According to the Los Angeles Times, with Manny Ramirez's impending return to the Los Angeles Dodgers after his 50 game suspension is completed, the Dodgers will once again have to make a decision about how to resolve their logjam in the outfield. With Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier poised to start next to Ramirez (according to Torre), Juan Pierre will once again become an extremely valuable, though expensive, bench player.
Will this role suit Pierre? He doesn't really have a choice, but Pierre has never been considered a troublemaker in the club house. Ned Colletti gave him a strong vote of confidence today, saying "For everybody that said we should have traded Juan Pierre last winter or at the start of the season, where would we be without Juan Pierre now?
"I'd rather have more good players than positions. When competition comes into play, that's a positive. I don't see very much wrong with that." As the trade deadline nears and team's start examining ways to improve their respective squads, players that were once secure with their team become suddenly available. Pierre is a good player and in normal financial markets would be an obvious trade candidate, but with a larger contract his value is decreased and may not be worth the trouble for the Dodgers to try and realize fair value or a prudent risk fringe playoff teams.