The Chicago White Sox obtained outfielder Juan Pierre and $10.5 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers in return for two players to be named later. Pierre, who was once with the crosstown Cubs hit .308 with 30 stolen bases, 57 runs and a .365 on-base percentage in 145 games with the Dodgers last year, but was expendable when Manny Ramirez returned from a 50 game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy.
The White Sox are reportedly sending two young pitchers to the Dodgers in return for the leadoff man they desperately needed with last year and 2005’s setup man Scott Podsednik asking for too many years (he’s older than Pierre). More important, the Sox get $7 million of Pierre’s salary in 2010 and $3.5 million in 2011 from the Dodgers in what’s left of Pierre’s $44 million, five-year contract. He is due $10 million next season and $8.5 million in 2011.
Pierre is reunited with Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. They were both on the 2003 Florida Marlins team that won the World Series; Guillen was the third base coach on that club.
My only problem is that I saw an analysis a few years ago when Pierre was either joining the Cubs or during his tenure that showed that Pierre is one of the worst leadoff men around and significantly overpaid. His OBP is sub-par; he doesn’t take many walks and he swings at bad pitches. And if the Dodgers are willing to pay for him to go away, what does that say about the 33-year-old outfielder?
On top of that, Pierre didn’t react well to the media pressure he received when he played on the North side. Of course, he won’t face that kind of media attention from the poor sister on the South Side, often an afterthought by the local and national sports media. But Sox fans won’t be kind if Pierre gets off to a slow start and doesn’t get on base.
I’m not sure about this move.