?

by free_form_art

Back in 2005 I was arguing with some idiot fan in the loge section of Dodger Stadium about the trading of Paul Lo Duca. I told him Dioner Navarro was the wave of the future and that eventually Martin would be the face of the franchise. I told him to look for a chap named Loney to plant himself at first base. I told him to be patient as our talent developed in the minor leagues. I told him to wait until 2008.

Well it's 2008 and sure enough here we are with a young and fresh team, perhaps powerful, perhaps good. So is 2008 really the year the Dodgers take it all? Well that's the question isn't it, and it has a lot of subquestions that live under its umbrella.

Starting Pitching
The rotation looks anchored with four solid front line starters: Lowe, Penny, Bills, and new import Kuroda, but the number five spot is the question mark here. Anyone who thinks Schmidt has anything left is retarded. Loaiza? Park? Kershaw? My guess is a platoon is in store. And heaven help us if one of our top four goes down with an extended injury, that alone can spell disaster.

3rd Base
Nomar = injury
LaRoche = ? (he hasn't flat-out taken the spot despite multiple opportunities to do so.)

Bench
Do we even have one?

Offense
Andruw Jones is coming off his worst year and I hear he's tubby. Still his 2007 was better then any other Dodgers' so it can't be all that bad.
Can the kids carry a team? I think yes here; they're ready.
Pierre or Ethier? My vote Pierre.

I don't get cynical till late July but in spring I like to be optimistic so I think the answers to these questions will be very favorable. Torre is better then Little, young is better then old, and last year wasn't all that bad. 90 wins easy, 95 wins likely, 100 wins not unheard of. 110 wins? 162!

Any other concerns I might have missed? Leave a comment and let us know.