is Willy Taveras better than Juan Pierre?

[benjapage]

i just watched taveras' rbi triple, and the guy is just stoopid-fast. we proceeded to score on a shallow sac-fly. the kid is good. maybe not pierre-good (if only because of the unproven factor), but he'll get there. so sayeth ben's gut.

b

[jkpigskin]

so far taveras has the better numbers...

well some guy named e. alfonzo has better #'s than pujols... as do a whole lot of players right now.... its real early.. but taveras is not in the same class as pierre.. though taveras is a young guy... he may be better lets say 10 yrs down the line... but for now and the near future it is most definaltly pierre

[SoxWillNeverWinAgain]

Well we know Taveres is one of the fastest men in the league. Reason alone for him to not be on the waiver wire... Is he better than Pierre? no. Can he put up some interesting numbers? I think so.

[ja515y]

If they move Willy up in that lineup, his value goes signifigantly higher. He's getting on base, and stealing bases. I don't think that's attributed to being hot. He's got the speed, and that's a pretty big key to stealing bases. I'm not saying he's gonna get you Pierre numbers, but definately worth a good look in any league.

[IVIisfits138]

Pierre's OBP for the type of hitter he is, is insane.

[saxeT1979]

There are several of you laughing at the idea that Tavares could even be in the same realm as Pierre. For you, I say just watch. Tavares is legit and he's not going any where. If anything, he's going to be moved up to leadoff. He's already out producing Pierre from 8th...I can't wait to see what he can do from leadoff.

Laugh all you want, I'll take Willy all season long and we'll see who is laughing at the end of the season.

[slomo007]

There are several of you laughing at the idea that Tavares could even be in the same realm as Pierre. For you, I say just watch. Tavares is legit and he's not going any where. If anything, he's going to be moved up to leadoff. He's already out producing Pierre from 8th...I can't wait to see what he can do from leadoff.

Laugh all you want, I'll take Willy all season long and we'll see who is laughing at the end of the season.

While it doesn't sound quite as crazy now as it did when this post was created on April 9th....I still don't think he'll be very close to Pierre. Pierre has the ability to hit .320 over 700 ABs in the leadoff spot. Taveras might steal the same amount or maybe even more than Pierre, but they'll hit for similar power and Pierre should have a higher BA. The runs should also be in Pierre's favor too, given that he is in a better lineup and at least at the moment Taveras isn't leading off.

Also, if Taveras slumps he is capable of losing PT, while Pierre isn't.

[LetsPlay2]

I'll just say that I feel better about having a $6 Taveras than my buddy's $30 Pierre in my NL-only keeper league. Granted, he never played above AA ball til this year (I'm not counting the 1 official AB with the Astros last year), but those AA & A #s are pretty damn impressive.

2002 (A) .385 OBP with 54 SBs in 313 official ABs
2003 (A) .381 OBP with 57 SBs in 397 official ABs
2004 (AA) .402 OBP with 55 SBs in 409 official ABs

Plus he has a good glove and was born on Christmas. All things equal I'd much rather have Pierre for this year though.

Hopefully Everett's tweaked hamstring keeps him out long enough for Taveras to get a crack at batting leadoff.

[saxeT1979]

[quote="slomo007"][quote="saxeT1979"]There are several of you laughing at the idea that Tavares could even be in the same realm as Pierre. For you, I say just watch. Tavares is legit and he's not going any where. If anything, he's going to be moved up to leadoff. He's already out producing Pierre from 8th...I can't wait to see what he can do from leadoff.

Laugh all you want, I'll take Willy all season long and we'll see who is laughing at the end of the season.[/quote]

While it doesn't sound quite as crazy now as it did when this post was created on April 9th....I still don't think he'll be very close to Pierre. Pierre has the ability to hit .320 over 700 ABs in the leadoff spot. Taveras might steal the same amount or maybe even more than Pierre, but they'll hit for similar power and Pierre should have a higher BA. The runs should also be in Pierre's favor too, given that he is in a better lineup and at least at the moment Taveras isn't leading off.

Also, if Taveras slumps he is capable of losing PT, while Pierre isn't.[/quote]

I agree with your points about Rs and AVG. PT is a stretch mainly because of lack of other options. I'm guessing it would either be Berkman or Biggio in CF on days when Tavares is off. As an Astro fan, that scares me. There's just too much space out there to cover at Minute Maid for Berkman or Biggio. Plus Biggio's arm is a pea shooter. I never want to see him in the OF again.

Bottomline, Tavares is making his way into the same realm as a Pierre or Crawford. He may not quite be as good or better than either but as a FA pickup he's AWESOME! He's got the potential to lead a fantasy team to the top!

[swingaway]

All i got to say is hes good and ive been promoting him all winter and spring long before he even cracked the lineup
This makes 2 years i found deep sleepers last year chase utley and westbrook i got laughed at and this year its willy.