Pierre Today, Gone Tomorrow

In what seems to be one of the most anticipated announcements coming out of Spring Training, Dodger skipper Joe Torre officially announced that Andre Ethier will start in left field, leaving Juan Pierre without a job.

Courtesy of Rotowire.com:

Ethier has won the Dodgers' starting left field job over Juan Pierre, the LA Daily News reports.
Spin: Ethier clearly had the better spring and is a better hitter than Pierre. Just because he won the battle now, don't assume that he's completely out of the woods here. A slow start might force manager Joe Torre to play Pierre more often.

The slow start would mean Ethier would have to bat worse than .173, Pierre's contribution to the Dodgers' offense this spring. We're willing to bet that Ethier could bat .150 with a blindfold on. It's going to take a lot on Pierre's end to regain his starting role.

Torre has faced a similar situation involving young outfielders replacing veterans (Google search Melky/Damon). He was able to gracefully handle the situation, partially because Damon could still hit water if he fell out of a boat.

Pierre's throwing arm is suspect too. Initially we thought he was using his left arm to toy with base-runners. Apparently, he's not kidding when he throws the ball.

Pierre's future may lie with actions of Dodger GM, Ned Colletti. There are a handful of teams that could use a speedy leadoff hitter like Pierre, that's assuming that Pierre fulfills his end of the bargain by approaching at least the Mendoza line.