I really feel that this year is the year that we can break the 20 year curse of not winning the WS. It is hard to believe that Gibby hit the HR 20 plus  years ago and a team that had Jeff Hamilton, Alfredo Griffin, T bone Shelby, Rick Dempsey, and the rest of the misfits on that team won the WS. They did what no one gave them a chance to do and that was win it...

This year the Dodgers are expected to win their division by most of the so called experts, and I believe they will. The achilles heel if we have one is the BP and lack of starting depth that they have. I think Bills will win 18 plus games and be in the top 10 in the Cy Young. Kuroda is going to be a stabilizing force as the number one and will win, 15-17 games. Wolf is good for 14-16 and will win 1-2 games with his bat...Kershaw, I feel, will prove to be the prodigy and win 14 plus games...In 2010 we will have have 2 number ones...Kershaw and Bills...As for McDonald, we are asking alot for him to step in to the 5th spot immediately. I liked the plan to ease him into it, but he was the best alternative that we had...If we sustain an injury we do not have anyone to replace either of these guys....Milton, Weaver, Estes and Schmidt are not the answers. Lindblom,  I am real excited about and hope he will be this years Bob Welch. Welch came up in 77 after a short time in the minors and worked out of the BP and spot started and was very impressive. Lindblom has all of Dodger land talking and it is very exciting.

The BP, where do we start. Broxton is asked to be the man and hopefully he will respond. He did not have a good spring, but as long as he is healthy I think he will save 35 out of 40 save opportunities and be dominant... Joe please do not overuse the big fella. The bad part we do not have another closer type. Hong Chi Kuo, has the best stuff on the staff but is he healthy? Cory Wade was real good last year but again is he past the shoulder issues that plagued him this spring. I think Joe overused him in September last year..Mota, I know will not be the Mota of 5-6 years ago but I hope he is consistent in the 7th inning...Kuo or Wade will handle the 8th and Kuo will  hopefully step up in the 9th when Brox is unable to go.  Ohman is being rushed to the roster so hopefully he will be ready and will it be Bellasario and Troncoso filling out the BP or will Mazone be the other lefty..Bellasario has been a welcome surprise, his ball seems to have natural movement and has swing and miss capabilities. I really like Troncoso but he has been very shaky this spring, but he has the hard sinker that can entice ground balls. I really hope he can get it together...

The lineup should be the best we have ever had...It has power in Manny, Ethier, Kemp, Marty, Blake...Speed in Furcal, Martin, and Kemp...and the defense is so much better with Hudson at 2B...The pitchers will benefit from the DP combo this year...it could be one of the best defenses LA has ever had.

My Predictions

1. Dodgers..the only ? is pitching

2. Arizona..pitching is tough if the hitters develop they will be tough.

3. Giants..good pitching but not enough offense

4. Rockies..will be improved but not enough

5. Padres could be the worst team in the NL..Peavy will be gone at the trade deadline if not sooner.

Loney will bat .300 plus with 35 doubles and win his 1st gold glove

Martin will rebound and hit .285 plus with 15 plus HRs and 80 RBI

Kemp will hit .285 with 22 HRs and 80 RBI and steal 30 Bases and his baserunning will be improved...

Ethier will hit .290 with 22 hrs and 100 RBI will prove to be the 2nd best hitter on the team

Manny will hit .315 with 30/35 Hrs and 115 RBI and will win the MVP (Ok I am a Homer)

The Dodgers will pick up Halladay at the trade deadline and he will be the key to the WS run and Dodgers defeat the Red Sox and Brad Penny in the WS...

Go Dodgers and I love Opening Day!!!! Is it game time yet!!!!

I am excited about the Great Lake Loons people...I will not deny that I am biased because I am friends with Busty the manager, but they have given him a great roster....It is lead by powers arms and they are experienced at the plate...The Loons were so young last year and they did not perform up to expectations....If anyone has a chance to visit Midland Michigan, that community is crazy for the Loons...The ballpark is one of if not the best Minor League facilities...

The pitching staff is led by Justin Miller (a young sinkerballer who came within an out of a no hitter last year)..If he continues to mature and begins to believe in himself, he could be special...Robert Blevins is a bulldog with strikeout capability...The staff has the number one pick Ehtan Martin making his pro debut, a power arm in the low 90s...Nathan Eovaldi who is out of HS but throws in the mid 90s...Jon Michael Redding is also a power arm...The BP is led by Javy Guerra who in the HBL this winter was throwing in the mid to upper 90s...also a blogger...gotta root for him.

MOst exciting is the fact that the offense should be much improved...It should be led by Tony Delmonico, he tore the cover off the ball last year in Ogden and is converting to catcher. They also have speed led by Devaris Gordon and Elian Herrerra the 2b/ss combo...Austin Gallagher is assigned there and he is very  highly rated, he played in hig A last year. One of my favorites to watch play, (I saw 3 games last year, not alot but enough to know a player) Parker Dalton...He may not be the most talented but he has the biggest heart on the field..He respects the game and plays hard every game...He beat cancer I believe his senior year at Texas A@m...I hope he has a big year, probably not a starter, but a good utilityman.

In the outfield will be Eric Kannaby back again he has very good speed, Alfredo Silverio, repeating Low A, still only 21 and when he was in the GCL league 2 years ago was the best hitter on a team that featured Lambo...This should be a big year for him. Also, Kyle Russell, a masher out of Univ of Texas...The other outfileder is Travis Vetters all he did was hit over .400 in Ogden..He is an older prospect, but he should add good experience...

Sorry for the long post but I love the Minor Leaguers because they are our future and if you have seen them up close and personal it is not alll fame and glory as we all see it in the Majors...These kids work their tales off for 1200-1500 a month and like 15 per diem for food...they travel crazy hours on a bus and hang out at the malls until it is time to go to the park...

Well that is enough, this should be an exciting team, it is loaded with 11 of the top 30 prospects in the organization. I did not even mention Jordan Pratt the no 30 prospect..who may be the hardest thrower of them of all...He throws in the upper 90s, but his issue is command. I cannot imagine what the Midwest league is in for with the cold April weather and facing the heat this staff will bring...If they get jammed OUch!!!!!

Ok back to the big team...Thanks

I can only imagine that his popularity with the players probably got to Conte, because I cannot imagine he was let go because of incompetence. It is a choice that the Dodgers made last October in turning over the medical/training program to Conte. It was also with the strong blessings that Conte gave Schmidt and how familiar he was with his history and mechanics that the Dodgers made a great informed choice to sign a 34 year old, 47 million dollar, pitcher with a history of shoulder injuries. It has to make you wonder why the Giants, after all Schmidt did for them, did not try to resign him for the 3 years but rather give Zito 80 mil more. Maybe I am off base, but if it smells like s___ it probably is.  Conte was brought in to revamp the Dodgers conditioning program and if this year is any indication, he may want to rethink his program.

That is all the bashing of Conte that I will do, other than I hope he leaves his personal knowledge of anyones medical history to himself. This is really about Stan Johnston "Cowboy" as he is known amongst his ballplayer. To have 23 years of loyal service down the drain because of whatever reason they would like to spin is unfathomable. From what I understand each team has 3 trainers and only 2 can have service time accrue towards retirement. Stan from what I have been told just completed his 8th year, only 2 years from being fully vested. Why the big deal? At 10 years you get a pension of 10k per month. For a team just to kick you to the curb, unless you have done something illegal or immoral (did he take care of Bonds), really makes me want to consider who I root for. Yes I know it is a business, but there had to be way to make this work for everyone. Thats right if they knew how to communicate as an organization they probably would have headed off the explosion between the young and old players. I hope that Stan is able to hook up with another team to get his service time in, but this really s---ks!

I only feel that if Mr O'malley was still in charge this organiztion would not treat people like this. I am done ranting and really ahve a bad taste for Colletti, McCourt, Little, Conte and whoever else is making these decisions.

JONSIE

There has been numerous issues, playing Gonzo everyday, yes he hit 2 home runs in the last week, but i have not seen so many weak groundballs to the pitcher and second baseman. Now that he has his 2500 hits, BENCH him. Who cares if he whines. Play Ethier and Kemp, Laroche, Hu, and Young. Kemp, yes he does lack some baseball instincts, but you cannot teach the explosiveness in his bat and on the bases.

Ned, please get a vision and stay with it. Last year when you brought Lofton and Nomar in for 1 year it made sense. I feel that you panicked with Pierre, I love his heart and desire but 4 more years of weak grond balls and bunts will drive me nuts. Not to mention a single to either to the left or right of him is an automatic double. The other teams salivate when a ball is hit to him. The smarter move would to have sign lofton one more year and wait for Andruw Jones or Torii Hunter. Nine million for Pierre and Loaiza, that is one of those other guys salary.

Speaking of Loaiza, 6 years of era over 5.00...is this a trend or an aberration. I say a trend. An 85-87 fastball. He is not Greg Maddux. Speaking of Maddux, 2 years at 20 mil or Schmidt at 52 mil? This is not hindsight, I felt this way when the Pierre/Schmidt signings happened, I just did not blog then. In my job making these type of crucial signings and decisions and not panning out, my owner would question my ability to make decisions. I would say I would not have a job. A rotation of Penny, Lowe, Billingsley, Loaiza, and Schmidt, Scary. Billingsley I hope becomes our Ace. Penny is solid but his pitch count and the way he falters in the second half year after year is a number 2-3 starter. Lowe is the same. Loiaza I am going on record if he makes 25 starts he will be 6-13 with a 4.75 or worse. Tomko was the same, why do we continue to run these guys out there. I would rather have Stults or Houlton. Young arms that have upside as oppose to vets that have continually shown they cannot do the job. I just hope Elberts and Kershaw develop and are ready by June 2008.

I loved the update on dodgers.com that Broxtons arm was tender and Grady made reference that it happens this time of year. Yes it does when you run a guy out there 10 out of 14 days. Seanez, Broxton and Proctor is that all he knows. Meloan did not pitch in 2 weeks, Stults, Hull, run them out there and let them figure it out everyone once in a while. Broxton ran out of gas and it is Gradys fault. Why have him pitch down by 3 for the third day in a row.

As for next year what do we do at third base. Nomar, if his bat speed does not come back, cannot be run out there everyday, 10 mil or not. Laroche is he the next Paul Konerko. A couple of brief tries and ship him to Cincy for Jeff Shaw. How did that work out Tommy? No I am not bitter. Put Laroche out there and let him play, it worked with the Padres with Kouz. He hit .107 as late as the 1st week of May, but a patient manager never lost faith and he has hit .300 since with power. Kent does he come back, he is old faithful and his passion is unquestioned, but take the young guys and teach them how to play the game.

Where do we find the power bat. Martin will continue to develop 15-20 homers, Loney has shown that he can hit for power. I feel that he will hit 20-25, Kemp if he continues to develop and is allowed to play is 25 plus. I feel the Dodgers may use Ethier as trade bait, but he can hit. He uses the whole field, and will be a .300 hitter 17-22 homers and 80-100 rbi if he plays everyday. It will be interesting to see who is available on the trade market and free agency. Unless the Dodgers move Pierre to left and sign Hunter (chrismas wish) or if they bite the bullet pay most of Pierre's salary and ship him off (christmas wish), I am at a loss as to where they will improve. It has to be the kids. It worked out well in Arizona.

Ned you have to produce and now.

Busty was selected twice in the first round, first by the Oakland in 1979 5th overall and then again in 1980 by the Red Sox. Unfortunately the closest Busty got to the bigs was Triple A. He retired in 1989 and began coaching in the Dodgers organization and left to go to the Marlins organization 94-99. All Busty has done is win at every level that he has managed. At the Rookie level and class A level he has won at least 5 division titles, including the last 2 GCL Division titles. To be able to do this consistently at this level is unbelivable. He is taking 18-21 year olds who have never met one another and with different cultures and getting them to perform as a team is remarkable.

On September 18, 2007, Busty got his call to the Show. Hats off to you Busty, you get to spend the next 2 weeks with the major league team. Enjoy, you deserve itand make sure you bring pictures to Fantasy camp with you. No one is more deserving and hopefully one day you will get the opportunity to stay full time. By the way you looked 5 years younger on TV.

Jonsie

Can Grady quit running Broxton out to the mound when we are down by 3...the poor kid is going to be ruined at this pace. Give one of the young guys the opportunity to pitch...Stults, Meloan, we may need these kids his week with the double header and they have not pitched in 10 plus days.

Loaiza is Loaiza, he throws bp and if he is not hitting his spots he is in trouble...8 million just does not go very far any more.

The Giants absolutely laid down this weekend after Fridays game. I hate them even more now. Go Pirates, how can the Padres be playing the Pirates at crunch time. The schedule maker *****!!!! Maybe Tracy will rally his troops and help the Dodgers out. We need the Giants to man up and take the Diamondsbacks down.

Lets go Big Blue sweep the Rockies!!!!!

Now on last nights game. Penny battled and gave the Dodgers 5 innings but he needs to be more efficient. Great job getting out that painful first inning but 35 or so pitches makes it  a long night for the bullpen. An ace has to go 6 to 7 innings at crunch time. Rudy Seanez, this guy just will not die. Grady keeps putting him out there and he does the job. Thanks Rudy it seems like you have been around the majors since the beginning. James loney, I love you man, keep hitting the ball hard and prove all the naysayers wrong. Lack of power, how does 53 rbi in 81 games played and 500 plus slugging percentage look. I just wish we could have seen him from day one but maybe going down was his motivation to make sure when he did come back that it would be for good.

Nomar what did you take over the last 3 days, he looked completely different last night. He swung with authority and he looked fresh. Hopefully the Nomar of old is back with us.

As for todays game, Mr Lowe please pitch deep and keep the ball down. We need this game (I know we need them all) this is what we signed you for, to pitch in the big games. I have said it before but watching the young guys Loney, Martin, Kemp, and Ethier it is exciting. If the Dodgers came keep them together we are in for another run like the 70's and 80's.

As for all the Grady bashers and Ned bashers, we may not like all their moves, but this team has hung in there and for the most part Grady has been patient with the youngsters. I know keep Gonzo on the bench and play Ethier everyday but with the injuries this team could ahve tanked and except for a 3 week period they have not. Go Grady and Ned!!! Skin the Dianmondbacks. Good day.

Grady is going to wear Broxton and Proctor out (although Torre did a pretty good job on proctor). This Dodger team has been scrappy all year and they had that bad 3 week stretch that may come back to haunt them, but watching these kids and just imagining the future has me dreaming of big things to come. I have to admit I like the lineup alot better without Nomar, I still respect him but he just does not drive the ball and it like having 2 pitchers in the lineup. Keep putting the kids in there.

Speaking of kids I got to see the 4th round pick Andrew Lambo. He looks like a natural hitter and he seems to have a great attitude. He is a big kid with a projectible body. Also on that gcl dodgers team Alfredo Silverio all he did was hit about .370 and it seems everything he hits is a line drive.  They also have  kid Franklin Jacobs, 6-5 260 plus and in batting practice he put on a faboulous display of power. Out of 8 swings 7 were monster shots over the left field fence at Dodgertown. According to the manager the kid have some of the best power skills he has ever seen. According to some reports when Jacobs went to Dodger Stadium with the other draftees he hit a ball completely out of the stadium. The question is will he be the next Sam Horn or will he develop into Frank Thomas. We can only hope the latter.

That is all for now, lets take it to the Diamondbacks. Penny needs to pitch like the ace he is suppose to be and hopefully Lowe will be ok.

I have had the chance to blog all year but never got around to it. It has been a fun year watching all the young kids play and develop. It has also been frustrating, Nomar's bat speed and how quickly it has disappeared was surprising. He does not even hit the ball hard. I hope and do not understand why they just do not put Laroche or Abreu in and let them play. Look at kouzmanoff with the Padres he hit something like .105 for April and they stuck with him and he seems to be ok. I am just thankful Ned did not sell off the young guys and rent a player for a couple of months.

As for the Loaiza pickup, I was not excited and after last night I am afraid we are in for a lot of that over the next 14 months. Look at his career 5 yrs with an era under 4.50 and 6 years over 5.00. I hope Ned does not continue and pick up these journeymen like Loiaza and Hendrickson who soft toss. I would rather take a chance with Stults who would not cost us 8 million next year.

Kemp has been a pleasant surprise as to how quickly he has adapted to the off speed pitches and continues to amaze. Yes he is an adventure on the bases, but I love the agression and the excitement he brings. Loney, what a beautiful swing. I have been a Dodger fan for 43 years and it always amazed me that the Dodgers never seemed to develop hitters and lo and behold look at Loney. All the skeptics said he would not hit for power. Well so far so good. All the kid does is make contact and it seems to always be hit hard. He will be a great hitter for a long time.

Billingsley is so nasty, I just hope he realizes to trust his stuff and not nibble and learns to pitch to contact. He can and will become special. I cannot wait for Clayton Kershaw, I had the opportunity to observe this kid last year at Vero Beach and he truly loves the game. He has such a great attitude and works hard and he is nasty. He may even make to the big club sometime next year. I do not know what the next 18 games will bring, all i hope is that they play hard and let the young guys feel the heat of the pennant race. I appreciate the professionalism of Gonzalez but lets be honest he just does not get it done. let Ethier play everyday and develop.

That is all for tonight, I need to concentrate on the game and will them to a win.