Third baseman Uribe has immediately embraced his role as a member of the Atlanta Braves. Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — Juan Uribe says he didn’t demand the Los Angeles Dodgers trade him. All he wanted was for the club to define his role.
However, the third baseman immediately embraced his role as a member of the Atlanta Braves. At least that was the message Uribe projected during a press conference Wednesday.
“I had some great times with the Dodgers,” Uribe said via a translator. “I thank God for the opportunity, and the chance I had with the Dodgers, and now the opportunity I’m going to get with the Braves.”
Uribe was part of a six-player deal between the Braves and Dodgers that became official earlier Wednesday. The Dodgers dealt him and injured right-hander Chris Withrow in exchange for infielder Alberto Callaspo, left-hander Ian Thomas, minor league right-hander Juan Jaime and left-hander Eric Stults.
Uribe became expendable from the Dodgers when Justin Turner emerged as the starter at third recently, with Alex Guerrero capable of serving as Turner’s backup.
Uribe, though, took the change in direction in stride.
“I don’t feel bad about the trade,” Uribe said. “I would have felt bad if they traded me to a soccer team, basketball team or football team. They traded me to another baseball team, so I’m happy.”
Uribe, whose last appearance in a Dodgers uniform occurred Monday night as a pinch hitter, lined up with his Los Angeles teammates for the national anthem before Tuesday’s game. However, he immediately disappeared down the dugout ramp after the anthem and wasn’t seen until after the game.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and Andrew Friedman, president of the club’s baseball operations, implied Uribe asked to be traded.
“Juan has always been a great teammate, one of those guys (who) is great in the clubhouse and that keeps guys laughing,” Mattingly said. “It’s always tough to lose a guy like that. Knowing that his playing time here had went down, and I also know just from the conversations with him that he wanted to play more. He expressed that interest in getting somewhere where he could play more.
“It’s kind of double-edged from the standpoint in the sense that it’s tough because you have the guy, but you want him to be happy. But you also want your team to be focused.”
Mattingly said the Dodgers made the right move.
“Again, if a guy’s not happy, and he hasn’t been happy for probably the last couple of weeks with his situation, then it’s never good,” Mattingly said. “You want the pieces to fit, and Juan was getting to be a tougher fit from the standpoint of the guys we have here.”
The 36-year-old Uribe, who was in his fifth season with the Dodgers and 15th in the majors, hit .247 with one home run and six RBIs in 81 at-bats for Los Angeles this year. Uribe previously played for the Colorado Rockies, the Chicago White Sox and the San Francisco Giants, earning World Series rings with the latter two.
