Pierre, Dodgers close in on deal

With the free-agent landscape for power hitters becoming increasingly bleak, the Dodgers moved quickly to obtain speed, agreeing to terms with fleet center fielder Juan Pierre for a five-year deal believed to be worth about $44 million, multiple sources said Monday.

Pierre, 29, is in many ways a younger version of 16-year veteran Kenny Lofton, who batted .301 with 32 stolen bases in his only Dodgers season. Pierre, like Lofton, is a left-handed slap hitter, and he led the National League with 204 hits and had 58 stolen bases last season batting leadoff for the Chicago Cubs.

The Dodgers already have an excellent leadoff hitter in shortstop Rafael Furcal. Pierre would bat leadoff or second, with Furcal moving to the No. 2 or No. 3 spot. Furcal displayed surprising power last season, hitting 15 home runs to go with 37 stolen bases.

Regardless of how Manager Grady Little decides to utilize the two table-setters, there should be plenty of runs-batted-in opportunities for Nomar Garciaparra, whose two-year, $18.5-million Dodgers deal was made official.

“If we are able to come to terms with [Pierre] and he can be at the top of the order along with Raffy, that will help the ballclub,” General Manager Ned Colletti said.

Pierre is also durable -- he played in 162 games each of the last four years -- a quality the Dodgers sorely need. Last season, only Furcal had more than 500 at-bats.

“This man gets on base an awful lot,” Colletti said of Pierre. “He gets 200 hits or more, is a great guy on a club and, like Nomar, has great qualities as a human being.”

Also like Garciaparra, Pierre is extremely difficult to strike out, leading the NL in at-bats per strikeout in five of the last six seasons. His detractors, however, point out that he doesn’t walk much, ranks near the top of major leaguers in the number of outs he makes and has a below-average arm.

Not to mention negligible power.

Colletti sounded almost resigned to fielding a team that again could finish near the bottom of the NL in home runs. He is hopeful that some of the younger Dodgers might increase their power and hinted that a trade could bring a slugger.

The free-agent market is nearly devoid of legitimate power hitters. Carlos Lee has told the Dodgers that he doesn’t want to play on the West Coast, and Colletti reiterated that he has no interest in signing Barry Bonds.

“You can’t make these guys come out of nowhere,” Colletti said. “If you have speed and pitching, you can win games with defense to back up the pitching. If we have to, we’ll figure another way to do it.

“We lost 20 home runs with Drew, but there are people in the organization who feel there is more power with [third baseman] Wilson Betemit, [outfielder] Andre Ethier, maybe more with [catcher] Russell Martin. [Outfielder] Matt Kemp has a chance to rebound and hit 20.”

Garciaparra hit 20 home runs last season, including several memorable ones down the stretch. He said that besides one telephone conversation with San Diego Padres General Manager Kevin Towers, his sole focus was returning to the Dodgers.

“I was hoping to be back and wanted to be back,” he said. “I didn’t entertain other offers. My intention first and foremost was to work out a deal here.”

Garciaparra’s wife, former soccer star Mia Hamm, is pregnant with twins. Knowing he will remain in L.A. the next two years -- his contract has limited no-trade provisions -- is comforting to his entire family.

“I believe in the organization and I really enjoy putting on that uniform,” he said. “The Dodgers are the team my family cheers for. This is a thrill.”

Garciaparra said the leg injury that hobbled him the last few weeks of the season has healed. He said he is willing to play a position besides first base, where he became proficient after a crash course in spring training.

“They asked me what my feeling was, and I said, ‘Look, I changed positions last year. Whatever position you feel it takes for us to win, I’m willing to do it,’ ” he said. “I’m sure there will be a time I play first base and maybe I’ll play another position too.”

With the winter meetings two weeks away, Colletti will focus on acquiring pitching. He has plenty of money to spend even after committing more than $60 million to Pierre and Garciaparra.

“If we come up with a surplus of pitching, maybe we can move a pitcher to get a hitter,” he said.

steve.henson@latimes.com

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Steady

Juan Pierre, right, made his major league debut in 2000 and has not missed a game over the past four seasons. His year-by-year

statistics:

*--* YEAR TEAM G HITS RBI SB AVG. 2000 Colorado 51 62 20 7 310 2001 Colorado 156 202 55 46 327 2002 Colorado 152 170 35 47 287 2003 Florida 162 204 41 65 305 2004 Florida 162 221 49 45 326 2005 Florida 162 181 47 57 276 2006 Cubs 162 204 40 58 292 Totals 1,007 1,244 287 325 303

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