Season Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers
Projected MLB Rank: 4th — NL Rank: 3rd — NL West Rank: 1st — Record: (94-68)
National League West Champions

They won’t be singing the Dodger Blues this year in LA. Bringing Manny Ramirez back wins the division for this team in my mind. The make up of this team is solid young players who showed they can compete last year along with a bunch of veterans that can still play the game.

We’ll begin with the veterans and none other than probably the best righthanded hitter in the game–Manny Ramirez. Manny became inhuman last season after being dealt to the Dodgers as he picked up the 24 other guys on this team, put them on his back, and carried them to the division crown and the playoffs. Manny obliterated baseballs last season posting a 37 homeruns, a .332 batting average, 121 RBIs, a .430 OBP, and a .601 slugging percentage while with the Red Sox and Dodgers. He’s a monster and as long as he’s happy, I don’t see anyone beating out the Dodgers in the NL West.

Another veteran, at shortstop, and back for a full season, is Rafael Furcal. He showed some signs of rustiness in the playoffs after not playing for a while. He’s out to play the full season now which provides the Dodgers with an everyday leadoff man. Perhaps going unnoticed, Orlando Hudson has joined this team as well. The O-Dawg brings a .305 average, a .367 OBP, and an amazing glove to second base. I guess Blake DeWitt doesn’t cut it? Because he won’t be playing at third either. Casey Blake returns to the position after a great season in which he hit 21 homeruns and drove in 81 runs. Juan Pierre, Mark Loretta, and Brad Ausmus are also nice veteran options off the bench.

Continuing with the veteran theme, we move to the rotation where Hiroki Kuroda, who has one year of MLB experience under his belt, is 34 years old and has been around the game a while, so I’ll consider him a vet. He’s recieved the opening day nod for this team as he posted a 3.73 ERA last season with a 9-10 record. Another veteran in the rotation is southpaw Randy Wolf. Wolf stayed healthy last season compiling a 4.30 ERA and going 12-12 for the Astros while striking out hitters at a nice rate. Staying on the pitching staff, but moving to the bullpen, Guillermo Mota should assume a setup role for this season (how did he get to be 35 so quickly?).

Moving on to the young guns. Russell Martin is 26 years of age and is becoming one of the best catchers currently in the game. Last season he posted a .280 batting average to go along with a .385 OBP. Oh yea, he can steal bases too. Firstbaseman James Loney hit .289 with 90 RBIs last season and turns 25 this season. Think those numbers can improve? I do. Same goes for outfielder Andre Ethier. The 26 year old is probably entering his prime this year after he hit .305 last year with 20 homeruns and 77 RBIs. Is there room for one more on the improvement boat because Matt Kemp will be getting on as well. Despite the strikeouts last season, Kemp still posted a .290 average with 18 homeruns and 76 RBIs. He also stole 35 bases.

The rotation’s youngsters have huge potential. I believe we have yet to see how good Chad Billingsley is going to be. Which is scary since he posted a 3.14 ERA with 16 wins and over nine strikeouts per nine innings, what’s scarier is that he’s just 24. Let’s get younger as we move on to 21 year old Clayton Kershaw. His rookie campaign was decent but nothing eyepopping when you look at the numbers, but he will develop and become a top tier pitcher. Then there’s James McDonald. He has a great curve and a great changeup but has shown tendancies to give up the homerun here and there.

Concerning the rest of the pitching staff. Cory Wade had a great season in the bullpen last year with a 2.27 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. Hong-Chih Kuo also shined last season with a 2.14 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. Kuo also had 96 strikeouts in 80 innings. The Dodgers also brought in Will Ohman who had a nice year with the Braves in 2008 and is a nice lefty option. Then there’s the closer. The big man. Jonathan Broxton is a shutdown closer. He struck out 88 hitters in 69 innings and posted a 3.13 ERA while compiling 14 saves for the Dodgers.

What is not to like about this team? They are so good. Then Joe Torre is their manager, which makes me like this team even more. In the words of Manny Ramirez,

“I’m baaaaaaack.”

And so are the Dodgers, atop the division and into the playoffs.