Tim Brown: Apparently, we don't like Juan Pierre anymore

[realmofotalk]

Wait and see

By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports
June 15, 2007

LOS ANGELES &ndash Every afternoon it is was as new as it was going to be, this baseball thing, life in L.A., in Dodger Stadium, surrounded by people who believed he's not very good at this.

And every night it was as good as it was going to be, baseball in L.A. at Dodger Stadium, surrounded by people now sure he's not very good at this.

Juan Pierre is not a good leadoff hitter, capable center fielder or wise investment. He's not a winner.

That is what they are sure of.

Yet every team he has played for has made him the leadoff hitter, the center fielder, and paid him plenty of money to do it. When he led off and played center field for the 2003 Florida Marlins, they won a World Series and he was 10th in the MVP vote. That was then.

And when I told a scout I still wanted to like Juan Pierre the player, he told me, "Don't."

When I told him I couldn't dismiss a player who worked longer, cared more, played harder than all but a handful of others in the league, he said, "Seriously, don't."

So, that's it.

Apparently, we don't like Juan Pierre anymore. He doesn't hit for power and he doesn't get on base. He takes odd routes in the outfield and, when he and the Dodgers are lucky, covers the mistakes with speed. He throws poorly. He does steal bases and he does hit singles.

And, for that, he'll be paid $44 million through 2011.

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[realmofotalk]

For all the bashing toward Pierre nowadays, you'd think he was the dark-skinned Rich Aurilia. He may not be a good player for what he is being paid, but I don't doubt that he's not all about the salary. Heck, even Darren Dreifort badly wanted to prove he was worth the money that he got.