2009 Rotation Projection:

1. Chad Billingsley
2. Hiroki Kuroda
3. Clayton Kershaw
4. Randy Wolf
5. James McDonald

Ignore the rotation order I have up there; apparently Joe Torre decided to tab Hiroki Kuroda as the Opening Day starter.  This is probably a good topic for another post in iteslf, but: in the long run, the positioning of your 1-4 starters really doesn’t have much of an impact on anything, as they all will receive roughly the same number of starts assuming no injuries.

A lot of folks are down on this rotation, but I’m actually quite bullish here.  Billingsley is 24 and already a legitimate ace.  Kershaw could turn out just as good, if not better.  These guys will combine for over 400 Ks in 2009 if they stay healthy; they are basically Lincecum and Cain without the hype.  Kuroda is a tremendously poised veteran who keeps the ball in the park and won’t walk anyone, and Randy Wolf should be league average, although his All-Star days are long gone.  James McDonald is a promising right-hander with strong breaking stuff to complement a low 90’s fastball.  He might have some growing pains in his first full MLB season, but the Dodgers do have Jason Schmidt (remember him?) waiting in the wings if McDonald sputters.

Rotation Grade: B+

2009 Bullpen Projection:

Jonathan Broxton (CL)
Hong-Chih Kuo
Guillermo Mota
Cory Wade
Claudio Vargas
Jeff Weaver
Shawn Estes

We know the late-inning portion of this bullpen will be fine with Broxton and Kuo; the pair combined for 184 Ks in 149 relief innings last season.  Cory Wade had a tremendous rookie season, but don’t expect a repeat of it; his BABIP was .227 last year.  Still, he and Mota should be decent – not great – setup guys.  What we don’t know is how the middle-long relief will perform here.  Jeff Weaver, a guy who has been an abject failure of late, will return to the major leagues as a reliever.  Shawn Estes, another long-time starter, could be used is a LOOGY type of role.  Estes might be OK when used in this limited fashion, but I can’t expect anything good coming out of Jeff Weaver stepping on a pitcher’s mound.  Still, his role will be mitigated, and most of this pen is solid at the very least.

Bullpen Grade: B

2009 Offense Projection:

1) Raphael Furcal SS
2) Russel Martin C
3) Manny Ramirez LF
4) Matt Kemp CF
5) Andre Ethier RF
6) James Loney 1B
7) Casey Blake 3B
8) Orlando Hudson 2B

Bench:

Juan Pierre – OF
Mark Loretta – 2B/SS
Brad Ausmus – C
Doug Mientkiewicz – 1B/3B/RF
Juan Castro – INF

If you live in the Boston area, you know about the absolute hysteria surrounding Manny Ramirez.  Yes, still.  8 months after his last days in a Red Sox uniform, he is still a major conversation topic around these parts.  His final season in Boston was like a nuclear bomb, and we are still living with the toxic cloud.  The fallout has contaminated the brains of writers and radio hosts, and now they are radioactive zombies with only one thought in mind…”MANNY BAD”.

Regardless of all that, he might be the best right-handed hitter who ever lived, as crazy as that sounds.  A difficult guy to analyze given his age and his unique skill set, but you have to assume he’s still good for an OPS around .950 at the very least.  The lineup, as a whole, is excellent.  Every single guy is at least above average at his respective position.  They could use a decent infielder on the bench, but that’s a minor complaint.

Offensive Grade: A

Fielding Projection:

This team has to have one weakness, right?  Here it is.  Manny and Kemp will give the Dodgers a huge weak spot out in left-center.  The middle infield is OK, but both guys are not what they used to be.  The team nearly converted Russ Martin to a third baseman, which is telling.

Fielding Grade: D+

Maybe I’m overrating that rotation a bit, but it looks like this is the strongest team I’ve reviewed thus far.  (Note: I still have a bunch of good teams left to review).

Overall Grade: 84.1 (A-/B+)

Next up: I’ll be writing an “express” review, with several squads packed into one post.  Father Time is a merciless fellow, and Opening Day is almost here.

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