Joe Torre is still wearing a 6 on his jersey. Chances are he’s still walking around in Florida with a finger jammed up his nose, thinking of ways to destroy Scott Proctor’s arm. This isn’t terribly different from years gone by, except he’s wearing Dodger Blue instead of pinstripes, and in Vero Beach instead of Tampa. Same Joe, new clothes, new scenery.
I gather that something else about Joe Torre will be very much the same in his new environment: his fetish for experience. He has indicated that Nomar and Juan Pierre will get their chances, which is fine, really — it’s not fair to eliminate a guy completely before the position players even report, even if that guy is a noodle-armed outfielder with no power or a creaky old injury-prone ex-shortstop — but I suspect that something drastic would need to take place before Torre started the kids on Opening Day over these two.
That, as we know, is probably a bad thing.
It’s difficult to begrudge Pierre his contract. Ned did not have to give him that contract. And Pierre in 2007 was the same as Pierre every year: a .300 hitter who steals a lot of bases, doesn’t walk much, hits with no power whatsoever, and is a liability in the outfield. If the fans expect anything different because of the number of zeroes on Pierre’s salary, then they’re nuts, and so is Ned. The Dodgers don’t need that. What the Dodgers desperately lack is power: in 2007, they hit the second-fewest home runs in the league despite their ballpark, which is a good HR park. Andruw Jones could help, but now we have too many outfielders, and Pierre has a no-trade clause (which he seems to be open to waiving if he thinks it’s best for him). So basically, we are stuck. The fact that he’s “a gamer” isn’t going to solve anything
And don’t get me started on Nomar. I remember when he was absolutely brilliant. Then he got hurt and his production fell off a cliff, and there was that whole debacle with the Alex Rodriguez trade and hurting Nomar’s feelings, and Boston ended up shipping Nomar to Chicago. He came to Los Angeles in 2006 and had a great year, good enough to earn him NL Comeback Player of the Year. Los Angeles gave him two more years and a bunch more money, and he responded by hitting seven home runs in 2007. His OPS+ was 78, his EqA was .241 — whatever numbers you choose as your measuring stick, his 2007 fell just a leeeetle short of expectations, methinks. He might improve, but if he does, I doubt he’ll be 2006 Nomar in 2008.
The alternatives are the kids: Andy LaRoche, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier. Either Kemp or Ethier will likely land a starting job in the outfield, but neither are guaranteed that spot, given Torre’s love for veterans. Kemp had a great 2007 with limited playing time, and Ethier wasn’t “great,” but his 2006 was a very good rookie campaign and he’s certainly a better left-field option than Juan Pierre and his noodle bat. (Remember, folks: that 88 OPS+ will be your new left fielder if the kids don’t step up. That is not left-field production.) LaRoche had very limited playing time in 2007 and didn’t do much with it, but you’re free to look at his minor league stats yourself and see that he has a lot of promise. As far as I know, anyone and his mother could hit in the PCL, but Dodger Stadium isn’t exactly an unkind hitting environment, either.
Most of us would probably prefer the Loney-Kent-Furcal-LaRoche infield and the Ethier-Jones-Kemp outfield over any lineup involving Pierre and Nomar. We’re not managing the team, obviously, but I for one wish Torre would do the same, at least keeping in mind that he has Pierre and Nomar waiting in reserve if he needs them.
One thing is for sure: Russell Martin. Thank your deity of choice for Russell Martin. I won’t get into my usual gripe about the way Little handled Martin’s playing time in 2007 despite having a capable backup in Mike Lieberthal and my fear that Martin will be a DH before he’s 28 if he’s not careful. Suffice it to say that I expect Torre, an ex-catcher, to deal with Martin properly. He kept Jorge Posada from falling apart in New York, and Posada’s going to be 37 this year, so that’s promising. Torre has no other choice. He has to start the 25-year-old catcher whether he likes it or not, because that 25-year-old catcher was an All-Star last year and one of the organization’s prized players. Take that, Joe!
We’ll have to wait and see how things shake out. I could be jumping the gun, and so could Joe Torre. Spring training isn’t even in full swing yet, and all the fans are up in arms about experience over potential. The experience could work out, and if it doesn’t, Torre’s smart enough to see that. Hopefully, he’s also smart enough to act on what he sees.
ETA: Thank you, Joe. That’s a step in the right direction — take care of Russell.
Torre favors experience [Dodgers.com]
Juan Pierre tries to figure out his future [Los Angeles Times]
Andy LaRoche Statistics (Minor Leagues) [Baseball Reference]
Torre to rest catcher Martin [Dodgers.com]
