Los Angeles Dodgers

So now officially begins my overviews of teams in the running, starting with YOUR…

Los Angeles Dodgers
67-43
NL WEST (1st place out of 5)

LINEUP
SS Rafael Furcal
RF Andre Ethier
LF Manny Ramirez
3B Casey Blake
1B James Loney
CF Matt Kemp
C Russell Martin
2B Orlando Hudson

BENCH
LF Juan Pierre
IF Mark Loretta
IF Juan Castro

ROTATION
Chad Billingsley
Hiroki Kuroda
Randy Wolf
Clayton Kershaw
Jason Schmidt

BULLPEN
Jonathan Broxton (CL)
George Sherrill
Ramon Troncoso
Guillermo Mota
Hong-Chih Kuo
James McDonald
Brent Leach

Jeff Weaver

Manager: Joe Torre
General Manager: Ned Colletti
Owner: Frank McCourt
Payroll: $100,008,592 (11 out of 30)


Because the Dodgers are actually a postseason-caliber team, it will be a little easier to evaluate them position by position, rather than focusing on recent history and trying to explain why their season did not go according to Plan. But, because I’m a sucker for historical context, here’s a little of what the Dodgers were up to before this season:

The Dodgers had somewhat of a storybook season last year. Led by new manager Joe Torre – fresh off a tenure with the Yankees in which he led his team to the playoffs 12 times in as many years (including four World Series titles and two AL pennants) – their core of seven or eight young, talented, homegrown players was just starting to blossom. Add into the mix a midseason acquisition of Manny Ramirez, one of the game’s best pure hitters, and you’ve got a recipe for success. They sailed past the Diamondbacks into the playoffs, and swept the heavily favored Cubs in the first round, before falling to the eventual World Series champion Phillies in the NL Championship Series.

After the season, all eyes were on Manny. His amazing performance all but propelled the Dodgers into October, but he would become a free agent during the off-season, and everyone from baseball execs to economists to Joe the Fan was speculating about his value. Sure he’s one of the most talented hitters perhaps ever, but he would turn 37 in May of 2009, he can’t field, he can’t run, he doesn’t hustle, and his clubhouse antics are so legendary that fans of his former team, the Red Sox, coined a phrase to describe them: “Manny Being Manny.” (The straw that broke the camel’s back for the Sox was when Ramirez shoved the team’s traveling secretary to the ground after an argument over ticket requests.) So everyone involved knew that as far as Man Ram is concerned, you have to take the good with the bad. But despite the potential drawbacks, the Dodgers offered Ramirez a pretty generous two-year, $45 million deal…which was ignored by Ramirez’s powerhouse agent Scott Boras.

This mess continued for several months. I’ll spare you the gory details (mostly so I can spare myself the task of reliving the horrible drama). Basically it went back and forth between the team and the player: Manny wanted more years and more dollars, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt wanted to make a reasonable investment, and Boras tried to drive the price up by convincing everyone that there were more teams involved in the Manny sweepstakes. But anyone willing to do the research could see that there were really no other such teams: the Yankees had the money, but Manny doesn’t fit their image (plus if anything happened to him on or off the field, they would never hear the end of it from Red Sox Nation), the Giants quickly dispelled all rumors floating around their organization, and the Angels weren’t about to shell out the cash. So as the winter progressed and eventually turned into spring, it became clear that this was really a one horse race, and yet Manny and Boras still continued to hold out.

Then finally, on March 5, Manny signed a contract that was virtually identical to the one originally offered in November, with one small tweak: the new contract was for one year with a player option for a second, meaning that Manny and only Manny (and Boras) could decide if he wanted to stick around for 2010. And based on the cold reception Ramirez faced in his age-37 free agency, there is very little evidence that many teams would be interested in Manny during his age-38 free agency.

So Manny was cemented in the lineup and the team got off to a very nice start (despite Manny having the nerve to complain about not getting enough spring training at bats to get into his groove. Never mind the fact that it was his childish holdout that caused him to miss 14 exhibition games this spring). Then the other shoe dropped. In early May, the story broke that Ramirez tested positive for a substance banned by MLB’s drug policy, and would have to serve the 50 game suspension for a first offense. The drug was not a steroid, but HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, a female fertility drug that players allegedly take to ease them off a steroid cycle. The funny thing about this case is that the drug is actually allowed by MLB given special consent, a request for which Manny, of course, neglected to file.

At this point, many experts pronounced the Dodgers’ season dead and their organizational integrity in ruins (as I simultaneously made the same diagnosis about my fantasy team, Manny being the cornerstone of my lineup). However, with Juan Pierre putting up great numbers as the replacement left fielder, the Dodgers posted a respectable 29-21 record in Manny’s absence, and stayed firmly atop the NL West. And there they remain, unshaken by the recent revelation that Ramirez tested positive for steroids in 2003 (along with then-teammate David Ortiz and about 100 other unpublished names).

So with all the Manny drama now behind us, here’s some thoughts about the current Dodgers team, which is remarkably similar to the team they fielded on opening day:

The aforementioned “core of young, talented, homegrown players” consists of catcher Russell Martin, first baseman James Loney, right fielder Andre Ethier, and center fielder Matt Kemp. Martin is struggling mightily at the plate (a result of playing in the World Baseball Classic for Team Canada, perhaps?), and Loney hasn’t developed the power swing everyone expected of him, but Ethier’s out-slugging everyone on the team save Manny (and is as clutch as clutch can be, if you believe in such things), and Matt Kemp’s the total package, a complete “Five Tool Player” (the five tools being, for those of you unaccustomed to the scouting tradition, hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, defense, and arm strength/accuracy). It’s a combination of great luck and smart organizational management that so many players 27 or under (not even yet counting the pitchers) peaked at exactly the same time and will get to play together for years to come.

To fill the hole at second base left by the retiring Jeff Kent, the Dodgers signed free agent Orlando Hudson for one year and just over $3 million – a steal considering his stellar defense, solid bat, and exemplary clubhouse reputation. (If you’ve ever seen him give an interview, there’s no denying his absolutely compelling personality.) He started the year like gangbusters and more than picked up the slack batting third when Ramirez was out of the lineup, but he has cooled off a bit and has been dropped in recent batting orders.

They resigned free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal after he entertained offers from both the A’s and the Giants. He played extremely well in an injury-shortened ’08 season (1.012 OPS in 36 games), but has struggled so far this year (.705 OPS, 54 points down from his career average). Last year’s deadline acquisition Casey Blake is a nice holdover at third base, hitting for very respectable power at age 35. Juan Pierre and Mark Loretta are solid veteran spot starters off the bench.

Chad Billingsley – another member of “the core” – took over as staff ace from departing free agent Derek Lowe. Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda is starting to settle down after having spent 55 days on the DL in April and May. Veteran free agent signee Randy Wolf is back for his second tour of duty with LA in three years; he pitched 18 games for the Dodgers in 2007. Despite last year being his first full season since 2003, Wolf has been the model of consistency this year, leading the league in games started (an honor shared, incidentally, with Derek Lowe, who signed with the Braves). Young lefty phenom Clayton Kershaw had his first taste of the show last year, and is now being asked to shoulder quite a load considering his tender age of 21. And despite walking too many batters, I’d say his 2.89 ERA speaks for itself.

The fifth starter spot has been kind of a revolving door the whole season. They’ve tried youngsters Eric Stults and James McDonald, with unimpressive results. Veteran Eric Milton made a five start comeback, before going down for back surgery. Jeff Weaver has four starts, but has spent most of his time pitching out of the bullpen. The spot now belongs to Jason Schmidt, who just recently made his first major league start in 764 days due to injury. There are still some questions, but luckily no team really needs five solid starters for the playoffs.

The bullpen, anchored by Jonathan Broxton and former Orioles closer George Sherrill (the Dodgers’ only major midseason trade this year), has very few weak points. Those that come to mind: LOOGY Brent Leach’s balloon-like ERA (and who says you even need a lefty in the bullpen?) and Guillermo Mota’s tendency to put runners on base, despite fine overall numbers. Torre’s favorite reliever for the start of the season, rookie Ronald Belisario, has been on the 15-day DL for almost a month now (elbow soreness from being overused?), but hopes to return soon. I don’t see the Dodgers blowing many late game leads down the stretch.

Looking ahead to the playoffs, the only concern looks to be the starting pitching. If the season ended today, the Phillies would be the Dodgers’ only really competition in the NL – they are the only team with a comparable lineup, and the acquisition of Cliff Lee puts them in an enviable position regarding rotation depth. But this is a much stronger Dodger team than the one that lost to the Phillies in the NLCS last year. I’d say the Dodgers have the talent and the spunk to represent their league in the Fall Classic. As far as matching up against juggernauts such as the Yankees or Red Sox, only time will tell.

PREDICTION: Favored NLCS Winners. Farther than that, I cannot say.