DODGERS IN THE OUTFIELD...

Questions, questions, questions. That's what the Dodgers outfield will need to answer. Between Andre Ethier, Juan Pierre, and Luis Gonzalez, its going to be pretty interesting. Last year, Andre came up to the Dodgers with a blast. He was the hottest hitter from the time he came up until September. That month was a completely different story. Ethier was worn down, and might even have been injured. Whatever the reason behind his September woes, he will need to prove to the team that it was only fatigue that caught up to him. Andre will also have to deal with a move to Right field. Looking back at his minor league career, Andre has always played the position very well. My gut says that Andre will rebound nicely, but until then, the jury is still out on Los Angele's new fan favorite. In Center field, Juan Pierre will take over for Kenny Lofton who jumped ship, and landed in Texas. Juan will be counted on to spark the offense, and bring some consistency to the outfield. His defense prowess is nothing to write home about, but yet at least he's not in the Barry Bonds category. The thing to look out for Juan is that he might come out struggling as might try and press to much to prove his contracts worth. In Left Field, Luis Gonzalez will try to make through one last season. His leadership skills are his main quality. He no longer possesses the 30 homerun swing he once had, and his reconstructed elbow has diminished his arm. Nevertheless, Luis will be a solid player, just buying time until Matt Kemp is ready to step in and take the spot. The outfield reserves are solid. The Dodgers have Jason Repko, Marlon Anderson, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Delwyn Young, and Larry Bigbie to battle for the reserve spots. They can more than handle that situation. If the outfield produces the way they are able to, the outfield will be playing past September this year.

By the way, I have started a Fantasy Baseball League, if anyone is interested in joining just let me know.


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AROUND THE HORN...

The Los Angeles Dodgers enter the 2007 campaign with a lot of questions surrounding the infield. Will Nomar Garciaparra hold up at first base for a full season?, can Jeff Kent rebound from a down year?, and will Andy LaRoche breakthrough at third?. These are just some of the doubts that besiege the Dodgers. The only sure thing appears to be Russell Martin at Catcher, and Rafael Furcal at Shortstop. Russell will enter his sophomore season looking to build on a successful rookie year. Martin appears ready to take the reigns as team leader. As for Furcal, he was stellar all season long. The one thing he will need to avoid is another slow start. At first base, Nomar will be there. That is if he can stay healthy. Nomar had a tremendous bounce back year. On the way he won the comeback player of the year award, and appeared in the all-star game. Nomar's health will be the biggest key to the Dodgers offensive attack. At Second base, Jeff Kent will start. But, for how long? There is already talk that he, and Nomar might switch places. Kent is 38 years old, and coming off a injury plagued year. Kent will need to prove he still has gas left in the tank. At Third base, it's a crap shoot. At this moment, Wilson Betemit has the job. But, Andy LaRoche seems to be ready to take over. This spot will come down to who performs better in the spring. A platoon could also be in order at third. There are several Dodger bench players who will be key contributors in the infield. Olmedo Saenz, Ramon Martinez, James Loney, Marlon Anderson, and Mike Lieberthal all will get some time at these spots. The bench will need to deliver like they did this past season if the Dodgers hope to be playing in October.


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BFF?...

Is Ned Colletti alright?... Today I woke to the news that the Dodgers are close to giving Grady Little a contract extension. Why?.. What did Grady do this past season to deserve one?... All Grady managed to do is manage us out of ballgames. Not to mention the fact that he stuck with Julio Lugo for weeks while he was hitting a scary .150. I'm all for being a players manager, but you have to know when to go out to the mound and take the ball. There was just too many blunders when it came to Little's strategy. He failed to capitalize when players where on a hot streak by sitting them on the bench, and he failed to pull the plug when a player was down and out. I don't mean to bash Little, despite the fact that I just did, because he did get us into the playoffs. But, for now lets hold off on giving out lengthy contract extension's. Lets see where we are sometime in August. Then make a decision on Little's future.

As for some transactions, Chin-hui Tsao seems to be the latest retred to be invited to spring training. It is always interesting who gets a nod. Someone always seems to make it on to the Dodgers, I.E. Olmedo Saenz, Wilson Alvarez, Takashi Saito, and Jose Hernandez.


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IN THE YEAR 2000...

It's almost here, and I'm not speaking of my birthday. Although that too is almost here. This January 20th, I will turn the big 20. Here's to hoping the Dodgers give me a late birthday gift, and sometime around October are celebrating a world series championship. So with the season looming, It's time to give my prediction on our boys play.

I fully expect the Dodgers to win the national league division. This feat can be done with 88-92 wins. The Dodgers will go 90-72, while the San Diego Padres will follow up with a 88-74 record, and as usual the Giants, Rockies, and D'back will bring up the rear.

As for the players numbers, I see them going something like this....

Line-up: AVG, HR, RBI, SB, GMS
Juan Pierre: .291 2-31 43 156
Russell Martin: .283 14- 73 13 133
Rafael Furcal: .287 18-81 30 151
Jeff Kent: .278 21-69 2 119
Nomar Garciaparra: .311 15-68 2 101
Luis Gonzalez: . 271 12-66 4 123
Andre Ethier: .298 23-84 7 143
Wilson Betemit: .260 19-64 133

Reserves
James Loney: .303 7-43 98
Olmedo Saenz: .275 9-33 89
Mike Lieberthal: .267 4- 20 43
Andy LaRoche: .270. 5-18 32
Matt Kemp: .287 13-44 100
Ramon Martinez: .288 3-18 68
Jason Repko: .259 4-23 98

Rotation: WINS, LOSSES, ERA, INNINGS
Jason Schmidt: 14-7 3.48 218
Derek Lowe: 15-11 3.78 223
Brad Penny: 17-7 3.32 202
Chad Billingsley: 13-9 3.98 179
Randy Wolf: 7-6 4.56 122

Pen:WINS, LOSSES, ERA
Takashi Saito: 3-4 3.23 34 saves
Jonathan Broxton: 5-3 3.56
Joe Beimel: 2-2 3.98
Elmer Dessens: 1-4 4.45
Hong-Chih Kuo: 8-4 4.21
Bret Tomko: 4-6 4.00
Mark Hendrickson: 5-5 4.79

I'll add more players later. But, for the most part I'm expecting a lot of injuries. Hopefully our bench players help out. By the way, I was disappointed to see that Steve Garvey failed in his last opportunity to be inducted into the baseball hall of fame. Now its up to the veterans committee.

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OUT WEST...

It has been an interesting off-season in the national league west. Through the trades, and signings the Los Angeles Dodgers are head of the class. The Dodgers did a deluxe job in executing their off-season plans on strengthening the roster. They acquired the ace pitcher that the starting rotation has been lacking by signing Jason Schmidt, and solidifying the outfield spots with Luis Gonzalez, and Juan Pierre. They did fail to bring in a power bat, but there is still time for dealin', and wheelin'. The San Francisco Giants did a nice job in shoring up the rotation. They brought on board Barry Zito (my favorite ball player), Bengie Molina, Dave Roberts, and Ryan Klesko. These are all solid moves, but by no mans does it put them over the top. The San Diego Padres began the off-season by losing a steady presence in Bruce Bochy. The Padres rebounded, and brought in Greg Maddux, Marcus Giles, and Kevin Kouzmanoff. All in all, nothing special. This team reeks middle of the road team. The Arizona Diamond Backs started the off-season by changing their colors, as they got tired making Mr. Blackwell's worst dressed list. As for roster moves, its all about Randy Johnson. That's all they have been able to do. But this is not Randy Johnson from three years ago. This is an aging power pitcher with a back problem. The D'backs should start making vacation plans by June. Then there are the Colorado Rockies, who have been rebuilding since 1995. Not much is expected from them, although they have a number of good young players like, Matt holiday, Brad Hawpe, Garret Atkins, and Jeff Francis. The Dodgers should win the division comfortably. But then again, this is baseball, and anything can happen.


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