30 Teams in 30 Days

The Dodgers decided to shake things up this off season, despite a successful year in 2004. Their formula for winning last year was great pitching, good defense and timely hitting. This year’s Dodger team will focus more on offense and increasing their run total.

The outfield has gone through some changes. David Roberts was traded to the Red Sox around the trading deadline, and Steve Finley was brought in. After Steve Finley signed with the Angels in the off season, the Dodgers found themselves without a centerfielder. Filling that void in center will be free agent acquisition J.D. Drew. Drew is naturally a corner outfielder, but the Dodgers think he can make the adjustment. If he can’t, look for Milton Bradley to move into that spot. Drew is a guy who has always had a ton of potential, and finally started to show it the last two years in St. Louis and Atlanta. Playing right field for the Braves last year, Drew batted .305 with 31 home runs and 93 RBI. The afore mentioned Milton Bradley is once again patrolling rightfield, but the leftfield spot is up for grabs. The job right now is a three man race between journeyman Ricky Ledee, Jason Werth, and Jason Grabowski, although the Dodgers have toyed with moving Grabowski to catcher.

Two very good defensive infielders were allowed to leave in the off season. Alex Cora, who struggled offensively but was one of the best defensive infielders in the big leagues signed with the Indians. Adrian Beltre had an MVP type season last year. Was it because it was a contract year, maybe but Beltre had the tools offensively and is one of the better defensive third baseman. In a very questionable move, the Dodgers allowed Beltre to leave through free agency and sign with the Mariners. The move was questionable because for nearly identical money that Beltre was given by the Mariners, the Dodgers signed J.D. Drew. If you’re going to spend that much money on someone, why not just put that towards keeping Beltre. Replacing Beltre at third will be Jose Valentin. Valentin is a guy many of our readers will be familiar with, spending time with the Brewers and White Sox. Jose Valentin is a guy who is clearly in the twilight of his career. He batted only .216 in a lineup with a lot of protection last year, but did hit 30 homeruns. He’ll hit 20-30 homeruns a year, but he is going to commit a lot of errors and strike out a lot. The other big name they brought in offensively was Jeff Kent. Kent is still a very good offensive player, but his range is gone and he is at times a liability at second base. Shortstop Cesar Izturis made strides offensively last year and continues to be one of the better defensive shortstops in the National League and he joins first baseman Hee Sop Choi and catcher Dave Ross as the Dodgers returning starters.

The pitching staff lost Hideo Nomo, which may not be that much of a loss. Their were rumors and efforts by the Dodgers last trading deadline and over the off season to acquire Randy Johnson, but those efforts fell short. The Dodgers were involved in the Randy Johnson deal, but they moved Shawn Green and brought in Dionner Navaro in part of that three team deal. Brad Penny was acquired at the midpoint of the season last year, and only appeared in one game before missing the rest of the season with an arm injury. Penny will be counted on to be the ace of the staff this year. He has the stuff to do it, but health is a huge question. The new face on the pitching staff is Derek Lowe. Lowe is a very good third man on a staff, which is the role he will play here again. The only question I have is this. Lowe is a sinkerball guy who gets a lot of groundball outs, which would have fit in perfectly with last years Dodgers. This year the infield defense is a bit shaky. Odalis Perez, Kaz Ishii and Jeff Weaver return to a rotation. By the way, I don’t think it was just a change that Weaver needed to finally become the pitcher he should be. He’s already gone through two.

The bullpen is usually the strength of this team, but this year it doesn’t look to be on that same level. Eric Gagne is the best closer in the league, but showed signs of being human last year, and has already had injury concerns in spring training. Guillermo Mota, arguably the best set up man in the league is gone, and so is Tom Martin. Giovanni Carrara and Duaner Sanchez are the two best set up men on this team. Darren Dreifort and Elmer Dessens will serve as the long relievers, and young Yhency Brazoban will get a shot at winning a middle relief job. The names and talent just aren’t there. I’m not sold on this bullpen holding leads for Eric Gagne.

5 Burning Questions

5. How much will the Dodgers miss Adrian Beltre?
He was a cornerstone of the franchise and a guy who played great defense at third and finally started to blossom offensively. You’re replacing him with Jose Valentin?

4. Meltdown Bradley
When will Milton Bradley go through his first incident of the season, more importantly how many times will he. With an already shaky outfield the Dodgers can’t afford to lose Bradley to suspension.

3. Is this bullpen good enough?
Who do the Dodgers have in their bullpen that stands out as a potential good set up guy. Duaner Sanchez may be that guy, but has mainly been used as a situational lefty.

2. Who is the Ace?
Brad Penny, Odalis Perez, Derek Lowe. Who is going to step up and be the ace of the staff. There’s no doubt Penny has the stuff, and is the guy the Dodgers would like to be their ace, but he has performed much better in the past as a two or three.

1. Should we worry about Gagne’s health?
Is he going to be the same pitcher he was this year? He did show signs of being human and breaking down last year, granted even with that he was still arguably the best closer in the league, but now he has injury worries.

Fearless Predictions

This bullpen will blow a lot of leads.
Edwin Jackson will be one of their five starters.
Eric Gagne will be healthy and once again the best closer in the league, but won’t get used as much.
Milton Bradley will…is this even really worth writing, of course he’ll have another blow up.
Jeff Kent will start to slow down and not put up the same offensive numbers.
Jose Valentin will be the most hated Dodger in recent memory.
The Dodgers will struggle to reach .500