Juan Pierre - I want him to do well. I’m excited that he might offer the Cubs some much-needed speed on the bases, some strength at the plate and some defense in the field. But COME ON PEOPLE, he’s not the Lord and Savior of mankind.

“He’s a game changer,” Lee said of Pierre.

Lee would know. The two were teammates together in Florida, and both have World Series rings from the 2003 season. Lee won the National League batting title last season and produced monster stats. But the Cubs’ leadoff hitters had a .299 on-base percentage and combined to score 83 runs. Imagine if Pierre was batting ahead of Lee last year.

Wow, so difficult to imagine, I just don’t know if I can do it:

Juan Pierre’s 2005 on-base percentage - .326
Jerry Hairston, Jr’s 2005 on-base percentage - .336
Ronny Cedeno’s 2005 on-base percentage - .356

We didn’t need Juan Pierre. We needed Moises Alou, Mark Grudzielanek and Matt Clement.