I’m on record: Joe Torre isn’t going to solve the Dodgers’ problems. They have too many holes for a 67-year-old in the dugout to repair.

But I have to give him credit for an intelligent (if obvious) move right here on Opening Day, before the first pitch is thrown.

Benching Juan “The Outmaker” Pierre and playing Andre Ethier in his place, in left field.Juan Pierre is a five-year, $44 million mistake, and let’s give Torre credit for recognizing it. Even if Torre’s decision was no doubt eased thanks to a horrible spring by Pierre (.188 BA, .247 OBP, 10 runs, four extra-base hits in 91 plate appearances) and a great one by Ethier (.377 BA, .490 OBP, 17 runs, six homers, 18 RBI in 93 plate appearances).

Even if Pierre had done what he normally does (hit around. 300 with no power), playing him is a losing proposition. Which makes him a massive waste of money, thanks to Ned Colletti’s panicked move in the fall of 2006, when J.D. Drew opted out of his Dodgers contract and Ned signed Pierre for far too much money and way too many years. Well, no one should sign Juan Pierre ever, but we digress.

Pierre, 30, has been an every-day player for the Marlins, Cubs and Dodgers the past five seasons and contrived to make his way, in all five seasons, into the Top 100 All-time Single Season Outs Made list, as reported by baseballalmanac.com

That makes Juan one of the great outmakers in baseball history, and that’s not a guy anyone with a brain should be penciling into his lineup.

To revisit: Juan holds the No. 11 single-season outs-made slot (2006, 532 outs, which made Ned covet him so), the No. 34 spot (519 outs with the Dodgers last year), No. 53 (514 for the Marlins in 2005), No. 71 (511, Marlins, 2003) and No. 99 (507, 2004).

That is thoroughly awful.

Juan’s up sides are the kind of pre-sabremetrics stuff we now can safely look past. His batting average (which is negated by his horrible on-base percentage) and his ability to steal bases (which doesn’t make up for his lack of power). Factor in his modest ability to track and catch baseballs and stunningly weak throwing arm … and the man is a mess.

Juan isn’t going to be happy. And we can understand that. He always has seemed to be a good guy, a guy who loves the game and its traditions, and he comes to play every day.

Perhaps his most impressive career stats are these: 162 games played for five consecutive seasons, and never been on the disabled list in an eight-season big-league career. But a lack of talent … well, you’re not going to catch Cal Ripken with Juan’s modest tools.

What will be interesting to see is this: Whether Torre makes some sort of effort to slip Pierre into the lineup late in games, to keep the games-played streak going. The reality is, Juan Pierre shouldn’t play, and let’s just break the games-played streak to get it over with.

Then the Dodgers can look for someone stupid enough to take Juan in trade and maybe pay some fraction (like, $1 and up) of his salary. The Dodgers shouldn’t keep around a guy whose only use, if he doesn’t start, is as a pinch-runner. If they need an outfielder who can hit, they should go with Delwyn Young, already in the dugout. If they need one to field the position, there’s Jason Repko (down in Triple-A).

Torre won’t be able to do enough to make these Dodgers winner. No one can do that, with shaky pitching and too many fragile daily players. But getting Juan Pierre out of the lineup is a step in the right direction.

As for Juan, he should find comfort in that $44 million deal. If he takes care of his money, he should be living large the rest of his life thanks to Ned Colletti’s single biggest personnel blunder.