At the risk of nit-picking, I want to underline something I’ve expressed in various places at various times, and yesterday’s Juan Uribe deal brings it front and center: guys who sign minor-league contracts are longshots to make the team.
There are all sorts of assumptions that Josh Phelps will platoon at first base, and now Uribe: oh, he must be the backup to Edgar Renteria and primary utility infielder.
Wait a second, folks. He’s not even on the 40–man roster. Josh Phelps is not on the 40–man roster. Justin Miller and Brandon Medders are also non-roster invitees with some major-league experience. Why isn’t anyone assuming they’ll take bullpen spots? (Answer: Because they can’t hit a lick, and Phelps and Uribe at least have the potential of hitting a lick, or a quarter of a lick. It’s like a bushel, I think. Or a peck. I get them confused.)
But the real answer is Phelps, Uribe, Miller, and Medders all have to excel in a few short weeks to make the team. They have to bump someone off the 40–man roster. Last year, non-rosterite Keiichi Yabu bumped Steve Kline, but he was relatively bumpable with his left arm made of toast and his $1.75 M salary (if memory serves me correctly).
This year, the only potential veteran position-playing bumpee is Dave Roberts, but the Giants might have a hard time eating $6.5 million dollars. If they don’t want to release him and can’t trade him, it might come to this: they send Velez back to AAA (because both Velez and Roberts on one roster don’t make sense), and Uribe makes the team as the primary ute.
But I think Uribe’s path to the 25–man must pass through several obstacles: Pablo Sandoval can’t hack third, Velez doesn’t look comfortable with a glove attached to his hand, Emmanuel Burriss struggles, someone in the infield suffers an injury.
If Travis Ishikawa and Sandoval and Kevin Frandsen and Emmanuel Burriss and Velez all do just fine during spring training, the Giants are not going to spend $1 M to keep Uribe. If Phelps doesn’t set camp on fire (in a good way), the Giants aren’t going to clear out someone else to keep the 31–year-old in the bigs to see if he eventually breaks through. That’s what the minor leagues are for.
Yes, it would be nice if Phelps showed in March that he can platoon at first, pinch-hit against lefties, be adequate in the field, and promise at least 15 home runs in limited duty, but until proven otherwise, he’s just another non-roster schmoe itching for a break. Let’s please treat him, and Juan Uribe, as such.
