O's Interested in Juan Uribe

[Boy Howdy]

I don't like Uribe for us, but not because of his ability, which I think is better than any of our options, but because he supposedly killed someone. I wouldn't want that guy in the clubhouse.

Well if that's your reasoning, all you need to do is get your facts straight and welcome Uribe with open arms.

Nobody died in the incident he was alledgedly involved in.

[bigbird]

He would be eating up fairly significant money, providing subpar defense at the most important position behind a young developing pitching staff and, given his past history, quite possibly creating clubhouse problems. A rebuilding team is better off with a cheap, defensive shortstop who can't hit at all if it can't find a legitimate shortstop of the future.

Payton and Uribe make about the same. I'd rather have Uribe starting here for $5 million than Payton sitting on the bench *****ing for $5 million.

[ACE]

He would be eating up fairly significant money, providing subpar defense at the most important position behind a young developing pitching staff and, given his past history, quite possibly creating clubhouse problems. A rebuilding team is better off with a cheap, defensive shortstop who can't hit at all if it can't find a legitimate shortstop of the future.

If they take Payton with Uribe making 4.5 million, we are actually saving 500 grand.

I've also gathered that Uribe's defense is serviceable at best. He has ranked pretty highly in the Fielding Bible in the past couple years. Last year being a bit lower, but that may be an aberration due to outside factors

[blueberryale77]

If they take Payton with Uribe making 4.5 million, we are actually saving 500 grand.

I've also gathered that Uribe's defense is serviceable at best. He has ranked pretty highly in the Fielding Bible in the past couple years. Last year being a bit lower, but that may be an aberration due to outside factors

Isn't one of those outside factors weight gain? I'd imagine that's something the O's scouts will be looking at as they scout him this spring.

As for the money savings vs. Payton, it would be my strong preference to trade Payton for a low prospect who will be in the minors making next to nothing and might help us sometime in the future. I'd even rather trade Payton plus $2-2.5 million for that than pick up someone who would be just as bad for the clubhouse as Payton if not worse, even if that person could serve as a stopgap starter for us.

[El Gordo]

If they take Payton with Uribe making 4.5 million, we are actually saving 500 grand.

I've also gathered that Uribe's defense is serviceable at best. He has ranked pretty highly in the Fielding Bible in the past couple years. Last year being a bit lower, but that may be an aberration due to outside factors

I would love to see last year's numbers if you have them. My point is that he is a similar fielder to Tejada in that his arm masks a number of weaknesses. He doesn't play balls to his left well at all and he compesates by playing in the hole and relying on his arm. He doesn't appear to be to good on at'em balls.

[clapdiddy]

Payton and Uribe make about the same. I'd rather have Uribe starting here for $5 million than Payton sitting on the bench *****ing for $5 million.

Agreed. This is the ONLY way I wouldn't mind having Uribe here. If this deal has been offered by the Sox, I'm surprised we haven't taken it yet.

[theobird]

Agreed. This is the ONLY way I wouldn't mind having Uribe here. If this deal has been offered by the Sox, I'm surprised we haven't taken it yet.

Yeah, except I would guess that the Orioles would like to know who they may/may not get back in a Roberts deal. If they traded for Uribe and then got Cedeno and a second baseman back from the Cubs, it would cause confusion. They wouldn't know whether to party or kill somebody.

[El Gordo]

The Chisox were thinking about Uribe as a 2B. Maybe the O's are looking at a him as a 2B as well, if they trade BRob and don't get Cedeno back.

[wildcard]

Payton is going to force the O's hand here. He is not going to sit on the bench quietly while Scott, Jones and Markakis get all the playing time. He made a fuss in Boston and he will do it again here, this year. Probably by sometime in May.

So the O's have a choice. Trade him or deal was an unhappy player.

[blueberryale77]

The Chisox were thinking about Uribe as a 2B. Maybe the O's are looking at a him as a 2B as well, if they trade BRob and don't get Cedeno back.

How would that help? His problem defensively isn't his arm. A SS who is gaining weight and losing range should move to third, not second.

[blueberryale77]

Payton is going to force the O's hand here. He is not going to sit on the bench quietly while Scott, Jones and Markakis get all the playing time. He made a fuss in Boston and he will do it again here, this year. Probably by sometime in May.

So the O's have a choice. Trade him or deal was an unhappy player.

True. He's already gotten started. Indicating he thinks he deserves regular playing time:

"I know I'm probably not the 'favorite,' but this is the fourth year I've gone into Spring Training as the fourth outfielder and I've gotten 400 at-bats every year -- so I'm not going to worry about my status too much right now."

....

"As long as I have an opportunity to compete and get a chance to play, that's all I ask for," Payton said. "The only time I really didn't have that was when I was in Boston. I wasn't going to play in front of Trot [Nixon], Manny [Ramirez] and Johnny [Damon]. That's why I didn't want to be there.

"I'm in a situation here where there's not a Trot, Manny and a Johnny Damon. There's a Nick Markakis and young guys that have to prove themselves a little bit, so I just look at it as a great competition for everybody to try and get at-bats."

What Jay seems not to grasp, among other things, is that Markakis is as much better than 35 year old Jay Payton as Manny was than 32 year old Payton (even more if you count defense and the fact that Nick lobbies to play every single game instead of requiring planned days off like Manny), Scott is fairly comparable to Nixon (probably not as good as Nixon in his heyday but again Payton's quality as competition has declined), and Jones could be well on his way to being comparable to Damon. Nobody is going to worry about giving Jay Payton his "fair" share of chances to swing at balls, miss the cutoff man, and generally play sloppy and uninspired baseball without hitting enough to make up for his many fundamental mistakes. Nor does anyone have time to listen to his excuses:

"The team had a terrible record. We weren't playing well," Payton said. "I think things were kind of in disarray for the majority of the first half of the season. I think I kind of let that get to me and affect my season a little bit. For me, it was a big learning experience. Hopefully, that won't be the case this year. Hopefully, things will be different -- whether I'm here or somewhere else. But I definitely just look it as a learning experience on how to deal with that situation and adversity. If I have to face that again, hopefully, I'll be better prepared for it and won't let it affect my season the way it did last year."

Gee Jay, you don't think that you playing like crap and getting in fights with your teammates on the field contributed to the "disarray"?

You're right, he has to go! I'd really prefer not to get someone who shoots people in return, but if they're convinced Uribe has changed his ways or really had nothing to do with that incident and it's the only way to get rid of Payton, I could get behind that trade. Payton just doesn't appreciate or respect the game of baseball!

[davearm]

Wow, I hope Jim Hendry is listening. Because Jay Payton is pretty much screaming "I'm not the versatile RH-hitting 4th OF you should be after!!!"

[turtlebowl]

Personally I don't want a player that may have a conditioning issue. They are making millions of dollars and they can't commit to staying in shape?

To me this shows either your lazy, or you don't respect the game.

In either case I have no interest in that player.

And before I start getting all these examples (such as Kirbey Pucket) of great players that had some weight issues you will never convince me that player would not had been better if they were in top physical shape.

[blueberryale77]

Wow, I hope Jim Hendry is listening. Because Jay Payton is pretty much screaming "I'm not the versatile RH-hitting 4th OF you should be after!!!"

Have you heard any indication that the Cubs are actually "after" Payton, or are the O's just trying to thrust him on them?

[davearm]

Have you heard any indication that the Cubs are actually "after" Payton, or are the O's just trying to thrust him on them?

Cubs personnel would NEVER mention a player they're after, who's under contract with another team, by name.

So the answer is no.