The Dodgers’ new ownership group has made it clear that they are committed to winning once again in Los Angeles and they spared no expense prior to the trade deadline to try and make that happen. Inside of a week, General Manager Ned Colletti was given the greenlight to acquire shortstop Hanley Ramirez, outfielder Shane Victorino, and right-hander Brandon League. The Dodgers’ deadline potentially could have been even more wallet-busting had the Phillies agreed to part with Cliff Lee and the roughly $95MM owed to him through the rest of his contract.
Since acquiring Ramirez in late July and putting him into action on the 25th, the Dodgers are 7-7 in 14 games. The enigmatic star is now making his homecoming tonight in Miami as the Dodgers sport a 60-52 record. Los Angeles sits just one game behind the Giants for first place in the NL West and 3.5 games back of the Pirates for the second wild card slot.
Will their recent offensive infusion help them get over the hump and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2009? For the Dodgers to wind up below the .500 mark, they’d have to finish 20-30 or worse. To win 90 games, they’d have to go 30-20. There are 50 games remaining, how do you see it playing out?
I’m thinking they’ll end up in 3rd – behind the #1 Giants and the DBacks.
I’m thinking you’re a Giants fan.
Guilty ;) *but proud of it! We should all be passionate about our teams.
But also realistic.
No poll to actually vote
Just vote with your heart!
Yuck. I’d prefer to vote with my finger.
I think they’ll win the division, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see that happen with fewer than 90 wins. Let’s be real, the NL West is a really bad division.
Above 500 but no playoffs. But I’m a biased Giants fan.
I agree. But I’m a pessimistic Dodgers fan.
division winners.
The Giants? Yes, you’re correct.
LOL somebody voted “below .500”! Uh, no.
Okay even though I’m a Dodgers fan, I’m still nervous about our playoff chances. But below .500? C’mon people, the Dbacks aren’t that good!
The Dodgers have a good chance of making the Playoffs. Undoubtedly. I Still voted above .500 though. The only reason is that I would have liked to have seen a better starting pitching acquisition than Joe Blanton. Also even with the addition of Brandon League the bullpen is still kinda empty. Oh yeah also picked up Choate, almost forgot about him, in the Ramirez deal, but still even then… Needs a little more. But I like Victorino, Kemp, Ethier, Ramirez. It is always good when you have a lineup with that many recognizable names. There are good players who aren’t as recognizable but you just don’t expect and receive as much from those types of players in my opinion. Still, I think since apparently Ramirez is playing Shortstop for the Dodgers, (I really don’t watch the Dodgers too much) there isn’t necessarily a decent third baseman, and James Loney isn’t good enough at First, all Dodgers fans know this. AJ Ellis is also a surprise behind the plate, getting on base at .400, also his arm is getting better over the years with his Caught Stealing % being 28% in 2010, took a tiny dip to 27% in 2011 and now it is 33% so far this year in 2012, but it would be preferable if that was a higher percentage. So there is plenty of potential, I just don’t know if this is a good enough team, that being said the Giants, they aren’t really any deeper, and the Diamond Backs are not competition despite what their fans feel, they were and are ready to sell Justin Upton come the off season and they failed to get an ace pitcher before the trade deadline, They do not see themselves as winners, and neither should we.
Edit: Just in case somebody wants to go ahead and say, You don’t watch the Dodgers you don’t know what you are talking about i have watched 10-15 games, not much, but it doesn’t take a lot to see who has good and bad at bats, the only thing that is really tough to judge is a starting pitcher holistically, and well Infield Defense. Outfield Defense is kinda cut and dry, Glove, Arm, Which base they threw to, or if it was cut off man, and where they should have thrown to. And also Range I Guess.
I don’t think that our bullpen is empty by any means. Jansen, Belisario, League, Tolleson, Choate, Guerra. And once Rubby De La Rosa comes back! Mmm! He’ll probably become our 8th inning guy. Although I wish he would replace Harang in the rotation. And sure we might have a hole at first base but what team doesn’t have any holes? And I believe Loney is batting above .300 since the break. Our rotation may not look all that great but it sure isn’t bad. If Billingsley keeps pitching the way he has been and Capuano stays consistent then we don’t have a horrible 1 2 3. We know Bills is capable of being a solid #2 guy. I’m not jumping the gun and saying Dodgers will end up with playoff birth but I do think they have a really good chance. Once that offense gets rolling, which I think it will, dodgers will be pretty dangerous. We’ll see what happens though.
Just goes to show how many holes we had to fill at the beginning of the season. Even after the upgrades, we could use a upgrade at Starting Pitching, Bullpen, 3B, 2B, and 1B. Management has a lot of work cut out for them…but championships are made in the off-season….not the trading deadline. We’re headed in the right direction though. Kudos to the new management for making a strong effort.
Really? Mark Ellis isn’t a hole. No one is watching 90 percent of there games to see the real holes.
Ok when you speak of James Loney which is the only part I have a problem with. He is an amazing 1st basemen. He isn’t doing any good batting. He is doing an amazing job keeping the ball in the infield. You obviously have not seen him play first. You can’t judge a team based on 10 or 15 games. That is just retarded.
I think Cateb meant that, since 1B is a premium position, a position for great batters/fielder, James doesn’t fit the bill. I agree 100%, James is an amazing fielder, normally I would say that his fielding is so good that the amount of runs he saves makes up for the lack of runs he produces, but he’s just not working out offensively, its great that he’s batting well in the second half and hopefully a good showing in the second half lands him a job next season.
However, that job should be with another club. I am ready for the Loney Experiment to finally be over (I was one of those who was hoping the Dodgers would resign him last off season), we need a real bat to go along with defensive on par with Loney. However, as far as I know, this seasons possible free agent 1B class is very thin, with the only differance maker being Adam LaRouche.
So it looks like we might have to bring Loney back next season anyway.
No way the Dodgers bring Loney back next season. They sign LaRoche or Napoli, or trade for Morales or Morneau. Loney’s time is done. He’ll be lucky to finish out the season without being DFA.
NL West Since June 12
#Padres 30-23
#Giants 27-25
#Diamondbacks 27-26
#Dodgers 21-30
#Rockies 17-34
Shows Dodgers fading.
That division stinks. Good chance the Dodgers will win it. They made some go moves. But I’m betting on the Giants, pitching wins, of course they have to score a run.