Manny Ramirez is coming back to the Dodgers, having completed his 50-game suspension, and there's no question that he'll be back in the starting lineup. However, Juan Pierre has been putting up outstanding numbers in his place, leading the team with a .322 batting average, and has 22 stolen bases. He's obviously not the power threat that Manny is, but he's having a hell of a year, offensively.

He's also making $10M this year, which is tied for 3rd on the team, and Ramirez is the only offensive player who makes more. So obviously the Dodgers would prefer not to see that money go to waste, especially when he's having such a good year.

So who should they sit? Manny's already out of the question, and the other outfielders are Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Kemp is arguably the best overall hitter on the team (besides Manny), with a .305 average, 10 HR and 41 RBI. He hits for power and average, and even has 19 stolen bases. Ethier is leading the team in HR and RBI, despite his mediocre .257 batting average.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, they are in the National League, and have no way to cram 4 players into 3 spots. Their only offensive weaknesses this year, however, have been at shortstop (Rafael Furcal) and catcher (Russell Martin). Unfortunately for them, those are also the positions that are the most difficult to just plug in an outfielder and hope he catches on. If they were having trouble with their production at 1B, it wouldn't be a problem to give Ethier a shot and see if he can do it on a regular basis.

So what should they do with Juan Pierre? Who should sit when Manny comes back? Should they make a trade and dump one of their younger, cheaper outfielders for someone like Victor Martinez, who could play either 1st or catcher? What would you do if you were Ned Colletti?


Sit Down Juan Pierre, Manny's Back [Fantasy Pros 911]
Los Angeles Dodgers Salaries [Cot's Baseball Contracts]
Los Angeles Dodgers 2009 Statistics [Baseball Reference]