The Dodgers: One Week In

Barely a week into the 2008 Major League Baseball season and my Dodgers are 4-2, having taken 2-of-3 from the Giants (at home) and the Padres (at Petco).

Here’s what I’m liking:

- The defense of Andruw Jones. Him and his 10 Gold Gloves have already proved valuable out in center. I breathe much easier knowing that he’s out there instead of Pierre (he of the mad hustle but the anemic arm).

- Hiroki Kuroda, who was absolutely brilliant in his MLB debut on Friday, giving up three this and only one run in a 7-1 Dodger victory. He exhibited excellent control and a few absolutely filthy pitches. I can’t wait to watch him do his thing for the rest of the year.

Kuroda: ready to rock the Ravine.

- A 100% healthy Rafael Furcal. You can absolutely see the difference and it’s incredibly heartening. His range defensively has improved and he’s already had at least three or four fantastic defensive plays this year.

- A staff 1.70 ERA, the lowest in the Majors. Our pitching has pulled us through tough spots so far, and we have a very solid 1-4 rotation. Our bullpen, a weakness in recent years past, has thus far held strong (such a positive sign).

- Blake DeWitt. Third base (and their default choice to fill the hole) was suspect at the beginning of the season. But DeWitt has been solid at the plate – three runs and five hits in 18 at-bats – and even better defensively. He showed up to play and hopefully will continue trying to make Torre think long and hard about getting rid of him once Nomar and LaRoche return.


Here’s what I’m not liking:

- Our .229 team batting average as a team, the fourth worst in the Majors. Jones, Martin and Kent (among others) are all off to sluggish starts, and for a team not really known for their power and amazing run production even when they’re ON…this is troubling.

Peavy: One scary mo-fo.

- A continuing inability to beat top pitchers. Our only loss to San Diego came when we put our ace (Penny) up against theirs (reigning Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy). Peavy made every single person in that lineup look absolutely silly. As LA Daily News beat reporter Tony Jackson points out, “Since the start of last season, the No. 1 starters for the Rockies, Padres and Diamondbacks -- Jeff Francis, Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb, respectively -- are now a combined 11-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 14 starts against the Dodgers, who are 1-13 in those 14 games.” They’ll never go away, so we have to find a way to beat No. 1 starters…especially in our own division.


Here’s a big question mark:

- Torre. He’s got the biggest spotlight in town shining on him right now, and a ton of questions hanging over his head. It’s hard to say anything one way or another about his managerial skills a mere one week in. Two months from now, I may be saying the same thing. It’s really hard to say. There’s not much to call in to question and, conversely, there’s not a lot to praise to the heavens (thus far). I’ll say that I’m very comfortable with him at the helm; hopeful but not unrealistic. He doesn’t quite know our team completely yet, but he knows the game inside out. I trust in his experience and his skill, and I’m very interested to watch how much (if any) of an AL managerial style he tries to bring into an NL world.

Dodgers Sign Kuroda

This weekend, the Dodgers won the (quiet) bidding war for Japanese right-handed pitcherHiroki Kuroda. Kuroda, 32, has a 3.69 lifetime ERA and 103-89 record and is coming off the most successful year of his career. He will get $35.3 million over the next three years to pitch in Dodger blue.

Experts call him a ground ball pitcher with exellent control and the ability to step up and take command late in a game (the 6th and 7th innings). He's probably going to slip into the Number 3 starter role, behind Derek Lowe and Brad Penny.

Los Angeles? Hmmm..I hear the weather is nice there.

I'm liking our winter signings thus far because we're actually doing what we said we set out to do. We needed a power bat, so we signed Andruw Jones to a two-year deal. I already commented on my slight misgivings about that deal, but I really think last year was an abberation and, now that he's healthy, Jones will step up and do what we need him to in 2008.

We needed another solid starting pitching arm and in comes Kuroda. I'm waiting for more word to start coming out on him, but I like what I'm hearing so far. Our rotation will consist of Lowe, penny, Kuroda, Billingsley and either Loaiza or Schmidt (the preferable option, in my opinion, if he's healthy). Not the most impressive in baseball, but definitely solid.

Those two acquisitions cost us a lot of money (if you're doing the math, which I am). However, we signed both of these guys without giving up a single young prospect. Martin, LaRoche, Kemp, Ethier, Billingsley and Broxton are all still in Dodger Blue and at least three of them figure to be significant contributors to the team in 2008. I call it a win-win.

I still think there's work to be done. I'd love to add a bat at third, but the market was thin to begin with and Lowell and Rodrigguez re-signing with their current teams and Cabrera going to the Tigers, I'm not sure who else is out there that's really worth having. We may end up having to count on Garciaparra to step back up to his 2006 Comeback Player of the Year form or on Andy LaRoche to mature enough to step up to the Big League level. This concerns me...

I simply cannot do it...a-looooooone!

I also would feel better having another solid lefty arm in the bullpen. Broxton shouldered most of that weight by himself last year and, toward the end of the season, he started to chow the strain. Injuries have decimated our bullpen in the last few years, and it got to the poitn where it was a total crapshoot what you'd get on any given night: a lights-out strikeout machine or a ragtag troupe who couldn't get an out to save their lives. It hurt my heart.

Still, heading into the holidays, I'm happier about the way we're shaping up than I have been in the past few years. Though I do tend to be an offseason optimist...

Jones dons Dodger blue

Andruw Jones. Two years, 36.2 million.

2007 STATS

G HR RBI R OBP AVG
154 26 94 83 .311 .222

AVG CAREER STATS

G HR RBI R OBP AVG SLG OPS
162 34 103 96 .342 .263 .497 .839

Watch the bad arm, guys!

Jones supposedly played most of 2007 with a hyperextended elbow, which contributed to his unimpressive season. In theory, this seems like a good get. Jones is an outstanding defensive player AND (usually) a potent bat in the center of a lineup. The Dodgers have been in dire need of a power bat for a long, long time. Having him behind speedsters Furcal and Pierre (in my opinion, not nearly as big a disappointment as all the bloggers on ESPN.com bemoan) in the lineup could prove to be an RBI gold mine.

But I can't shake my lingering suspicion that the Dodgers are developing a reputation for coming just a little too late to the party. I think they have a tendency to overpay for players JUST after they've passed their prime and end up with egg on their faces (to varying degrees) come October. Juan Pierre. Eric Gagne (when they re-signed). Darren Dreifort. Kevin Brown. Need I go on?

When it comes to the boys in blue, however, I am the eternal optimist. I sincerely hope Jones' 2007 season was an aberration rather than an ominous sign of things to come. Bringing him on board creates a surplus of talent in the outfield (I'm talking Ethier or Kemp; I'm not going to get into the debate raging over whether to try and unload Pierre just yet) that may prove important in a trade for a starting pitcher.

I like this move overall. Assuming his elbow is healthy, Jones is a serious offensive (and defensive) threat. He's 30 years old with more than 10 years of major league experience (and a wealth of postseason experience as well) and 10 Gold Gloves. While he's no wunderkind or magical fix-all, landing him is a huge (if overly expensive) positive.