OF Juan Pierre officially retires from baseball

Free agent outfielder Juan Pierre has officially retired from baseball, he announced on his personal Twitter account on Friday. Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald first reported the news.

The speedy outfielder notched 614 stolen bases over a 14-year career with the Rockies, Marlins, Cubs, Dodgers, White Sox, and Phillies. Pierre's best attribute was easily his speed, as his 614 stolen bases ranked 18th all-time and first amongst active players at his retirement. Pierre did not play Major League Baseball in 2014, so retirement comes as far from a shock. 

The 37-year-old Pierre attended the University of South Alabama and was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 13th round of the 1998 MLB Draft. He worked his way quickly through the minors, reaching the big leagues in 2000 at age 22, and never going back to the minors until rehabbing from an injury with the Dodgers in 2008. 

Pierre was not a home run hitter. In fact, he launched only 18 home runs during his 8000+ plate appearances. However, Pierre's speed helped him to get over five times as many triples as home runs, as he had a career 94 three-baggers. Overall, Pierre is a lifetime .295/.343/.361 hitter, mostly out of the leadoff spot, where he was slotted at in 80.6 percent of his plate appearances. 

As a big leaguer, Pierre earned himself $57 million, according to Baseball Reference, and was worth a total of 23.2 fWAR and 83.2 Base Running Runs (BsR). 

I wish Juan Pierre the best in retirement and enjoyed watching him play, especially during the ladder part of his career. It still astounds me that he could be that effective on the bases even at that age. 

--Devan Fink

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