Cleveland Indians: Which Available Third Baseman Is a Fit For Tribe?

Which Third Baseman Could the Cleveland Indians Still Add?

The other day I talked about how the Cleveland Indians should really look at upgrading at third base. The internal options are there in Giovanny Urshela and Jose Ramirez, but offensively, they could stand to upgrade. There’s also been no shortage of rumors with the Indians and available third basemen, with the team being linked to trade candidates such as Todd Frazier and free agents such as Juan Uribe and David Freese. In fact, just this morning, Buster Olney tweeted that the Indians are still pursuing Juan Uribe:

I won’t go too much into how Juan Uribe fits with the Indians. Our own Nicholas Blazek already covered him a few weeks ago on the site. He’s a very solid defensive player who also has been above-average with the bat, hitting 14 home runs in 2015, with a 104 wRC+.  He posted a 1.9 fWAR while only playing 119 games in 2015, and despite being turning 37 next month, represents a clear upgrade over Urshela.  In addition to Uribe, there are still a couple of others that could make sense for the Cleveland Indians and would upgrade the weakest link in the Tribe’s offense.

David Freese Makes a Ton of Sense

Other than Juan Uribe, the player that makes the most sense for the Cleveland Indians is free agent David Freese. Freese has played for both the St. Louis Cardinals and, more recently, the Los Angeles Angels. He’s probably best known for his World Series heroics in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.  Soon to be 33, he’s not the youngest option out there, but one that’s proven to be quite solid.  In seven major league seasons, he’s hit .276/.344/.417 with a 115 wRC+. He doesn’t provide a ton of power, as he’s only hit more than 15 home runs once, but he’s still been an above-average hitter every season of his career. He’s also been in some pretty good company as far as fellow major league third basemen:

Defensively, he’s definitely below average. Defensive metrics, while varying quite a bit, do agree he’s lacking on that side of the ball. However, his career -3.0 UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating runs above average per 150 games) is livable. Even with his defense, Freese has managed to be a solid 2-win player, posting fWARs of 2.1 and 2.2 in his two seasons with the Angels, a substantial improvement over Urshela, the Tribe’s current third baseman.

The question with Freese then becomes how much is he looking for?  Given his steady production and age it’s not unrealistic to think he’s looking for something similar to what Howie Kendrick got with the Dodgers (two years and $20 million). Freese is a third baseman versus a second baseman, but he also does not have a draft pick attached to him like Kendrick had, due to not receiving a qualifying offer from the Angels (to some’s surprise). Freese is likely more expensive than Uribe in both dollars and years, but he’s the more everyday guy and is younger.

Next: Could Desmond Be a Fit?