For better or for worse, the Phillies will gamble on Juan Pierre
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For better or for worse, the Phillies will gamble on Juan Pierre
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
I hope Juan Pierre proves me wrong, because it is really hard not to like the guy. You know a player loves the game when he shrugs his shoulder at the $55 million he has already banked in his career and signs a minor league contract at the age of 34 just so he can keep on competing. Pierre takes baseball seriously, and you can see why Charlie Manuel has such an affinity for him. Plus, he wears his socks high.
At the same time, it is fair to wonder how many one-dimensional clubhouse leader types the Phillies need on their bench at any one time. If this was last year, I would understand the desire to carry Pierre on the roster. His skill set is one that has been missing from the bench ever since I started covering this beat: a guy who can lay down a bunt, a guy who can steal a base, a guy who does not strike out.
This year, though, the move feels like an extra layer of sun tan lotion while sitting on the deck of the Titanic. That is hyperbole, obviously. Regardless of the many holes that have devleoped over the last six months, the Phillies will still enter the season as the favorite to win the National League East. Still, you have to acknowledge that they are sitting in a precarious position. And while they may have had the luxury of augmenting their roster with specialists the last few seasons, right now they are in no position to be turning away a player who has the potential to make a meaningful impact on the top half of the batting order. You've been reading this blog enough this spring to know the player I'm referring to is Scott Podsednik.
Look, maybe Podsednik wouldn't have made a difference. But he at least looked like he might have the potential. We're talking about a guy who just two seasons ago hit .297/.342/.382 while stealing 35-of-50 bases. To put that in perspective, Jimmy Rollins has never hit .297 in a season, and only three times has he posted an OBP of at least .342, and he hasn't stolen 35 bases since 2008.
In 2009, Pierre hit .308/.365/.392, which is the type of line Manuel likely had in mind when he labeled Pierre a high OBP guy earlier this week. But Pierre hasn't hit better than .279 or posted an OBP better than .341 in the two seasons since. Forget about the Grapefruit League numbers. Podsednik was clearly the better base-stealer and the better base-runner and if his bat speed was not significantly better than Pierre's, well then I'll never be able to accurately scout a baseball player. Forget about the fact that Podsednik is two years older, or the fact that he was sidelined for most of last season with a foot injury. He looked faster, stronger, and more fluid than Pierre. He seems to bring you everything that Pierre does, except with the ability to drive the ball to the gaps, something the Phillies will need with Chase Utley on the sidelines.
Maybe the Phillies still have Podsednik in their plans. Maybe they want to call him up at some point before June 1. But even if that is the case, I don't know that they are a team who has done enough to be able to afford to wait.
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i do assume they have Pods in reserve especially since he was able to move down unless he retires. you were aware of that scenario i assume
— righty- The Hillbilly likes Pierre. From day 1 he was going to be the choice.— Johnnyboyl
- I agree completely with Murph. Pierre's ability was gone 2-years ago. Now, he's playing off his reputation and has Charlie fooled into thinking it can be resurrected. We have enough problems. Cut him loose.— 1republican
- I'm not sure Podsednik accepts a reassignment. A rehab year in the minors is one thing, but going down when you have big league skills to cover for the hillbilly and Amaro's idiotic signing of Nix is another. Carrying both Pierre and Podsednik makes far more sense than carrying both Thome and Nix. The outfielders have both had recent MLB success and are both proven champions. Nix hasn't done anything in the majors beyond having a good game against the Phillies last summer.— jtj06
- I believe he has to accept it through June 1 the way his contract is structured. Either that or retire or lobby the Phillies to let him out of the contract. I think this move was 90% about the contracts of Pierre and Podsednik.
I may be wrong about him being bound to the June 1st date. Murphy may know for sure.— s - Given his contract situation, he still didn't sound like he was sure if he would accept the demotion. If he refused it, the Phillies would either force him to retire out of spite or release him out of courtesy. Since Ibanez let the Phillies put a lucrative arbitration offer on him out of courtesy, I'd be surprised if the reality of the situation is that the Phillies would force a 36 year old established big leaguer down to the minor leagues if he didn't want to go. — jtj06
- I'm on the fence. Since keeping Pierre gives them an extra two months to hang on to both Pierre and Podsednik I lean toward agreeing with the move. But if Pierre stinks it up, this experiment has to end sooner rather than later.
Nice point about the socks. I'm an old school, high socks sort of guy. Thome, Pence, Pierre ... they all do it old school. Blanton too.— s - They should keep Podsednik and dump Laynce Nix, who has done nothing this Spring.— SteveS11
- Nix is another contract situation. The Phillies will pay him 2.5m between this year and next whether he plays or not. So there's no way they let him go unless he stinks it up for a nice long stretch. The Nix signing was probably the one I agreed with the least this offseason. It looks even worse on a bench filled with LH hitters. — s
- Nix has stunk it up his entire career. That wasn't a long enough stretch to keep Amaro from giving him a two year contract. — jtj06
- Pierre not only knows how to steal a base, but he also knows how to get thrown out a lot!— TeamAwesome
- Podsenik hinted that he was not going to accept a AAA assignment.— EL Zorro
- 178 base hits just 6 months ago. 26 more than any Philie player. I really don't care if they were 178 singles. Enough said.......except that I would keep Pods too and dump Nix, but Charlie gotta have Matt Stairs "part dieux" for late in the game......or wait, is Jim Thome "part dieux, too"? I can't remember, but we're gonna scare thos 8th inning setup guys to death, the closers, too!— Mark1npt
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Yeah how dare Charlie keep Pierre over Murphy's latest good ole boy man crush. All those gotta keep Posednik articles for nothing huh?— JLH - Hopefully Pierre contributes, but if not at least they still have Podsednik. With no options left Pierre would have been released, and they obviously didn't want to see him get picked up somewhere else and contribute.
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