2010 Team Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers
In the 1920's, baseball outlawed the spit ball. A handful of pitchers were "grandfathered in", and allowed to continue to throw the pitch. Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes was one of them.
Today is my first day back from Fort Myers, and thus it’s been a day of catching up on DVR’d television, unpacking and giving the sniff-test to crumpled clothes, and checking work e-mails to get a vague sense of how shitty my Monday will be. Anyway, I’ll be going fast and furious with the team previews, which realistically will spill over into the first week or two of the regular season. On to “Them Bums”:
Arrivals: Jamey Carroll (2B), Nick Green (Hard-Nosed Gamer)
Departures: Randy Wolf (SP), Jim Thome (1B), Brian Giles (OF)
After winning 95 games, the Dodgers had a rather disappointing offseason, losing veteran starter Randy Wolf to free agency and not doing a whole lot to make up for that loss. Granted, the team does have some young talent that could improve from 2010, but this lackadaisical winter could prove fatal in a division where several other teams have improved.
Projected 2010 Starting Lineup:
| Name | Offense | Fielding | |
| SS | Rafael Furcal | 7.0 | 6.0 |
| CF | Matt Kemp | 9.5 | 7.5 |
| RF | Andre Ethier | 8.0 | 5.0 |
| LF | Manny Ramirez | 9.0 | 1.5 |
| 1B | James Loney | 7.0 | 6.0 |
| 3B | Casey Blake | 7.5 | 6.0 |
| 2B | Ronnie Belliard | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| C | Russell Martin | 7.5 |
Projected 2010 Bench:
| Name | Offense | Fielding | |
| INF | Blake DeWitt | 6.5 | 7.5 |
| INF | Jamey Carroll | 7.0 | 8.0 |
| OF | Reed Johnson | 7.0 | 5.0 |
| C | Brad Ausmus | 2.5 | |
| OF | Garrett Anderson | 7.0 | 3.0 |
The Dodgers might have the best offensive outfield in baseball, but they appear to have some serious defensive holes in various spots on the field, most notably our old buddy in left field. Regardless, I’m a big Matt Kemp fan, and at the end of this season, we may be talking about him in the same way we talk about guys like Hanley Ramirez (i.e., as one of the best all-around players in the game).
Projected 2010 Pitching Staff:
| Name | Pitching | |
| SP1 | Chad Billingsley | 8.5 |
| SP2 | Clayton Kershaw | 8.5 |
| SP3 | Hiroki Kuroda | 7.5 |
| SP4 | Vicente Padilla | 7.0 |
| SP5 | Scott Elbert | 7.0 |
| Name | Pitching | |
| MR | Charlie Haeger | 5.5 |
| MR | Jeff Weaver | 4.0 |
| MR | Justin Miller | 7.0 |
| MR | Hong-Chih Kuo | 7.5 |
| MR | Ramon Troncoso | 8.0 |
| MR | George Sherrill | 8.5 |
| CL | Jonothan Broxton | 9.0 |
That #5 starter slot is wide open at this point. I’m penciling in Elbert, since he has much more upside than the likes of knuckleballer Charlie Haeger or Eric Stults (not to be confused with the guy from Mask). Both the rotation and bullpen show a lot of promise, but lord help the Dodgers if someone like Russ Ortiz is counted on to fill in for a significant portion the innings Randy Wolf’s departure will free up.
The Dodgers might regress a bit from 2009, but they did win more games than anyone else in the league last season, so they should still be tough to beat.
Team Score: 7.37
