2010 Los Angeles Dodgers Spring Training Preview

The baseball off season has been a busy one for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Players are exiting left and right while very few are being brought in to replace them. There is little doubt that the divorce proceedings that owner Frank McCourt is going through has changed the way the Dodgers are doing business. Usually the team is the discussion for all the high priced free agents, but this year they weren't. Will the 2010 version of the Dodgers be a casualty of the McCourt divorce? Let's take a closer look.

Gone from last year's squad are pitchers Jon Garland, Randy Wolf, Guillermo Mota, second baseman Orlando Hudson, left fielder Juan Pierre, and pinch hitter Jim Thome. Garland and Wolf started 40% of the Dodgers games last season, each eclipsing 200 innings pitched, which is a lot to have to replace. Mota was a reliable middle reliever. Pierre was a very good replacement while Manny Ramirez was serving his 50 game suspension last season. Hudson is one of the best defensive second baseman in the majors, with a decent bat. Thome, though only with the Dodgers for a couple of months, was a nice left handed pinch hitter coming off the bench. The total of all these players will be hard to replace, but the Dodgers made only a few acquisitions.

New to the Dodgers in 2010 will be second baseman Ronnie Belliard who hasn't managed 300 at bats the last two seasons, outfielder Brian Giles, a veteran that was worth only a non roster invitation to spring training, because he hasn't hit more than 15 home runs in five seasons and 33 year old relief pitcher Justin Miller.

The starting rotation will be Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Vicente Padilla, with the fifth spot completely up for grabs. Kershaw will be 22 years old when the season starts and the ace role may be a lot of pressure to throw at him. Billingsley is coming off a decent season, although a 4.03 earned run average when your home park is pitcher's friendly Dodger Stadium is a little bit worrisome. Kuroda is coming off a injury plagued season that limited him to just 20 starts. Padilla had a solid 12-6 season last year and even picked up a win in the playoffs.

The bullpen is pretty solid with Jonathan Broxton closing games and George Sherrill setting him up. Broxton collected 36 saves last season, while striking out and average of 1.5 batters per inning pitched. Sherrill had a bounce back season splitting time between the Baltimore Orioles and the Dodgers.

The offense will depend on the outfield trio of Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier. Ramirez needs to rebound from a sub-par 2009 in which he knocked in only 63 runs. On the flip side both Kemp and Ethier continued in their progression. Kemp drove in 101 runs while also stealing 34 bases. Ethier was Mr. Clutch with six walk off hits last season. He drove in a career high 106 runs while belting 31 home runs.

The future is far from bleak for the Dodgers as they have a lot of young talent. The question is what happens if a few of these guys get injured during the season, do they have enough depth to weather the storm? I don't think that they do and I can't see them adding players mid-season while the team's financial future appears up in the air. Prediction: 83 wins and second place in the National League West.