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February 26, 2007
Dodgers: Momentary discord
A mini-controversy finally pierced what had been an uneventful spring for the Dodgers on Sunday, when center fielder Juan Pierre seemed completely taken aback by manager Grady Little's suggestion that he be more selective at the plate than he has been in the past now that he is going to be hitting second behind Rafael Furcal. Little's reasoning was that Pierre could improve his walk total and his less-than-stellar on-base percentage by seeing more pitches. But when told of Little's comments hours later, Pierre seemed confused, although he initially did SEEM to concede -- but only because he didn't want to cause controversy -- that such a conversation had taken place with Little. Anyway, while Little continues to talk up the value of having not one, but two leadoff-type hitters at the top of his lineup, the logic behind the signing of Pierre to a five-year, $44 million contract continues to seem fuzzy. Pierre was brought in to replace Kenny Lofton, a similar-if-much-older player. But Pierre is a career leadoff man, and the Dodgers already had Furcal, who was successful enough in the role last year to post a .369 on-base percentage -- not great, certainly, but far better than Pierre's career mark of .350, which is a big reason why Furcal is still the leadoff guy. Little says he won't ask Pierre to sacrifice (not much, anyway), but his ability to bunt for hits is something Little hopes Pierre will utilize frequently in the two hole.
Posted by Tony Jackson at February 26, 2007 05:05 AM