What It Means:

Cleveland is also displaying some amount of interest in free agent hot corner man Juan Uribe. Freese has struggled to build a market for himself this offseason even though his free agency is not tied to draft pick compensation. Giovanny Urshela is currently projected to open the 2016 season as the Indians' starter at third base. While he is very good defensively, his bat is still in the developmental stages.

The 32-year-old Freese posted a decent .743 OPS with 14 home runs and 56 RBI in 470 plate appearances last year for the Los Angeles Angels. His 0.3 Ultimate Zone Rating at third base indicates he was about league average defensively. Uribe had a similar batting line, with a .737 OPS, 14 home runs and 43 RBI in 397 plate appearances. Among third basemen with at least 300 plate appearances, Freese ranked 17th in Wins Above Replacement; Uribe was 22nd in this metric.