Juan Cespedes Uribe Tena (born March 22, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians. He bats and throws right-handed.
Uribe began his professional career in 1997 when he was signed by the Colorado Rockies. After advancing through the minors, he made his MLB debut with the Rockies in 2001. He became their shortstop in 2001 and spent all of 2002 in that capacity. He missed part of 2003 with an injury and was traded to the Chicago White Sox following the season. After one season as a utility player, Uribe became the starting shortstop for the White Sox in 2005; he held that position for the next three years. While Uribe was with the White Sox, the team won the 2005 World Series against the Houston Astros. Uribe hit 21 home runs in 2006 but had a low on-base percentage. He hit 20 home runs in 2007 but had a low batting average with runners in scoring position (RISP). In 2008, Uribe lost his starting shortstop role to Orlando Cabrera and shifted to the starter at second, but then lost that job to rookie Alexei Ramírez. He eventually ended the season as the team's third baseman due to an injury to Joe Crede.
In 2009, Uribe signed with the Giants and was again used as utility player. He spent most of 2010 as the Giants' shortstop, hit a career-high 24 home runs, and had several key hits in the playoffs as the Giants won the 2010 World Series. Following that season, he signed a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The next two years were plagued by injuries and poor hitting, but he regained his starting role at third base and made strong contributions to the team in 2013 and 2014. Uribe was traded to the Braves in late May of the 2015 season and again to the Mets in July of the 2015 season. Before the start of spring training in 2016, he signed a one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians. He was injured by a ground ball on June 12, 2016, and was later diagnosed with a testicular contusion. The Indians designated him for assignment on August 1 and released him on August 5.
Early life
Juan Cespedes Uribe Tena was born on March 22, 1979, in Palenque, Dominican Republic. Growing up, he became interested in baseball partly due to José Uribe. José was Juan's second cousin, although Juan calls him his "uncle" because of their age difference. When Major League Baseball (MLB) was not in season, José would come home to the Dominican Republic and tell Juan about his time in the majors playing shortstop for the San Francisco Giants. Juan proved to have baseball ability too. In 1997, Colorado Rockies scout Jorge Posada Sr. spotted Uribe while he was scouting pitcher Enemencio Pacheco.
Professional career Minor leagues Posada offered him a $5,000 contract, but Uribe and his father tried to get a higher amount from agent Bob Michelin. Eventually, Uribe settled for $5,000.Baggarly, p. 232
Uribe started his professional career playing in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) for the DSL Rockies. In 1998 and 1999, he played for the rookie-level Arizona Rookie League and the Single-A Asheville Tourists in the South Atlantic League. While in Asheville, he batted .267 with 28 doubles, nine home runs and 46 RBI in 125 games, compiling a 15-game hitting streak at one point in the season. Uribe played for the Single-A advanced Salem Avalanche of the Carolina League in 2000, batting .256 with 13 home runs and 65 RBI in 134 games. Following the season, Baseball America named him the number two prospect in the Rockies' organization.
Colorado Rockies (2001–2003) 2001: Rookie season In 2001, he was called up by the Rockies. Uribe played 72 games for the Rockies in his rookie season of 2001. He batted .300, had eight home runs, and had 53 runs batted in (RBIs). He also had 11 triples, tying a club record held by Neifi Pérez and Juan Pierre. He made his major league debut on April 8, pinch-hitting and striking out against Jay Witasick in an 11–3 loss to the San Diego Padres. Three days later, he had his first major league hit against Matt Morris in a 3–1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He was sent down to the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Pacific Coast League a few times during the season. However, after July 25, he took over the shortstop position for the Rockies when they traded Pérez. On August 2, he hit his first major league home run against Dave Coggin in a 4–2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. He tied three other franchise records with two hits, two extra base hits, and six total bases in a single inning during an October 7 game against the San Diego Padres.
2002 Uribe played his first full season in the majors for the Rockies in 2002. He started 150 games at shortstop, posting a .240 average, six home runs, 49 RBI, and 25 doubles. He had a 17-game hitting streak during the months of April and May, a career-high. However, his offensive production slumped from May through August, and he also was poor defensively, leading the team with 27 errors. Uribe saw a little improvement offensively late in the season, though, as he tied a career-high for hits in a game with four on September 13 in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers; he finished that game a home run short of the cycle.
2003 In 2003, Uribe did not play until June 3 because of an injury suffered when he was rounding the bases during a spring training game on March 1. In his first game back, he homered twice against Ricardo Rodríguez of the Cleveland Indians. He began to play in the outfield for the Rockies, starting at center field on June 15. However, he returned to the shortstop position when José Hernández was traded. In 87 games, he batted .253 with 80 hits, 19 doubles, 10 home runs, and 33 RBI.
Chicago White Sox (2004–2008) 2004 Uribe was traded to the Chicago White Sox on December 2, 2003, for second baseman Aaron Miles. Although Uribe did not have a starting role at the beginning of his tenure with the White Sox, he wound up appearing in 134 games for them in 2004, playing second base, shortstop, and third base. On June 19, he had seven RBIs (one short of the White Sox single-game record) in a 17–14 loss to the Montreal Expos. He set many career highs in batting categories, including batting average with the bases loaded (.556), RISP (.340), batting average (.283), home runs (23), RBIs (74), hits (142), and runs (82). He played much better at home, batting .315 with six home runs compared to .248 with seven home runs on the road. On December 16, Uribe agreed to a three-year, $9.75 million contract extension through 2007 with the White Sox. The deal also included a club option for 2008.
2005: World Series In 2005, Uribe spent the entire season playing shortstop after the White Sox did not re-sign José Valentín. In 146 games, a number that would have been higher had it not been for minor injuries, Uribe batted .252 with 121 hits, 23 doubles, 16 home runs, and 74 RBI. In Game 1 of the American League Division Series (ALDS), Uribe hit a home run and had three RBIs as the White Sox defeated the Boston Red Sox 14–2. Uribe made two memorable defensive plays for the final two outs of the 2005 World Series, first catching a ball while crashing into the third base stands and then ranging over the middle and firing an off-balance throw on a slow grounder to beat Houston Astros outfielder Orlando Palmeiro to give the White Sox their first title in 88 years.
2006 On July 2, 2006, Uribe had five RBIs in a 15–11 loss to the Chicago Cubs; two days later, he again had five RBIs in a 13–0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Uribe had one of his best power seasons in 2006, batting .235 with 21 home runs and 71 RBIs in 132 games. However, he had the lowest on-base percentage of his career, at .257. (Note: Click bio for non-statistical information) Injuries prevented him from appearing 10 games, and he also lost some starts at shortstop to Alex Cintrón because of his low on-base percentage. He led the White Sox in sacrifice hits and ranked fourth in the AL with a .977 fielding percentage. He also joined Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada, Édgar Rentería, and Michael Young as the only shortstops to top 70 RBIs in 2004, 2005, and 2006.
2007 On September 29, 2007, Uribe had a walk-off RBI single against Fernando Rodney to give the White Sox a 3–2 win over the Detroit Tigers. In 150 games in 2007, Uribe batted .234 with 120 hits, 18 doubles, 20 home runs, and 68 RBI. He was second in the league in fielding percentage (.976), but he batted .198 with runners in scoring position. The White Sox declined Uribe's option for 2008, but on November 7, 2007, they signed him to a one-year, $4.5 million deal.
2008
The White Sox acquired Orlando Cabrera to play shortstop in 2008, forcing Uribe to compete with Alexei Ramírez, Danny Richar, and Pablo Ozuna for the position in spring training. Uribe won the second base job, but after an injury in May, Uribe lost his spot in the White Sox starting lineup to Ramírez. However, Uribe took over third base from Josh Fields (who had spent a week filling in for an injured Joe Crede) on August 1. In 110 games (324 at-bats), Uribe had 80 hits, 22 doubles, seven home runs, and 40 RBI. On October 30, Uribe filed for free agency.
While with the White Sox, Uribe was always regarded as a talented player. He was especially adept at fielding and hitting home runs. However, Ozzie Guillén had issues with Uribe's low on-base percentage and his conditioning.
San Francisco Giants (2009–2010) 2009
On January 29, 2009, Uribe signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants. It was announced on April 4 that Uribe had made the Giants final roster as a utility player. Uribe wound up making a lot of starts at second base, shortstop, and third base throughout the season. On July 10, Uribe bobbled a ground ball with one out in the eighth inning of Jonathan Sánchez's no-hitter against San Diego, allowing Chase Headley to reach first base. The effort had been perfect up to that point, and Sánchez went on to retire each of the remaining five batters, meaning this error lost the first perfect game since Randy Johnson 's in 2004. This was the first no-hit, no-walk, no–hit batsman game that was not also a perfect game since Terry Mulholland's no-hitter in 1990. In 122 games (398 at-bats), Uribe batted .289 (his highest average since 2001) with 115 hits, 26 doubles, 16 home runs, and 55 RBI.
2010: World Series On January 4, 2010, Uribe re-signed a one-year, $3.25 million contract with the Giants. He began 2010 as the Giants' second baseman because of an injury to Freddy Sanchez. At the beginning of May, he moved over to shortstop to replace the injured Édgar Rentería; for most of the remainder of the season, he was the Giants' starting shortstop. He hit a game-winning two-run home run on September 5 against Jonathan Broxton, turning a 4–3 deficit into a 5–4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. On September 23, Uribe hit a grand slam against Ryan Dempster and a two-run home run in the second inning against the Cubs for a total of six RBIs, helping the Giants win 13–0.