The Dodgers look to be the team to beat in the NL

[Little Slide Rooter]

Seriously, these guys are stacked

 

Seriously, the Dodgers are going to have a stacked lineup

 

SS Furcal

2B Hudson

RF Ethier

LF Manny

CF Kemp

C Martin

1B Loney

3B Blake

 

Not a bad rotation either

 

Billingsly

Kuroda

Kershaw

Wolf

Schmidt(if healthy)

 

Bench

Pierre

DeWit

Lorretta

Mientkiewicz

 

Bullpan leaves something to be desired, but damn, these guys look good.

[17 Seconds]

I don't really see how they're the best in the NL. I'd put them 4th right now.

 

Their lineup looks good enough, but I don't see "stacked" unless all of their young guys take a huge step forward. It's basically Manny and a bunch of .750-.800 OPS guys. Not much power at all outside of Manny.

 

The rotation looks questionable.... at best.

 

They look like about an 85 win team to me, maybe less. They won 84 last year and I don't even know if they're improved. They lost their best pitcher of 2007 (Lowe) and also Saito. They'll get a full season out of Manny and Furcal, but not the 1.232 OPS Manny and not the 1.012 Furcal.

[Little Slide Rooter]

What I like about them, similar to us is that you dont have any easy outs in aleague where you dont have many powerhourse type of teams. Even with us, the 7-8 spots a question marks where we reallydont know what to expect from Fontenot and Fukudome. Look at most teams, and their 7-8 guys, you have your easy out type of hitters. With the Dodgers, the 7-8 guys would likely be guys like Blake, Loney, and Hudson, who would be 5-6 type hitters on a lot of teams.

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah their rotation kinda sucks.

[17 Seconds]

What I like about them, similar to us is that you dont have any easy outs in aleague where you dont have many powerhourse type of teams. Even with us, the 7-8 spots a question marks where we reallydont know what to expect from Fontenot and Fukudome. Look at most teams, and their 7-8 guys, you have your easy out type of hitters. With the Dodgers, the 7-8 guys would likely be guys like Blake, Loney, and Hudson, who would be 5-6 type hitters on a lot of teams.

 

Well yeah, their production is evenly spread out, but none of it is really that great. It seems like they have a bunch of complimentary type players, at least that's the way they performed last year. They don' really have a meat of the order.

[jersey cubs fan]

What I like about them, similar to us is that you dont have any easy outs in aleague where you dont have many powerhourse type of teams. Even with us, the 7-8 spots a question marks where we reallydont know what to expect from Fontenot and Fukudome. Look at most teams, and their 7-8 guys, you have your easy out type of hitters. With the Dodgers, the 7-8 guys would likely be guys like Blake, Loney, and Hudson, who would be 5-6 type hitters on a lot of teams.

 

Well yeah, their production is evenly spread out, but none of it is really that great. It seems like they have a bunch of complimentary type players, at least that's the way they performed last year. They don' really have a meat of the order.

 

Loney was under a .340 OBP last year, and Casey Blake was just .313 for them last year. He's .334 career and is already 35. Those guys make lots of outs. Furcal is a post 30 middle infielder with some mixed results and health issues in his history who could be a mediocre player. Hudson is another post-30 middle infielder who isn't a 162 game type player and hasn't been a stand-out.

 

They were 13th in the NL in runs scored last year, and while Manny will make a difference he's not going to SLG 700 for them again, and they still play in Dodger Stadium. They aren't what I'd call stacked, although they should be good.

 

I'd hate to face a Manny team in the playoffs again.

[Cynosure]

We were "stacked" last year and look how far we got.

[Bull]

We were "stacked" last year and look how far we got.

 

Just because the Cubs got beat last year doesn't mean they weren't the team to beat. In fact, I think it means they were... and were.

[The Logan]

DIDN'T YOU GUYS SEE HOW WELL THEY DID AFTER MANNY SHOWED UP. SWEET BABY JESUS AND THE CHILDREN THEY WERE LIKE THE ROBOCOPS OF BASEBALL!!111

 

I don't know why I did that, I'm running on fumes and am kind of delirious right now

[jersey cubs fan]

We were "stacked" last year and look how far we got.

 

Best record in the league?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I believe a lot of their hitters will take big steps forward and that Dodger stadium will make their pitching staff look better than it is.

 

I'd say yes, best record in the league.

[RedFlash]

I believe a lot of their hitters will take big steps forward and that Dodger stadium will make their pitching staff look better than it is.

 

I'd say yes, best record in the league.

 

I'm not convince the Dodgers will even reach 90 wins, much less "best record." I know they play in the "Crap Division" and should win that division handily, but their pitching stiff isn't exactly legendary. There is good talent on the staff, but the Dodgers have to replace Lowe, and Saito. There is talent on the Dodgers, but unless Kemp/Either and Loney take MAJOR step forward in their development, I can't see them winning more then 85 games. They are simply not that good. If they did win 90 or so games, then they would be lucky. (Btb: I think the Cubs are in that same range, 85-90 wins, so it's not as if I have my homer sunglasses on)

[TruffleShuffle]

I believe a lot of their hitters will take big steps forward and that Dodger stadium will make their pitching staff look better than it is.

 

I'd say yes, best record in the league.

 

shouldn't that stadium also make a lot of hitters look worse than they are?

[biittner77]

I believe a lot of their hitters will take big steps forward and that Dodger stadium will make their pitching staff look better than it is.

 

I'd say yes, best record in the league.

 

The Giants and D bags should give them a lot of competition. Meanwhile the Cubs get to beat up on a pretty mediocre NL Central. The Dodgers will need a lot of best case scenarios from their lineup to have the best record in the NL.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I believe a lot of their hitters will take big steps forward and that Dodger stadium will make their pitching staff look better than it is.

 

I'd say yes, best record in the league.

 

shouldn't that stadium also make a lot of hitters look worse than they are?

 

Yes. But doesn't the difference between good teams and their opponents increase in a low-run-scoring environment? Or I am misunderremembering that?

[badnews]

I don't think what you posted warrants a "damn those guys look good."

[jersey cubs fan]

I believe a lot of their hitters will take big steps forward and that Dodger stadium will make their pitching staff look better than it is.

 

I'd say yes, best record in the league.

 

shouldn't that stadium also make a lot of hitters look worse than they are?

 

Yes. But doesn't the difference between good teams and their opponents increase in a low-run-scoring environment? Or I am misunderremembering that?

 

I don't really get what you are saying.

[chi city]

i can't help but think that they're the team to beat in the NL as well. they made quality moves in the offseason, and if they go through with their plan to get an ace (i keep hearing Pedro's name floating around), they will be the team to beat. i'm still riding with our Cubbies cause i know we'll make it to the post season, but the Dodgers set themselves up nice for the regular season.

[jersey cubs fan]

i can't help but think that they're the team to beat in the NL as well. they made quality moves in the offseason, and if they go through with their plan to get an ace (i keep hearing Pedro's name floating around), they will be the team to beat. i'm still riding with our Cubbies cause i know we'll make it to the post season, but the Dodgers set themselves up nice for the regular season.

 

He's not exactly an ace.

[radarluv1]

that whole division should be stingy with runs Petco, PacBell, the Humidor. there bullpen may be throwing in a lot of close games.

[17 Seconds]

i can't help but think that they're the team to beat in the NL as well. they made quality moves in the offseason, and if they go through with their plan to get an ace (i keep hearing Pedro's name floating around), they will be the team to beat. i'm still riding with our Cubbies cause i know we'll make it to the post season, but the Dodgers set themselves up nice for the regular season.

 

What quality moves have they made? They lost Lowe and Saito and added.........? Randy Wolf? Orland Hudson? They got worse roster-wise. They need all their young guys to take a huge step forward if they want to end up with anywhee near the best record in the NL.

 

Plus Pedro is not an ace. There are no aces on the market right now so I don't see how that is their plan right now.

[cubbinalltheway]

i can't help but think that they're the team to beat in the NL as well. they made quality moves in the offseason, and if they go through with their plan to get an ace (i keep hearing Pedro's name floating around), they will be the team to beat. i'm still riding with our Cubbies cause i know we'll make it to the post season, but the Dodgers set themselves up nice for the regular season.

 

What quality moves have they made? They lost Lowe and Saito and added.........? Randy Wolf? Orland Hudson? They got worse roster-wise. They need all their young guys to take a huge step forward if they want to end up with anywhee near the best record in the NL.

 

Plus Pedro is not an ace. There are no aces on the market right now so I don't see how that is their plan right now.

i don't know enough about the dodgers to intelligently comment overall, but you can't overlook the addition of manny for a full season in 2009 rather than a couple months in 2008. that's huge.

[17 Seconds]

No I considered that. But you also have to consider that it's not going to be the 1.232 Manny that they got for 229 PA last year.

 

They should win that division, but I don't really see where the "team to beat" stuff comes from. They look like they have below average pitching and a slighty above average offense.

[shnsajax]

Remember last year when we thought the DBacks were going to be the best team in that division. Their team is not that much different from the Dodgers.

[Guest]

[Meph]The correct answer is The Mets [/Meph]