Dodgers vs. Giants position by position comparison: Third Base

The baseball season’s coming up and Mike Krukow thinks Yasiel Puig is dumb for not pegging the Giants as their biggest rival. In San Luis Obispo, I’d say they are, though the two teams have not met in the playoffs since the Wild Card round started.

I thought it would be fun to, over the next few weeks, go position by position and compare what personnel the two teams have in preparation for the 2015 season. Today’s position: third base.

Second base showcases the Dodgers’ best off-season aquisition against an up-and-comer for the Giants.

Position by Position: Catcher

Position by Position: First Base

Position by Position: Second Base

Apparently, Juan Uribe dyed his beard blonde at one point? This must have been during the McCourt era… . By bridgetds on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

Juan Uribe

Juan Freaking Uribe.

Over the past five seasons, the range of fan emotions I’ve had about Uribe has spanned from fan-loathing to pure, unadulterated joy.

The first two seasons of Uribe’s career in Los Angeles were the worst. Over those two seasons, Uribe played just 143 games and, according to Fangraphs.com, contrubuted .5 total wins above replacement.

Contextually, the Dodgers were on their way to filing for bankruptcy and simultaneously paying a Giants retread $8 million per season to play as well as a replacement-level third baseman. It’s a chain of events that had me tickled to find this website, where someone could share in my passionate sideways look at the Dodgers’ decision to sign Uribe.

Then Uribe hit the third and final year of his original Dodgers contract, and had a career season. In 2013, Uribe put up 5.0 WAR (Fangraphs) and pretty much redeemed himself.

The moment of redemption, in my eyes, came in a playoff game I attended.

With the Dodgers down a run and yours truly in the loge level, Uribe came through in a big way.

It was as happy a baseball moment I’ve had probably in the last 20 years, and it was thanks to a guy I took a while to come around on. The mini bat-flip. The arms raised. Dodger Stadium was insane that night.

Uribe signed a new deal before last year and played in just 103 games in 2014. To expect him to play more than 120 or so games in any season at his age, with his miles, and with his body type is probably unrealistic. That said, he’s still an above average defender at third base and he’s a decent right-handed bat at the bottom of the order. If he’s one of your top-five hitters, that might be problematic, but Uribe has performed well enough for the last two seasons to expect decent performance in 2015.

Casey McGehee

Casey McGehee is best known for his solid 2010 season with the Brewers. That year, McGehee hit 23 homers and made himself known as someone who could contribute above-average power at third base.

Since then, it’s been a roller coaster. McGehee contributed negative (Fangraphs) WAR numbers in 2011 and 2012, and did not play in 2013. Going into last year, he was once again an unknown.

Playing for Miami in 2014, McGehee seems to have resurrected his career. Last season, he hit just four homers, but managed to drive in 76 runs while posting a .287/.355/.357 split (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage). This offseason, the Giants acquired McGehee for a pair of minor league pitchers.

McGehee is the kind of Aubrey Huff-like player that the Giants pick up for less than they’re worth and somehow get the most out of. ZiPS likes him for a lower WAR number than Uribe this season, but he is three years younger, which means he’ll probably play more games than his 35 year-old counterpart in Los Angeles. If McGehee over-performs a little and stays healthy, he could pass-up Uribe, especially if Uribe hovers around the 100-game mark throughout the year.

The verdict

This has been the hardest yet to call one way or the other. Even though he’s playing in a ballpark where homers go to die, I kind of like McGehee to get back to double-digit homers in 2015. I’m also not sure that Uribe can stay healthy at his age for an entire season.

Uribe has gone from a guy who I was constantly frustrated with as a fan to a reliable clubhouse leader, whether he’s in the game or not. On top of everything, Uribe is in a contract year, and the last time that happened was his career year in 2013. While McGehee hasn’t had two good seasons in a row in the majors ever, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened this year. That said, I’m going with Uribe on this one.

Third Base Advantage: Dodgers

Giants fans, I’m interested to hear how you feel about McGehee. Is he going to give way to Arias on a consistent basis? Is there anyone in your system you’d rather see at the position? Did the Giants adequately fill the hole left by the Pablo Sandoval departure?

Comment below.