They were also playing crap teams with bad pitchers. That's true, but they were playing crap teams with bad pitchers in the first half. They play in the NL West. I really doubt the only reason their offense improved was because they all the sudden started playing bad teams, and not because they added 4 solid hitters to their everyday lineup. (3 technically because Furcal only played a week) Look at their schedule. They played their division rivals down the stretch. They added one great hitter at the deadline. Overall, they are very mediocre and don't have a good lineup outside of Manny. If he goes into a slump they have a terrible lineup. Their only hope is that the Cubs get impatient and start swinging at junk. That's the only way they're going to win. Down the stretch they did, just as they probably had a long stretch in the first half when they played bad teams. I mean they play in the NL West. Those numbers also include their August schedule, when they faced the folllowing teams: vs. AZ @ STL @ SF vs. PHI (4) vs. MIL vs. COL @ PHI (4) @ WAS @ AZ Not an impossible schedule by any means, but its not like their September schedule. The way you are wording your argument is implying that the Dodgers played nothing but easy teams for the last 2 months of the season, while their numbers are bogged down in the first half by playing only hard teams. Certainly its not the case. The day before the Manny trade was made, the Dodgers put together an outfield consisting of Andruw Jones (.505 OPS), Juan Pierre (.655 OPS) and Matt Kemp (.799 OPS). Now its Manny Ramirez (1.031 OPS), Kemp (.799) and Ethier (.885). That's a sizable difference right there. They will also be upgraded offensively by replace Angel Berroa (.614 OPS) with Furcal (.764 career OPS, 1.012 in limited sample this year). They are not better than the Cubs by any stretch, but its pretty clear they are significantly better right now than they were in July. Well screw it then, the Cubs should just pack it in. They are a MEDIOCRE TEAM with Manny and bad team without him. This is the 84 win Dodgers we are talking about not the 1927 Yankees. This year's Cubs team is head and shoulders better than the Dodgers and should win easily. Dude calm down. No one is saying the Cubs are favored to lose. All we're (or at least I'm) saying is that the Dodgers are better right now than they were in June. I think any rational person would agree. Where we might differ of course is the degree of improvement they have had.