Juan Pierre (turns 33 in August; 30 SB in 2009) Even though he won’t be 33 until August, I decided to put Pierre on this list because he’s the active leader in SB and at this point, that stat is the only thing fantasy players will draft him for. Pierre is a high volume guy when it comes to SB; he steals a lot and he gets caught stealing a lot (led league in caught stealing 5 times). Now that he’s in Chicago he gets to be an everyday player again and in the 7 years in which he’s had at least 500 ABs, he’s reached at least 45 SB all 7 times. There was no noticeable decline in his play or metrics last season as his XBT%, SB%, and GIDP% were all in par with his career percentages. Don’t be surprised by a slow (running) start for Pierre as he has traditionally not run as much when the weather is cold in April and May as it was when he played for the Rockies and Cubs. But he should pick things up over the summer and will once again be among the league leaders in steals. Prediction: 40-42 SB.
Glossary
GIDP % – Grounded Into Double Play %: The rate at which a batter grounded into a double play.
XBH % – Extra Base Hit %: Percentage of all plate appearances ending with a double, triple, or home run.
XBT % – Extra Base Take %: Percentage of times the runner advanced more than one base on a single or more than two bases on a double.
SB % – Stolen Base %: Stolen Bases/(Stolen Bases + Caught Stealing)

His career conversion rate is roughly 75%

- to celebrate the fact that it’s now obsolete and affordable.

My first simulated game: Piere managed a lead off base hit and then promptly stole second (easily). He then proceeded to steal third (though there were two outs). I instantly liked the pixelated figure.