Juan Pierre rumblings

A couple of different Juan Pierre updates today, both courtesy of Yahoo rumors. First is from an article by Bill Plaschke of the LA Times where he discusses Andruw Jones' signing in comparison to Pierre's signing of last year. To sum it up, Jones' contract is 2 years, $36.2 million and Pierre's is 4 years, $45 million. Although Pierre did score 96 runs and steal 64 bases, his debut with the Dodgers was seen as a disappointment thanks to a measly .331 OBP, a mere 33 walks, and a very weak arm in center (an obviously important position). With Jones in the fold now, Plaschke states that Dodger fans and owner Frank McCourt will now have more trust in GM Ned Colletti.

I can understand his point on this, and believe that he was right. Pierre was overpaid, though Colletti maintains that his hands were tied since his remaining outfielders at the time had little to no Major League experience, and Pierre needed to be wooed. The other point to the article was that the surplus of starting OF's (Kemp, Either, Jones, and Pierre) can now be picked apart and moved for a quality starter (Bedard? Haren?). Obviously Jones won't be moved, but the other 3 could be.

Another rumor comes from the Chicago Sun-Times where the White Sox could go after Pierre to pair with newly acquired Orlando Cabrera at the top of the order. Scott Podsednik was supposed to be the man for the Sox this past year, but he failed miserably (62 games, .299 OBP, 30 runs, 13 walks, 12 SB). Hard to imagine that in 2005 he was an All-Star. Would the Dodgers want Joe Crede in return to create competition at 3rd base with LaRoche and Garciaparra? Crede went out for the season in June with a lower back injury, so his numbers are very small (47 games, 4 HR, 22 RBI). From 2003-2006, he averaged 23 HR and 75 RBI, which are pretty good numbers. Assuming he's healthy after a major surgery last year, it could be a trade very much worth considering.