Los Angeles Dodgers - All-Decade 2000-09

Given how dominant the Dodgers have been over the last several years, it's hard to believe that LA's one true team was toiling in mediocrity for much of the previous decade. Sure, they did win three division titles in the span of 2000-09 (plus one additional Wild Card appearance), and eighth out of 30 isn't exactly horrible, but it still must have been embarrassing for the storied franchise to finish behind its market share competitors who play in the county to the southeast. Let's check out an all-decade roster that was mired in turnover, organized by games per position (for the most part), with years active with the team displayed to the right.

Of all the position players, basically only third baseman Adrian Beltre got through the decade unchallenged at his position, and he didn't have an exemplary offensive season until 2004, his last with the Dodgers, where he won a Silver Slugger and finished second in MVP voting. Right fielder Shawn Green actually led the team in overall games when you consider his appearances at first base, but Andre Ethier also had a big chunk of time at that position (369 games), despite the fact that he shows up in left field. Looking at only games behind the plate, it looks like current Dodger Russell Martin has a clear handle on the position, but when you add in the games that Paul Lo Duca spent at first base, it becomes a dead heat (548 to 537). Speaking of time at other positions, Alex Cora only gets the not at second base over Jeff Kent (597 games) because the current Red Sox manager split his time pretty evenly between both middle infield spots. Speaking of the middle infield, while Cesar Izturis has a significant lead over Rafael Furcal (483 games) at shortstop, it's far from commanding. At first base, James Loney BARELY squeaks ahead of Eric Karros (414 games), which is alright because Karros was the starter for eight out of ten years in the previous decade. Again, considering only center field appearances, Matt Kemp is closely followed by current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (239 games), but considering that Kemp started his career in right field, he's the clear choice for the position. Jumping back to left field, Gary Sheffield actually narrowly led the team in games at that position with 280, which is EXACTLY the same number of games he played for the Braves in right field - he also racked up 267 for the Yankees, and 225 for Detroit.

The turnover continued in the rotation, where Derek Lowe was the leader in games started with just 135, or just 10 starts more than the Twins' number FIVE all-decade starter. LA grabbed Odalis Perez from the Braves before he fully established himself, and while he only made one All-Star appearance while with the club, that's on par with most of this all-decade rotation: Chad Billingsley also only had one (in the last year of the decade) while Brad Penny and Kevin Brown had just two apiece (including a top-five finish in Cy Young voting for each). Eric Gagne actually logged 45 starts for the Dodgers over the two years before he became a lights-out closer, a career that included three straight All-Star appearances and a Cy Young Award in 2003, on the strength of just 82.1 relief innings and a league leading 55 saves. But the all-decade leader in games pitched was the hulking Jonathan Broxton, who graduated from setup man to closer in the last year of the decade (where he made one of his two career All-Star appearances). The 6'4" 285 lb. Broxton took over the ninth inning from Japanese import Takashi Saito, whose 180 games with LA fell just short of qualifying for a well-balanced bullpen that includes five 200+ game pitchers.