Dodgers raid rival Giants, agree to terms with Juan Uribe

Barely one month removed from hitting one of the biggest home runs in San Francisco Giants history, Juan Uribe is set to leave the World Series champions and join their arch rivals.



Uribe has agreed to a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to ESPN, leaving a void in the Giants infield and ensuring that the band of brothers manager Bruce Bochy dubbed "castoffs and misfits" will have a decidedly different look in 2011.

Uribe in many ways exemplified the 2010 Giants in that his statistics were by some measures pedestrian -- a .248 batting average, a .310 on-base percentage -- but his sense of timing was impeccable. His 24 homers and 85 RBI provided offensive punch during a season in which third baseman Pablo Sandoval and shortstop Edgar Renteria were ineffective, injured or both.

Uribe's value grew in the playoffs. In Game 4 of the NL Championship Series, his sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Giants a 6-5 win and a commanding 3-1 series lead. After the Phillies sent the NLCS back to Philadelphia with a Game 5 win, Uribe ensured it would go no further. His solo homer in the top of the eighth inning of Game 6 gave the Giants a 3-2 lead and they held on for their first pennant since 1989.