Good news for Furcal! Bad for Pierre?

[Sp_Da_Man]

Off rotoworld.com this morning:

Despite the offseason acquisition of Juan Pierre, manager Grady Little said Thursday that Rafael Furcal will remain the Dodgers' leadoff man.

Pierre will bat second, so they'll both be trying to get on base in front of Nomar Garciaparra and Jeff Kent. Expect plenty of bunts from Pierre, but there should be plenty of stolen base opportunities regardless of alignment.

Source: MLB.com

[ironman]

This makes sense. Furcal has a better OBP than Pierre.

[Philliebuster]

Not the greatest news, but not overly concerned. This is not a Figgins-like drop in the order, but i'd prefer he bat leadoff. Maybe he'll get a couple more rbi-opportunities if Furcal can get himself into scoring position.

[BuckeyeSal]

Are 120 runs and 40 steals reasonable for Furcal this year? I'd probably take that if he really is the 6-7th SS taken.

[Fade2White12]

I'd say that's entirely possible. I think the run totals may be slightly high with Pierre batting behind, but SB numbers should soar batting leadoff.

[hooligan1]

They actually have almost the exact same OBP: Furcal has a .351 career and Pierre has a .350 career, so no advantage there.

I would actually prefer Furcal batting second, as he has MUCH better power than Pierre, and as such would be more likely to drive in the lead-off man than Pierre will be.

[Niffoc4]

They actually have almost the exact same OBP: Furcal has a .351 career and Pierre has a .350 career, so no advantage there.

I would actually prefer Furcal batting second, as he has MUCH better power than Pierre, and as such would be more likely to drive in the lead-off man than Pierre will be.

This is what I was thinking as well. I think Furcal hitting leadoff (instead of 2nd) will decrease his RBIs, but not effect his runs that much.

[RynMan]

I would actually prefer Furcal batting second, as he has MUCH better power than Pierre, and as such would be more likely to drive in the lead-off man than Pierre will be.

Yep, good point.

[duckbillgates]

Hmm, I may have to take Furcal first in my keeper league (after six keepers).

His owner is keeping Hanley Ramirez, and there's a dropoff to the Guillen-type tier after him.

Thanks for the news.

[Pogotheostrich]

They actually have almost the exact same OBP: Furcal has a .351 career and Pierre has a .350 career, so no advantage there.

I would actually prefer Furcal batting second, as he has MUCH better power than Pierre, and as such would be more likely to drive in the lead-off man than Pierre will be.

Makes a lot more sense to me.