Dodgers web musings: Future of `young core’ with team could be on the line this season

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Since no big superstar arrived to the rescue during the offseason, the Dodgers’ outcome this year will largely depend on how Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney and Jonathan Broxton rebound from a disappointing 2010.

But personally, they could be playing for even more. Broxton can become a free agent after this season, and Kemp, Ethier, Loney and Chad Billingsley are eligible the following season.

ESPN/LA’s Ramona Shelbourne points out all will have to play well to make their individual case they should be re-signed. She said this season will go a long way in determining which players will make themselves part of the team’s long-term future.

Also on the web:

-- The Times’ Dylan Hernandez said Kemp has earned positive reviews this spring in his efforts to rebound.

-- Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness’ Mike Petriello is being won over by the play of Tony Gwynn Jr. this spring, and given the team’s configuration, thinks he could answer several problems.

-- The Dayton Beach News-Journal’s Sean Kernan, via Roberto Baly, writes on the 65th anniversary of when Jackie Robinson played his first exhibition game and broke baseball’s color barrier in spring training.

-- Baseball Savvy’s Howard Cole continues his profiles of Dodgers bloggers with an in depth look at the prolific, two-jobs Jon Weisman of ESPN/LA.

-- Dodgers.com’s Ken Gurnick takes a look at catcher Hector Gimenez, this season’s unknown Venezuelan discovery by Ron Rizzi, who is making an unexpected roster bid.

-- Albuquerque Baseball Examiner’s Christopher Jackson, via Petriello, writes that Jon Link is not all that thrilled with being turned into a starter.

-- True Blue LA’s Eric Stephen profiles Dodgers injured starter Jon Garland.

-- MLB Network, via Weisman, has what it says is unprecedented film footage of Dodgers Hall of Fame right-hander Dazzy Vance from 1924.

-- The Dodgers have a new business/marketing partner -- El Zarco Tequila.

--Steve Dilbeck