By Steve Lyons
FOX Sports West and PRIME TICKET
LYONS ARCHIVE
With the winter meetings kicking off Monday, who would have thought the most aggressive, active team thus far has been the LA Dodgers?
With all the front office unrest and uncertainty, who would have figured the Dodgers would be out there filling the many holes in their everyday lineup and building a pretty darn good starting rotation the way they have? The Dodgers' offseason needs list was extensive: left field, second base, catcher, maybe third base, improved center field play, a consistent shortstop and pitching, pitching, pitching.
The signing of Juan Uribesolves the second base problem, the consistency at shortstop problem and any problem that may arise at third. Uribe can play all of the infield spots and will at some point during 2011. He also hit for more power than any of the Dodgers' infielders last year.
Rod Barajas, who hit .297 with five homeruns in a 25-game audition with the Dodgers at the end of last season, takes over for Russ Martin, who was non-tendered last week. Barajas has decent power and is good behind the plate. Martin may still be a Dodger next year if the two sides can come to an agreement, but in more of a utility role, giving the Dodgers some depth at multiple positions including third base and left field, in addition to his role as the back-up catcher.
Which brings us to pitching. Right off the top of your head, name a better starting rotation, top to bottom, in baseball right now than the Dodgers. Ok, the Giants, let's be realistic if not optimistic. But it is not out of the realm of possibility that Madison Bumgarner and Jonathan Sanchez have their growing pains next year and most would agree that the Giants wish they didn't have to have Barry Zito's contract staring them in the face every time he takes the mound.
The Phillies also come to mind with the three aces at the top, Roy Halladay, Cole Hammels and Roy Oswalt, but then it's Joe Blanton as your No. 4 and whoever wins the No. 5 spot in in the spring.
| Dodgers projected 2010 rotation
162-Game Career Averages | |||
| NAME | WINS | ERA | IP |
| Clayton Kershaw | 11 | 3.17 | 196 |
| Chad Billingsley | 14 | 3.55 | 193 |
| Ted Lilly | 13 | 4.18 | 196 |
| Hiroki Kuroda | 12 | 3.60 | 194 |
| Jon Garland | 13 | 4.32 | 208 |
| TOTAL | 63 | 4.00 | 987 |
So right now the Dodgers have, from 1 to 5, the most consistently good starting staff in baseball. In case you missed it, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti re-signed Ted Lilly and Hiroki Kuroda to at the back end of the rotation slotted behind your No. 1, Clayton Kershaw, and your No. 2, Chad Billinglsey. Then he added Jon Garland as the No. 5, who did a great job for the Dodgers down the stretch in '09 but was snubbed on the playoff roster. Somehow Colletti got Garland back and for short money too. Every one of those guys won at least 10 games last year and could have won more with a little run support (Kershaw, Lilly) and every one of them threw more than 190 innings. The five are workhorses and if all five pitchers meet their season averages, the staff should accumulate 987 innings.
If you watch the Dodgers broadcast, you will know that I am not a guy that likes the term "innings eater." Who cares? I can go out and eat up innings. Give me a guy who will get deep into games and win those games. Give me a guy who every time out there shortens the game down and keeps my bullpen guys in the order they're supposed to be in. At times last season, the bullpen looked bad, but it was more a by-product of the starters not going deep enough and that problem righted itself as the season wore on.
And don't forget, another result of the Uribe signing was the trade of Ryan Theriot to Cardinals for right-handed pitcher Blake Hawksworth. There was no room for Theriot and there is a lot of upside to Hawksworth. He had a rough 2010 season after posting some pretty good numbers in his previous big league appearances. I like the fact that he's 6-3, has a chance to fill out and his flexibility of starting or working out of the bullpen.
Now, I'm not saying the Dodgers are the favorite to win the West with what they have now, but they're a lot closer than they were two weeks ago. They still need a left fielder and I hope Colletti isn't done trying to get another quality starter as you always need more pitching than you think you need. And even though I really like this rotation for the regular season, unless Kershaw and Billingsley really jump forward this season and become true baseball aces, I'm not sure this rotation is built for the playoffs.
But if you thought the Dodgers were just going to sit on their hands this offseason, you were wrong. I just hope they're not quite done, just yet.
