While the move has not been made official (Due to some Visa issues with Uribe), the Cleveland Indians have agreed to terms on a one year contract with veteran Juan Uribe. While Uribe is not the big impact bat they need, it is still a solid move on Cleveland's part. They signed him to a one year deal, which will allow them to use him as a bridge to 24 year old Giovanny Urshela. Uribe will also slightly deepen the lineup, especially due to the fact he hits from the right side and hits left handed pitching better than most of the Indians lineup. What the Indians see in Uribe is an average in the .240-.270 range, around 15 homeruns, and 20+ doubles. Not only will this boost the offense from the hot corner, as I mentioned before it will deepen the lineup and help other players produce at a slightly higher rate. Urshela could still retake the starting third base job at some point in the season, but Cleveland has its doubts about his offense. In 81 games last season, Urshela played unbelievable defense but hit just .225 with 6 homeruns. While his offensive struggles were partly due to injury problems, Cleveland would still like to give him more time to develop his bat in the Minor Leagues. Uribe is now the third veteran Cleveland has added this Winter (Napoli and Davis are the other two), and while perhaps none of these names jump off the paper, all together they will provide a nice boost.
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