While the Manny situation drudges on, the Dodgers enter Spring Training looking to compete for the World Series via another division championship. This year, Spring Training will be longer than usual thanks to the senseless World Baseball Classic. It pains me to see our closer and catcher involved in it. Broxton and Martin do not need to play anymore baseball than they already do. Martin gets enough reps as it is. Broxton could use a fresher arm in October and this could by abstaining from playing in the WBC. These two guys would be two of the last players I would want to be participating in the event that Bud Selig made up because he is an idiot.

Orlando Hudson joins the Dodgers and will be handed the second base job. He was a bargain and it was a good move to bring him in. Now, this seems like this might push DeWitt out of the lineup and it may if Torre feels like he wants Pierre to have LF. At first, I thought that this would be the case even when I heard that they would move Casey Blake to left. I did some looking and saw that it was only three years ago that Casey Blake played RF somewhat regularly. In the two years that he played RF, logging a combined 231 games and was above the league average in Range Factor. At 35, he may have lost a step or two but he can still probably play LF better than Juan Pierre. While Pierre brings speed to the table, Blake brings power and a much higher OPS in addition to being a superior fielder.

Now, we are beyond asking the question of why Juan Pierre is getting paid as he is but it is clear that the only way Juan Pierre snakes his way into the lineup is through injury, not acquiring Manny and more injuries. Pierre will get somes starts but remains an overpaid backup OF and pinch-hitter/runner. I like him as a player but I find it hard to see him being a part of a winning baseball team at this juncture. 2003 Pierre was good but he has not been that good since leaving the Marlins.

The Dodgers have received a lot of criticism for the lack of starting pitching. Rightfully so as the Dodgers biggest question mark is the rotation. The common belief is that Billingsley and Kershaw are on the rise and I concur with that belief. Kuroda is a solid member of the staff but is an injury risk. Wolf is serviceable starter when healthy but is an even larger injury risk. The fifth starter will come from a large group of prospects and retreads. The hope will be that one of these guys can step in and be the starter and another pitcher or two in the group can step in as a long reliever that can step in as a reserve starter if necessary. Those are high hopes for a team whose pitching staff kept them competitive last year. The depth is the issue as the Dodgers have a history of needing more than five starters to complete a season. While the current economic climate may not allow for the Dodgers to spend all the money they would and the fact that midseason deals will be available to fill in necessary gaps, the depth issue still looms and will not be alleviated unless the Dodgers staff holds up.

There is a long way to go in this spring training. Most of our questions will not be answered until the season is well under way. Until Manny is signed and the Dodgers leave Camelback Ranch, here’s to a healthy spring training. Let’s go Dodgers!