It may be a little early to talk about the next baseball season, but the Dodgers did something today so inexplicable that I could not restratin myself. Last year Ned Colletti, the Dodger General Manager, came in late, put together a good team and got into the playoffs. The team has arguably one of the best minor league systems in baseball right now loaded with prospects at every position. A lot of young players got a lot of playing time and should be all the more ready for 2007.
Last week the Dodgers, feeling the need to have some verteran presence after J. D. Drew jumped ship opting out the last three years (at $11 million per year) of his contract to test free agency (see Benji Molina ca. 2006 for how I expect this will work out for him), signed Nomar Garciaparra for a couple of years. That's an OK signing, although I'm not sure where he plays or if he can get through a season without a significant injury. He's a good guy, a crowd favorite and had lots of big hits last year.
But now, comes word that someone impersonating Ned Colletti, signed Juan Pierre to a five year $44 million deal. Pierre, a younger, but less talented version of Kenny Lofton will play center field, where only his speed brings him up to a C- defensive player. He does hit, mostly singles, and does steal bases. But, he almost never walks, has only 2 fewer strikeouts than walks on average, has absolutely no power and does not have an On Base Percentage that is anything to write home about. Essentially, as one analyst noted, he is a pinch hiter, pinch runner, role or bench player. He is 29, so it's not like he is going to suddenly become something he has never been. A good patient lead off hitter or a good number two hitter. He's an 7 or 8 guy in any lineup.
The Dodger problems last year was little power and sporatic starting pitching (which caused a really under-rated bullpen to be overworked). The money wasted on Pierre could have gone towards one of the good starting pitchers available and let Matt Kemp play center all year. Kemp has a great arm, runs very well for a man his size and will hit like crazy. If James Loney isn't the everyday first baseman then there is really something wrong with the Dodger's thinking. Even Jason Repko playing center everyday is a better option than Pierre.
For the Dodgers an outfield of Either, Repko and Kemp I think looks very good. Why teams are afraid to go with young players, and in the Dodgers case, very talented young players, continues to amaze me.
For some reason the Dodgers, with only a couple of exceptions, do not have a good history in free agent signings and this one may go down as one of the worst in their history.
Posted by Narnia3 at November 22, 2006 5:00 PM | TrackBack