According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Cincinnati Reds are interested in Phillies left fielder Juan Pierre, "as the Phillies prepare for possible sell-off".
Some felt Juan Pierre was a fit for the Reds this offseason, including Tyler Grote of the Reds blog "Blog Red Machine":
For as many fastball-annihilators the Reds already employ, I was shocked to see that they added another one. Ludwick bats an astounding .288 v. fastballs (.293 when thrown by a right-hander). But against the curve? .162. Against the change-up? .190. To me, this guy just fits the mold of a powerful, home run hitting OF that struggles to facilitate rallies with base hits and by moving runners. That’s why I was hoping for Juan Pierre.
Juan Pierre would have been a perfect fit for the 2012 Reds. OF veteran who hit .279 last year. Consider Pierre’s numbers for the past three years compared to Ludwick’s. In three years, Pierre has batted .284 and has maintained an OBP of .342. This lefty has batted .317 v left-handed pitchers since 2009. By the way, in that same span, he’s batted .400 at Great American Ballpark.
Talk about a possible lead-off guy. Juan Pierre, since 2009, is batting .282. This guy is a hitting freak; he boasts a career BA of .296 and has never hit lower than .275 in any season– and he’s been around since people were signing into AOL with a 56k modem.
The one the Reds did sign is Ryan Ludwick, who is hitting just .237 this season.
Another Reds blogger, Greg Mancuso of Redleg Nation would prefer that the Reds trade for Shane Victorino instead:
Trading for Juan Pierre would be a disaster. Shane Victorino, however, could provide solid upside for the Reds. Here is the case against Pierre, both in comparison to Victorino and vs. what the Reds have now.
Juan Pierre hasn’t played centerfield regularly since 2007. Victorino remains the everyday CF for the Phillies. Pierre is a below-average LF, with a poor arm and range. Victorino is an excellent CF, at least league average. He has had no errors this year or last. The advanced metrics, which aren’t that great yet, generally don’t like Pierre and find Victorino OK. If Pierre would be brought in to play CF for the Reds, it would be a nightly hold-your-breath situation.
Perhaps they prefer Pierre to Victorino because he would be cheap. Pierre is making just $800,000 this season, compared to Victorino's $9.5 million. The Phillies have also invested much less in Juan Pierre, a veteran picked up this offseason, compared to Victorino who has won a championship with the club.
In return for Pierre, the Phillies could expect about what they got for Jim Thome in return.
