White Sox player review: Juan Uribe

October 20, 2:45 PMChicago White Sox ExaminerJJ Stankevitz

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Juan Uribe never complained about his sporadic play in 2008.

The player:

Juan Uribe

Position: Second/third base

Vital statistics
Batting average: .247
OBP: .296
SLG: .386
OPS: .682
Home runs: 7
RBI: 40
Runs: 38
BB/K: 22/64

Uribe sure had an interesting season on the South Side, beginning in November when the White Sox decided to keep him around with a one-year, $4.5 million deal. It looked like the White Sox were content with Uribe as their starting shortstop, but then they went out and traded for Orlando Cabrera. It seemed like Uribe was destined to start at second base after that move, but the White Sox gave Uribe some competition when they signed Alexei Ramirez four days before Christmas. 

As spring training progressed, Uribe looked like the frontrunner for the second base job, hitting well above .300 with eight doubles in the month of March. However, Uribe was placed on waivers on March 19, signaling that his days with the White Sox were going to come to a surprisingly quick finish. However, trade talks fell apart, and Uribe was revoked from waivers the next day. A few days later on March 22, Uribe went 3/5 with a home run and three RBI, cementing his job as the starting second baseman.

Out of the gate, Uribe looked like his old self, posting an OBP of .215 in the first month of play. In May, he began to heat up—but on May 16, Uribe went down with a hamstring injury, opening the door for Ramirez to take over at second. Ramirez went on to post one of the better rookie campaigns in White Sox history while Uribe sat on the bench, occasionally filling in at second base, shortstop, or third base.

Uribe got back on the field in late July when Joe Crede went down with more back problems, and after it became apparent that Josh Fields couldn't hit a fastball like Pedro Cerrano couldn't hit a curveball, Uribe was given the starting job at third base for the rest of the season.

Defensively, Uribe did a very good job wherever he played on the field. His range factor at second base was 5.66, better than Ramirez' 4.99. When plugged in for Crede at third, Uribe made a number of good plays—mainly showing off his "brazo de fuego" by making throws that normal third baseman could not make. As the season went on, Uribe began making less and less plays to his left or right, allowing too many ground balls to reach the outfield grass.

Despite those late-season struggles, Uribe was an asset defensively because of his ability to play second base, third base, and shorstop well. For a utility infielder, you couldn't ask a whole lot more.

Outside of 2004, Uribe has never been an offensive asset to the White Sox. There are stretches where Uribe is locked in and hitting everything hard to all fields, but those stretches are few and far between for the 28-year-old. When Uribe is going bad, he's swinging and missing at a lot of pitches, and when he does make contact, it usually ends up being a popup or weak fly ball.

An encouraging sign for next year was that Uribe's line drive rate jumped from .151 in 2007 to .205 in 2008. His BABIP, which indicated that Uribe's performance was about normal in 2007, was at .289 in 2008, indicating that Uribe was actually unlucky this year. Granted, if his LD rate and BABIP would have matched with that .120 difference, Uribe's performance still wouldn't have been considered all that great, but it would have been an upgrade for somebody who usually hit ninth in the order.

I'm a strong advocate for the White Sox to bring Uribe back for 2009. Regardless of how the second and third base situations work out, Uribe is a valuable defensive asset to have off the bench. The fact that he is above average at three positions on the infield makes him more valuable than most utility infielders in baseball. Any offense Uribe provides is a bonus so long as he isn't starting on Opening Day.