Post by Fish Troll on Apr 13, 2008 19:20:20 GMT -5
Deja Blue: In November 2006, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti signed center fielder Juan Pierre to a five-year, $44 million deal. "I truly believe the city of Los Angeles is going to love this player," the GM said at the time. Just one year into the deal, though, Colletti realized that Pierre is an out machine at the plate with a noodle arm in the field.
So last winter the Dodgers took another stab at filling the center field position, shelling out $36.2 million in a two-year deal for Andruw Jones. Unfortunately, the early returns on Jones have been wholly discouraging as well.
Jones' increased girth startled observers in spring training, and his production in the young season has been similarly shocking. At the plate, Jones picked up right where he left off last season: in a huge slump. The five-time All-Star is batting .129 with a laughable .161 slugging percentage. In 34 plate appearances, Jones has struck out 10 times and left 19 runners on base. His play in the field is even more jarring. The 10-time Gold Glover may be error-free, but he has noticeably lost a step. On Monday night Jones misplayed an Eric Byrnes line drive so badly, I had to rewind the play five times to make sure it was really him.
Oh, did I mention that Pierre's hitting .167 and has yet to score a run this season?
Besides making a huge imprint on Los Angeles' payroll, these two signings have created a logjam in the outfield. Until the Dodgers hoodwink some team into taking Pierre, talented youngsters Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp face the possibility of erratic playing time. It'll be very interesting to see how Joe Torre handles this situation going forward.
So last winter the Dodgers took another stab at filling the center field position, shelling out $36.2 million in a two-year deal for Andruw Jones. Unfortunately, the early returns on Jones have been wholly discouraging as well.
Jones' increased girth startled observers in spring training, and his production in the young season has been similarly shocking. At the plate, Jones picked up right where he left off last season: in a huge slump. The five-time All-Star is batting .129 with a laughable .161 slugging percentage. In 34 plate appearances, Jones has struck out 10 times and left 19 runners on base. His play in the field is even more jarring. The 10-time Gold Glover may be error-free, but he has noticeably lost a step. On Monday night Jones misplayed an Eric Byrnes line drive so badly, I had to rewind the play five times to make sure it was really him.
Oh, did I mention that Pierre's hitting .167 and has yet to score a run this season?
Besides making a huge imprint on Los Angeles' payroll, these two signings have created a logjam in the outfield. Until the Dodgers hoodwink some team into taking Pierre, talented youngsters Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp face the possibility of erratic playing time. It'll be very interesting to see how Joe Torre handles this situation going forward.
