Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitching: The Jason Schmidt signing did more than just give them an ace, though that shouldn't be understated. What it also allowed was every pitcher on that staff to be bumped a down a spot, giving them nice depth for their rotation. Derek Lowe and Brad Penny are both 2 starters, but neither was an ace. Now you have two 2 starters holding down the 2 and 3, with the more than serviceable Randy Wolf at the 4. And assuming young Chad Billingsly improves, he could be bumping one or two of those guys down even more.
Their bullpen is not a strength. Takashi Saito nicely grew into the closers role, and you could probably put him in the top half of stoppers in the league. After that, however, the Dodgers have issues. They either have has-beens or haven't-done-yets. Fortunately, they have five, count 'em five starters that could go 8 innings deep on any given start. This is a team that can and will need to lead the league in quality starts to win the West.
Hitting: A tepid hitting squad. Pierre, Furcal, Nomar, and Kent as a top 4 look a lot better then they are. Andre Either probably takes another step forward, but I'm not nearly as confident in their left field or 3rd base (Is that a Fernando Tatis sighting?!). I do expect Mike Lieberthal to see some time behind the dish, as he could handle a savvy pitching staff very nicely.
Miscellaneous: Grady Little.
Dodger-related Ridiculous Proposition Bet: Line on when Nomar first lands on the disabled list: April 28.
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1 comment:
Brad Penny is dating Alyssa Milano. Under regular circumstances this would be cause for celebration. She is many things. However, she is clearly a curse. Penny's history of bizarre injuries makes this situation craz to begin with. I saw he is injuried by July. Without Penny, this team does nothing this season.
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