Friday, March 14, 2008

Speed vs. Power

Speed. Juan Pierre has it. Rafael Furcal has it. Russell Martin's got some. And...that's about it. To be effective, the thinking goes, speedy table setter-type players need productive players around them in the lineup.

Power. The Dodgers haven't had much of it. The team hasn't seen anyone hit at least 30 homers since 2004. Andruw Jones hit 26 homers last year—tying a full-season career low. Jeff Kent's HR totals are trending downward.

Last year, Andre Ethier hit 13 HR in 447 ABs, making 15-20 HR over an entire season entirely reasonable. Will Pierre's speed create at least 15-20 additional runs? An absurdly reductionist calculation, to be sure, but also another consideration in the Dodgers' LF dilemma.

2 comments:

Dusto_Magnifico said...

Kemp has speed too. We're loaded with speed without Pierre. Who needs him!

Alex Cora said...

Free Andre Ethier?