November 22, 2006
Dodgers Make the Juan Move
The Los Angeles Dodgers completed the rumored deal for Juan Pierre:
Center fielder Juan Pierre and the Los Angeles Dodgers finalized a five-year contract worth about $45 million on Wednesday, giving the team additional speed at the top of the lineup.
All that speed really helps when you return to the bench after making an out.
"Juan's ability to hit combined with his speed make him a perfect catalyst for our lineup," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement. "His work ethic and character are second-to-none, and he knows what it takes to win. He's dedicated to the community and I truly believe the city of Los Angeles is going to love this player."
To once again pull out one of my favorite Bill James quotes:
I mean, I would never say that it was not important to have a team with a good attitude, but Christ, Sparky, there are millions of people in this country who have good attitudes, but there are only about 200 who can play a major-league brand of baseball, so which are you going to take?
Juan put together two very good years for Florida in 2003 and 2004. But since then, while hits remained high, his walks and OBA dropped. And that dropped him from a decent leadoff man to a poor one. He averaged 21 win shares in 2003-2004, 15 the last two seasons. He made over 500 outs in 2006. That made him responsible for over 18 games worth of outs. Is that what you really want at the top of the lineup? Even if he does have a good attitude?
Too much for a singles guy... at least Ichiro provides gold glove defense
Thank you so very much So. Cal. Why don't one of you sign Zito to a long term deal too.
Where will the power production come from this year for the Dodgers? J.D. Drew is all but gone, Kent is aging, Nomar is an injury risk everytime he steps onto the field. The team leader in homeruns were Nomar and Drew with 20. Furcal was next with 15. Drew was the RBI leader with 100 followed by Nomar's 93. The next closest you ask? Kent with 68! They better hope for lots of production out of youngsters like Loney, Martin and Ethier otherwise we could see some pretty angry dodger pitchers losing 1-0 games all season. Plus, they have a new leadoff hitter with an OBP of .326 in '05 and .330 in '06. People love to talk about his speed too, but the fact is, Pierre gets caught a lot on the basepaths. Could be a long year out there in Chavez Ravine if they don't start making more moves soon.
re: Juan Pierre; Maury Wills incarnated?
Given that Colletti thinks that Pierre is 'more moves', I'm pretty sure the long year in Chavez Ravine is already here.