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Los Angeles Dodgers
Team Page | Roster | Spring Training Schedule | Regular Season Schedule
On this page: Arrivals | Departures | Spring Cleaning | Team Breakdown | Prospects | Predictions

Gary Sheffield reiterated his desire to be traded Friday. AP

By B. Duane Cross, CNNSI.com

A peek at the numbers reveals the prettiest thing in Los Angeles remains KTLA news anchor Sharon Tay. In 2000, the Dodgers finished tied for 25th in batting (.257) and tied for 28th with 135 errors. In three years under FOX Group ownership, the team sports a 246-240 record with three general managers and four managers.

In an effort to capitalize on the high-dollar talent assembled in Dodger Blue, GM Kevin Malone fired manager Davey Johnson and replaced him with bench coach Jim Tracy. After last season's 86-win effort, Malone decided the Dodgers have enough talent (pitcher Andy Ashby is the team's only significant offseason addition). After all, L.A. had the second-highest payroll ($105 million) in baseball, which amounted to $1,220,930 per victory.

What the team lacked, Malone surmised, was a bench presence. Enter Tracy, a member of the Expos when Malone was Montreal's GM, to lead a franchise that has not won a postseason game since clinching the 1988 World Series.

Top Guns Dodgers 2000 team leaders Avg.  Gary Sheffield  .325  HR  Gary Sheffield  43  RBIs  Gary Sheffield  109  SB  Shawn Green  24  Wins  Chan Ho Park  18  ERA  Kevin Brown  2.58  Ks  Chan Ho Park  217  Saves  Jeff Shaw  27    Go Figure 11-0 Matt Herges' record in relief.

Tracy becomes the franchise's 24th manager and only the sixth skipper in L.A. history. Tracy was 3-1 as the Dodgers' interim manager July 16-19, 2000, while Johnson was sidelined with an irregular heartbeat. Tracy, 44, has spent 24 years in professional baseball, including a 501-486 record in seven seasons as a minor league manager.

One bright spot, however, was the second-ranked staff ERA (4.10). L.A.'s Kevin Brown (13-6, 2.56 ERA) is arguably the best pitcher in the National League West. The Dodgers' No. 2 and 3 starters are Chan Ho Park (18-10, 3.27) and Darren Driefort (12-9, 4.16). This trio was 43-25 with a 3.29 ERA in 99 starts, while the fourth and fifth starters were a combined 11-26 with a 6.58 ERA in 63 games. Ashby (12-13, 4.92) and Eric Gagne (4-6, 5.15) likely will round out the rotation.

As good as the Dodgers' starters have the potential to be, the bullpen is equally as suspect. Aside from closer Jeff Shaw (155 saves during the past five seasons, including 27 last year), L.A.'s bullpen is a collection of mostly right-handed journeymen. Terry Adams, Mike Fetters, Matt Herges and Antonio Osuna were the team's best options in '00. In fact, lefties worked only 60 1/3 of the 479 innings by Dodger relievers last year.

Los Angeles' projected starting lineup returns four players with 20-plus home runs: left fielder Gary Sheffield (41), first baseman Eric Karros (31), right fielder Shawn Green (24) and third baseman Adrian Beltre (20). The remaining four position players -- catcher Paul LoDuca, second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, short stop Alex Cora and center fielder Tom Goodwin -- combined for 19 homers.

Arrivals
Pos.	Player	From	Via
RHP	Andy Ashby	Braves	Free Agency
C	Brian Johnson	Yankees	Free Agency
LHP	Doug Linton	Orioles	Free Agency
RHP	Ramon Martinez	Red Sox	Free Agency
LHP	Jesse Orosco	Cardinals	Free Agency
LHP	Matt Whisenant	Padres	Free Agency

Departures
Pos.	Player	To	Via
SS	Kevin Elster	TBA
C	Todd Hundley	Cubs	Free Agency
RHP	Ismael Valdes	Angels	Free Agency
C	Jim Leyritz	TBA

Spring Cleaning

Shawn Green Green's $14 million addition to the lineup brought only five more runs scored and 24 home runs hit by the Dodgers compared to 1999. And the team batting average dropped nine points. Still, Green had 44 doubles and the Dodgers won nine more games in 2000 than the previous season. With a year of NL ball under his belt, Green should get back to the .300-30-120 level. After ranking 15th in stolen bases last season, L.A. named Maury Wills the Organizational Baserunning and Bunting Coordinator. Wills posted a lifetime batting average of .281 and stole 586 bases during 14 seasons in the majors with Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Montreal. Six times he led the NL in stolen bases, including a then-record 104 in 1962, earning him MVP honors. Wills, 68, has served as a baserunning instructor for five different organizations since his retirement in '72. Tom Goodwin has not been the answer either in the leadoff spot or center field. Acquired from Colorado, Goodwin provided 16 steals and a .251 average -- 20 points below his Rockies effort. Factor in Goodwin's .310 on-base percentage and it's another case of high yield, low return.

Team Breakdown
Projected Lineup		Projected Rotation
CF	Tom Goodwin	RHP	Kevin Brown
2B	Mark Grudzielanek	RHP	Chan Ho Park
LF	Gary Sheffield	RHP	Darren Driefort
RF	Shawn Green	RHP	Andy Ashby
1B	Eric Karros	RHPs	R. Martinez/Eric Gagne
3B	Adrian Beltre	Bullpen
C	Paul LoDuca	RHP	Jeff Shaw (closer)
SS	Alex Cora	RHP	Mike Fetters
Key Reserves		RHP	Terry Adams
OF	Marquis Grissom	RHP	Matt Herges
3B	Dave Hansen	RHP	Antonio Osuna
OF	Bruce Aven	RHP	Gregg Olson
INF	Chris Donnels	LHP	Onan Masaoka

Prospects to Watch
RHP Luke Prokopec -- A 5-foot-11, 166-pound Australian, Prokopec could move into the Dodgers' starting rotation mix this season if Ashby or Gagne falter. Prokopec, 23, was 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three major league starts last season, and his slider was rated the best breaking pitch in the Class AA Texas League. LHP Jose Antonio Nunez -- Acquired in the Rule V Draft, Nunez had a 5:1 strikeout-to-walks ratio in Class A. Nunez, a 23-year-old lefty, could have a quick trip to L.A. He was 3-4 with a 3.02 ERA and eight saves last season, and left-handers are a premium in Chavez Ravine. 2B Hiram Bocachica -- A 25-year-old right-handed hitter, Bocachica posted a .322 average with 23 home runs and 84 RBIs at Class AAA last season. Six years younger than Grudzielanek, there's no time like the present to see if Bocachica can make the grade. OF Chin-Feng Chen -- A former member of the Taiwan National Team, Chen, 23, is the first Taiwanese player to sign a professional contract with a major league team since San Francisco farmhand Hsin-Min Tan in 1975. Last season at Class AA, Chen hit .267 with six home runs, 67 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. In '99, Chen became the first player 30-30 player in California League (Class A) history.
Best-Case Scenario
It all starts up top -- and not in GM Malone's office. Goodwin must improve his on-base percentage, thus increasing the RBI chances for Sheffield, Green, Karros and Beltre. If Goodwin produces, the middle of the Dodgers' lineup could wreak havoc -- and challenge hated rival San Francisco for the NL West banner. But as important as Goodwin is to the lineup, Sheffield is equally vital to team chemistry. A muzzle would do wonders for the short term. Can the Dodgers have four pitchers with 20 wins each?
Worst-Case Scenario
FOX Group chief Rupert Murdoch decides he wants to be a 21st century George Steinbrenner and begins making personnel decisions. The nucleus is in place for a postseason run, but money cannot buy ... well, yes, it can buy a pennant, but the Dodgers' talent pool is shallower than the Yankees'. Tracy, who served under Felipe Alou in Montreal, discovers what it means to have management actually understand the bottom-line wins and losses: Murdoch suits up, ala another maverick owner, Ted Turner.
Bottom Line
The starting pitching will be the Dodgers' strength, but it cannot carry this team to 90-plus wins. No one wants to be Malone -- or Tracy. The Giants' Dusty Baker rebuffed offers to join the Dodgers, and two managers -- Alou and Jim Leyland, who rejected L.A. two years ago when Johnson was hired -- were not candidates this time. How far has this franchise fallen? Tracy and Rick Down were the finalists. It's win or else for Malone. And if Malone is gone, Tracy will be, too.

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