Andruw Jones Part Two

Ok. We've all had some time to think now. Sooooo?? What's everybody thinking? Here's what EJ says: "Great pick up. No reason to be nervous, Jones played with an injured elbow last season but according to many including SI is already healed completely and projected to return to form next year. That injury allowed us to get him for only 2 years so besides the high yearly price this is all positive for the Dodgers." I've had time to think, and I don't know guys, I agree. I think it's an absolutely marvelous pick up. The more time I have to sit and actually think about it, the more incredible it gets. I got a call at like one in the morning the night the Jones signing was announced from my best Dodger Buddy Brett. He was freakin' out. He was yelling at me, screaming like a madman, all pissed off. He didn't get it. He didn't understand why we would go ahead and sign Andruw Jones to this insane contract when we just signed Pierre last year, and we have two absolute booming studs in Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. He was furious. My buddy, Dillon, he doesn't get it. He hates the deal. He doesn't think Andruw Jones is that good. He thinks he's past his prime, and he doesn't want to see us trade either of our young superstars. I didn't really get it at first either. But I'm smarter than these Jokers? Here's the deal, my initial (positive) reaction was, Ok. Good. Now we have a bat in the middle of our lineup that people are legitimately scared of. I thought, ok, so even if Andruw Jones hits .222 again, people still have no interest in throwing to him. I know I wouldn't. I thought it would be alright, because I knew that there was no way we could go into this season the way we went into last season. I knew, and still know, that we absolutely 100% needed a bat in the middle of our lineup, because no one is scared of Jeff Kent and Nomar anymore. That's what I thought Andruw Jones would be good for. The more time I get, the more incredible I start to realize that this deal actually is. People are starting to say that he was injured all last year. Say what you want, go ahead Angel fans, but if he really is past his prime, then where was that tail off? Yes, last year he did hit .222, and he did only have 26 Home Runs (Only?). Say what you need to say. That being said, the year before, he hit 41 Jacks with a .531 SLG to go along with a career high 129 RBIs. A Career High!!! The year before that he had a career high 51 Jacks to go with his 128 RBIs. Those are two absolute career years right before this one off year that he just so happened to have in a contract season, which is weird? Or is it? Maybe he was actually playing very hurt, and he still managed to get in 154 games, o, and get 94 RBIs, which would have easily been tops for the Dodgers. I'm loving this deal right now, and the best part about it is that we managed to find a way to only sign him for two years. Yea, it's super expensive, but that's fine, we can afford it. He's here for two years, and when he's done he'll be 32 or 33 years old, and looking for a 5-7 year deal to wind down his career in style. We're not gonna do that? We have him here for the next two years, so he can work his butt off, thrive under Joe Torre, and prove to the Baseball World that Andruw Jones can still play a little baseball. He's gonna work hard, and he's gonna be great. Not to mention he's the greatest defensive Center Fielder of this decade (making Griffey the 90's), and a tremendous upgrade for us. Juan Pierre cannot play Center Field in Dodger Stadium, and although Matt Kemp has the tools, and trust me he does, he's a little bit too raw, and little bit too eager to be thrown into Center this early. As long as he's on the roster when Opening Day hits, he can continue to grow as a Right Fielder, and focus a lot more of his attention on hitting, which truthfully is what we need him doing most. Here comes the tricky part. There's still four of them. Back to EJ: "Only problem is Pierre. Colletti must realize that Pierre is a sunk cost and dump Pierre, or else we won't feel the full impact of adding Jones. Can you imagine an outfield of Ethier, Jones, and Kemp? Or how bout Delwyn Young, Jones, and Kemp? We would kill the NL West. With better options, Pierre should not be starting. Period. Especially at LF." Another Reader, Bullet Bill: "Play Pierre in Left and bat him lead off. Drop Furcal in the batting order. Trade Ethier for a middle reliever or sit him as PH or back up to Kemp. Play Kemp full time." Lastly, Joe's response: "Play Pierre at LF and bat him lead off? I don't think so. I still believe an outfield of Ethier, Kemp and Jones will be a very potent outfield. Juan Pierre should be the best paid bench player. Its just how it is unless they buy his contract off and he can go play elsewhere. I don't care what they do just don't trade Ethier or Kemp. These are talented young players and we need them. What's going to happen in two years when Jones' contract expires and he seeks a 5-7 year deal? We're left without Jones and without Kemp or Ethier? No way!!! Keep these kids? they are the future!" This is a huge problem. Absolutely. The further away we get from the Jones signing, the more people are talking, and the more people are saying that we can possibly find a way to dump Juan Pierre. Ok. Fine. Who would want him? Can we find a way to make this happen? I would give absolutely anything to find a way to keep both Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp not only with the Dodgers, but also in starting roles. I think they would grow and continue to flourish together, and I think it would be incredible for the clubhouse chemistry if these guys were handed starting jobs at the same time instead of having to compete for playing time and grow to hate each other. I think they can be best friends, they're both really cool? I want them as friends. That being said, last year Juan Pierre had almost 100 more At-Bats than any other Dodger. He played in 162 games, he's Mr. Durability, and he led the team with 196 Hits. Russ was second with 158. He had 64 Stolen Bases, Furcal was second with 25. I know he hit .293 with a .331 OBP and that pisses everyone off. Just relax. Everyone is so quick to hate Juan Pierre that they don't really understand how good he actually was for us. If he can find a way to get on base over 220 times again, and get 64 extra bags, how many Runs is he going to score with Andruw Jones hitting behind him? 6,000? I don't want to trade Andre Ethier or Matt Kemp either, but Juan Pierre could be great in front of Andruw Jones. And what if Furcal is finally healthy in his contract year? Those two "rabbits" as Vin calls them could be out of control. I mean, I don't know what to think, I'm not making the decisions in the front office, but I do know this: We have four very good outfielders under contract for 2008, and that includes Juan Pierre. We only have three above average pitchers, that doesn't include Esteban Loaiza, or Jason Schmidt. Why should it? We just lost Randy Wolf, and I have no idea what the deal is going to be with Schmidt. We need a Starting Pitcher. Bad. If we have to trade somebody, so be it. It sounds like most people would like it to Juan Pierre, and I probably would say that too if I had to choose somebody. But if we do end up trading Ethier, or God Forbid Matt Kemp, just remember how effective Juan Pierre could potentially be with a heavy-hitting Jones behind him. Anyway, that was all on second thought. I'm sure once I publish this some other crazy stuff will go down. Here's a link my mom sent me, it's called 20 Questions. If you click on the Sports one, you can think of any player ever, or anything related to Sports, and it asks you questions to try and figure out who you're thinking about. I chose Mark Lemke and it found a way to get the right answer. Mark Lemke. Puh-retty cool. Enjoy?