Los Angeles Dodgers
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| Projected Lineup |
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| CF |
Dave Roberts |
| C |
Paul Lo Duca |
| RF |
Shawn Green |
| 1B |
Fred McGriff |
| LF |
Brian Jordan |
| 3B |
Adrian Beltre |
| 2B |
Joe Thurston |
| SS |
Cesar Izturis |
| Projected Rotation |
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| RHP |
Hideo Nomo |
| LHP |
Odalis Perez |
| LHP |
Kazuhisa Ishii |
| RHP |
Andy Ashby |
| RHP |
Brown/Dreifort |
| CL |
Eric Gagne |
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By John Donovan, SI.com
No one has had more hard luck over the past couple of years, and done well enough despite of it, than the Dodgers. Now they may be due for some of the good stuff.
Pitching is a good place to start. It's been hammered with bad luck for way too long. Really, if it wasn't a back or shoulder or elbow or some other part of a pitching appendage getting blown out in the past two years, it was a line drive off the noggin' doing the damage. That's the kind of luck the Dodgers have had.
True, they found their closer, Eric Gagne, seemingly out of nowhere last year. Their gamble on Kazuhisa Ishii paid off nicely -- before that liner off the cranium, that is. Odalis Perez, an afterthought in the trade for Gary Sheffield last spring, is a 20-game winner in waiting. That move was more shrewd than lucky.
But one-time ace Kevin Brown and snakebitten Darren Dreifort have been hurt forever, Brian Jordan (the main guy in the Sheffield trade) was dinged up, Ishii took that reverse beanball off his bean … it's been tough. How Jim Tracy got this team to win 92 games last year, and 86 the year before, is a true mystery.
Ah, but if Brown's back and elbow don't balk, if Dreifort comes back and gives some help, if Ishii bounces back, if Jordan is healthy and has a September like he did last season (.347, five homers, 30 RBIs) … yeah, it's a lot of ifs, a lot of things to go right.
But after so many things gone wrong in the past two years, aren't the Dodgers due?
In Dodgertown this spring, Tracy has to find some semblance of a rotation. Will Brown's back hold up well enough to get him more than the 10 starts he had last season? What about Dreifort, who has had two Tommy John surgeries and who didn't play at all last season? Ishii (14-10 in his rookie season) is fine, physically, after the fractured skull. But won't he be a bit spooked? Can Andy Ashby, 9-13 last season after a return from elbow surgery, get back on track? And the biggest question for Tracy: What if the answer to any of those questions is "no"? Count on Hideo Nomo and Perez, but that's about it.
Tracy also has to settle his infield up the middle, where rookie Joe Thurston could start at second while Cesar Izturis and Alex Cora could platoon at short. He has to find replacements in the bullpen for Omar Daal (who went to the Orioles) and Jesse Orosco (to the Padres). Will Dreifort work in the pen, as Brown did for part of last season?
Brown signed that infamous seven-year, $105 million contract before the '99 season and has been hearing about it ever since. Especially after the past couple of seasons. He gave up 68 hits in a little more than 63 innings last season, working a lot out of the bullpen, and has thrown fewer than 180 innings in the past two years combined. The fact is, he'll be 38 before the season starts. His back is achy. He's got a standing reservation as an outpatient at the Pitcher's Clinic. The Dodgers are to the point where anything they get out of him -- a half-dozen quality starts, some quality time in the pen? -- is gravy.
Thurston will get every chance to win the job at second, and he won't have to do all that much to get it. With Mark Grudzielanek traded to the Cubs, Thurston is pretty much first choice. He hit .462 in eight games as a late call-up last year, .334 at Class AAA Las Vegas before that. He has some power and decent range, defensively, but a starting spot on the big club with barely a taste of The Show is a lot to ask.
Arrivals: 1B Fred McGriff (free agent from Chicago Cubs), RHP Calvin Maduro (free agent from Baltimore), OF Calvin Murray (free agent from Texas), RHP Rodney Myers (free agent from San Diego), LHP Troy Brohawn (free agent from San Francisco), LHP Yorkis Perez (free agent from Baltimore), LHP Pedro Borbon (free agent from Houston), INF-OF Terry Shumpert (free agent from Colorado), INF Ron Coomer (free agent from New York Yankees), C Todd Hundley (from Chicago Cubs in trade), OF Chad Hermansen (from Chicago Cubs in trade), OF Daryle Ward (from Houston in trade).
Departures: C Chad Kreuter (free agent signed with Texas), LHP Jesse Orosco (free agent signed with San Diego), OF Marquis Grissom (free agent signed with San Francisco), INF Dave Hansen (free agent signed with San Diego), LHP Omar Daal (free agent signed with Baltimore), 3B Tyler Houston (free agent signed with Philadelphia), 2B Jeff Reboulet (free agent), 1B Eric Karros (traded to Chicago Cubs), 2B Mark Grudzielanek (traded to Chicago Cubs).
With all the pitching questions, it's easy to count the Dodgers out. But if Tracy has proven anything in the past two years, it's that counting out the Dodgers is folly. With Fred McGriff at first and Shawn Green being Shawn Green (42 homers, 114 RBIs last season), the Dodgers have a lineup that can produce runs. Paul Lo Duca, Green, McGriff and Jordan make a pretty solid middle of the lineup. And the pitching could come around. The Dodgers should compete, again, with the Giants and Diamondbacks. Whether they can secure their first trip to the postseason since 1996 ... well, they'll have to be a little lucky to do that.
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