecting him to repeat his 2013 season may be unrealistic, but his Steamer projection is favorable nonetheless. It calls for a .242/.304/.396 line with a 91 wRC+. That’s slightly below average production with the bat, but with his expected defensive prowess, it comes out to 2.8 fWAR.
Assuming he won’t break the bank, Uribe could be a nice free agent bargain, but it’s surprising that the Rays would consider moving him to first which would take away one of the most important aspects of his game. But then again, the Rays have succeeded with cast-offs such as Casey Kotchman, Jeff Keppinger and James Loney.
