Juan Pierre Benched | Dodger Daydreams

The Dodgers have officially benched Juan Pierre for Opening Day 2008. Andre Ethier has won the starting-job in left-field for 2008. In addition, the Dodgers' General Manager hinted earlier that the Dodgers may be making a notable trade tomorrow.

Juan Pierre recorded a pitiful .188 batting average during Spring Training 2008. In 85 at-bats, the outfielder hit for twenty total-bases and only five RBIs. Although Pierre has sensational baserunning abilities, the Dodgers need somebody that can truly contribute offensively to their team.

The Dodgers look to Andre Ethier as their offensive savior. During Spring Training 2008, Ethier hit for a team-high .377 batting-average. The slugger also whacked six homeruns and knocked in sixteen runs during the Pre-Season. He essentially earned himself the starting-job in Left-Field for 2008.

This roster move will hurt the Dodgers' speed on the bases, but will improve their power at the plate. It is more important to have a power-hitter at the plate, than a speed demon that has trouble getting on-base. I hope that Los Angeles will not regret this decision.

Opening Day is tomorrow, March 31st 2008. Best of luck to a successful season!

I may be unable to blog as consistently as I normally do at FanNation. Tomorrow, I am going to launch another Dodgers' blog on the MLB Blog Network. However, I will continue to contribute to Dodger Daydreams and hopefully keep both of my blogs active with exclusive content.

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March 30, 2008 09:59 PM ET

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good blog as usual. I agree that pierre has speed, but that's it. Speed is only effective if you get on base, and Pierre doesn't get many walks and if he can't hit his way on, he becomes an automatic out. I always tought that Ethier should be the starter.