Trouble and bad luck keep finding Russell Martin on the baseball field.

Once the gem of this group of budding Dodger prospects, Martin was close to becoming the face of the Dodgers.

Then 2009.

Martin hit just .250 with seven home runs and 53 runs driven in last season, both career lows. He stole just 11 bases, his lowest since his rookie year, in which he didn't play the full season in the bigs. His slugging, on-base and OPS were all the lowest they have ever been. He slugged just .352. There were players (well, at least Joe Mauer) who had higher averages then Martin slugged. Not good.

So after averaging over 140 games per season for the better part of the last four seasons, the busiest backstop in the game is shelved for a while with a groin injury and might not be ready for Opening Day. This is not good for Mr. Martin, more than anyone.

For one, Martin is a slow starter. He hit only .205 last April, and hit .167 for the first week.

He did the same thing in 2008, hitting just .197 for the first three weeks. So, we can see he is a slow starter, so missing Spring Training, especially when trying to rebound from a sub-par year, is not going to be good.

How bad does this hurt the club?

Not too bad, I submit.

Here it is, enjoy!

It's back with a vengeance because this year the spot is even more wide open/in flux than it was at this time in 2009.

Let's meet the candidates...

In my 24-year tenure as a Dodger fan (started following the team when I was eight, in 1986) I have loved very, very few players the way I loved Eric Gagne when he was a Dodger.

The stretch of 2002-2004 was as dominant as any closer in the history of the game. He saved 84 straight games, he saved 152 games in those three years, struck out over 100 all three years, had an ERA below 2.00, and he won a Cy Young.

It has also become pretty evident that Gagne used HGH, which has left my memory for him tainted and my feelings for him mixed.

Sure, a lot of players did it, but when the face of your franchise does it and it tarnishes all he accomplished, it's tougher to deal with.

Gagne's last 70 appearances in the Major League's, with Boston to end 2007 and with Milwaukee in '08, were less than memorable. He wasn't even around in 2009. I don't have is semi-pro Canadian League stats (or whatever it was) handy.

Now he's returned to the place where he was a legend. Where Game Over signs flahsed and Welcome to the Jungle blasted and many questions loom. 

Will he be in any way effective?

How will he be received? 

How do we feel as Dodger fans feel about this?