The Philadelphia Phillies are a better team, plain and simple.
It is a team built to win in the post-season.
The Dodgers, as good as they are, are not built as well for playoff series'.
There is plenty of talent in Los Angeles, and the Dodgers are going to be a threat for a long time, but the 2009 season, to me, was a failure. 95 wins means nothing if you don't even get one game closer to the World Series than you did the year before.
Now, it's time to address some issues and come back strong for the 2010 season.
What do the Dodgers need to do?
They need to do quite a few things, all of which probably won't be addressed.
We discuss.
For starter's (no pun intended) the team needs a frontline starter. The lack of a dominant starter was glaringly obvious when Joe Torre ran Vicente Padilla out there in the most important, and final, game of the Dodgers season.
Sure, Padilla has been very good, but he's not the horse you hitch your entire season to.
Apparently, our two young aces, Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw, were not ready to pitch an elimination game on the road.
You know who would have? Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay. Instead, Lee was in the other dugout and Halladay was in Canada hunting for frickin' Moose or drinking La Batte Blue.
How do the Dodgers fix the starting pitching? I hate to say it, but it's not going to happen. I think they are pretty much forced to bring Jon Garland back on his option and to re-sign Padilla.
The consensus is that Randy Wolf will leave for a longer and richer contract. It is also being said that the Dodgers won't sign a pitcher. Why, I don't know.
Wolf would love to stay in LA if they offered him a decent deal. The team can afford it, and they should.
The big name on the free agent market is John Lackey, and I would love to have a bulldog like that, but the team is afraid of big, long contracts and I give that a less than zero percent chance of happening.
After that, a guy like Erik Bedard might be worth looking into in an incentive-laden deal.
The fix won't be made in the free agent market, unfortunately, which means they may revisit the Roy Halladay trade in the Winter Meetings. I think it's time to catch up with the Phillies and make a big move like that.
I think James Loney and/or Russell Martin should be used in a trade to bring in a pitcher. I am not sold on either one of those guys. I think those two could be the start of a nice package.
I would then probably move Casey Blake to first base, and sign a solid veteran third baseman like Adrian Beltre or Melvin Mora. Blake DeWitt could also be an option, but I think a guy like Beltre or Mora would be good to bring in, giving DeWitt some at bats and easing him into the spot.
Casey Blake, who is signed for two more years, is a good third baseman, but there are not any good free agent first baseman. He's also going to be 37 next summer.
We know that Manny Ramirez is going to stay, or at least we think we know. You really do never know with Manny. We are going to assume he's back, so we have another year of the Manny parade.
He can't lay off the inside pitch and his bat speed is gone. The final year of the saga won't be fun. I think Juan Pierre, if he doesn't get included in a trade, will get plenty of at bats.
Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp are studs and they need to be locked up. A new contract for those guys is vital for this team's future. Maybe they can even talk to Billingsley about one, and Kershaw isn't quite to that point yet, though it would be cheaper to lock both up now.
Rafael Furcal is going to have a big 2010, I can feel it. He eased himself back into 2009 and he stayed healthy and exploded late. I think he is all the way back next year.
Second base is going to be another question. Orlando Hudson isn't coming back, we know that. Does the team trust Ronnie Belliard for a full season? I think I would give him a shot, but I would have DeWitt or Ivan DeJesus waiting in the wings.
I'd really like to see DeJesus get some time at second base as they prepare him to take over at shortstop.
So the Dodgers don't need to spend money on position players for the most part, unless they want to bring in a second baseman or if they trade Loney and/or Martin like I suggested.
Either way, not much money will be spent on position players. Money needs to be spent on locking up the future and bringing in at least one pitcher, on top of keeping Randy Wolf around.
It's time to make this team a World Series contender, right? Because they clearly were not in 2009.
Who is this Rafael Belliard person you speak of?
The Dodgers have 2 aces in Kershaw and Bills. No need to overspend for one year of Halladay. I'd rather target Felix Hernandez at the same price of prospects. I'd certainly give up Loney, Martin, and either McDonald or Elbert for Hernandez! Infact, I'd give up Loney, Martin, McDonald, Elbert, and a few lesser prospects if they threw in Jose Lopez to sweeten the pot. I'd certainly miss Martin, but not Loney so much...
LOL. Sorry, I meant Ronnie Belliard.
I got Rafael Belliard on the brain because just yesterday I was talking to a buddy of mine who met Rafael Belliard. Haha.
I fixed it.
I agree the lack of shut down pitchers is the problem, good news is that Bills and Kershaw are two such pitchers, Kershaw's first full year was great...what if he improves? Bills went through the first major down stretch and needs to pick himself up and make the adjustments, which will make him the dominante pitcher he was in the first half.
Two guys I dont want to give three years or more are Lackey and Wolf, and the reason is...Jason Shmidt!!! I wouldnt mind resigning Padilla and Garland for a year each, but then we are gambling on Bills and Kershaw coming through...which is what the pitching was going to be built on all along right???
By letting Odawg and Wolf go we are going to stock the farm in the draft by teams picking them up...either by 1st or supplemental picks, that should give the farm the depth it needs to restock and make a trade for a proven guy like Halladay midway through the season...or even King Felix which would start with Kemp or Kershaw...not happening.
Thought about this last night while revamping the lineup and figuring out how to make this a WORLD SERIES contender, and wonder why we would want to move Blake from 3rd base...he has a better glove than Beltre did(not arm), and with him and Loney at first, our defense is one of the best in the league and its because of those two. Pretty much for next year I have had a complete 180.
Keep Loney - gold glove 1st baseman, makes up for Furcal's throws in the dirt, he has one more year to show us what he's got, for crying out loud hit .300 or 20hrs or 100RBIs, one of those three and I'll keep him longer.
Keep Belliard - platoon him with one of the kids (Dewitt and DeJusus work for me also Hu), can relieve blake at third, right handed 1st baseman, get the draft picks for Hudson, Furcal likes him
Keep Bills - again the plan was for Kershaw and Bills to be our 1-2 punch, Bills has the stuff to be a number one, either he lost it or was hurt, he also has one more year to figure it out (problem is his stock will nose dive if he doesnt regain form). But if Bills isnt in our future then our starting staff wont be ready for some time...Martin and Withrow arent even proven yet alone will be ready to pitch in the pros for 2-3 years, and they are supposed to be the reinforcements! Get his fat ass in shape, make sure there is nothing medically wrong with him, get him a shrink to reassure him that we still need him, and he isnt forgotten or lost yet, and then have Bowa pull his head out of his ass and Bills will be back to form. PREDICTION: Bills and Kershaw will develope into the Dynamic Duo next year.
Screw J.Martin, if he has trade value use it to get a starter of quality not necessarily an ace, so we sign Molina short term he is also a gold glove catcher but he blocks balls in the dirt. Or go with a Ausmus/Lucas May combo.
Thought, wouldnt Sherrill(not that I want to lose him), JMartin, and some prospects be a pretty good package to pry a quality pitcher away?
Bottom Line: Keep what we got, there are some major impact possible free agents after the 2010 season to make major adjustments and the kids will still have trade value after next season. If Bills and Loney step up all season long there are two pieces we lack (power at 1st and two solid pitchers at one time). I'm still pissed at JMartin and am willing to sacrifice him for another starter along with McDonald and Elbert they have not stepped up at the Major League level and we could cash in two starting young pitchers along with a proven major league catcher for Halladay. But we dont need to give up much else for a one year rental
The dude form Dodger Rumors thinks we should sign John Lackey!!! Did we learn nothing from rehabbing Schmidt for three years and getting nothing in return?? Why overpay for an injury case? Its not like Lackey will be offering up any discounts for his off year, he is seeking big bucks that we can lock up in arbitration cases and extentions. He also is suggestion we resign Wolf which will take the same type of deal for Tim Hudson!