Dodgers Web musings: Worst offensive infield in baseball?

Let's face it, there's not much clout there. The Dodgers infield is what you might call shy on power.

In his preseason analysis of the Dodgers, ESPN's Jim Bowden wrote: "The Dodgers have one of the worst offensive infields in the NL." Which I'm pretty sure would qualify it for one of the worst in all of baseball.

On the corners there is limited power from James Loney (12 homers, .416 slugging last season) and Juan Uribe (4 homers, a woeful .298 slugging, plus a .204 batting average). Mark Ellis is a solid glove at second whom Bowden correctly notes "has no speed or power and is in his declining years." And then there is speedy, though powerless, shortstop Dee Gordon.

And that would be half of your lineup.

Also on the Web:

-- At SB Nation, Eric Stephen is having difficulty building enthusiasm for the Dodgers' coming season.

-- Manager Don Mattingly tells Dodgers.com's Ken Gurnick that he's more concerned about distractions over the ownership situation this spring than he was a year ago.

-- NBC Sports' Matthew Pouliot writes that the theme to the Dodgers' winter was quantity over quality.

-- The Times' Bill Shaikin writes that the 11 remaining ownership groups bidding on the Dodgers have been asked to submit revised bids before a second round of cuts is made by investment bank Blackstone Advisory Partners (read: Frank McCourt).

-- Wednesday's post here about the Dodgers trying to sign Andre Ethier to a long-term deal while his price is low brought some Web reaction. Chad Moryiama likes the logic but thinks Ethier is simply the wrong guy to utilize it on. Mike Petriello at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness thinks that if Ethier waits until the end of the season, he might double his contract.

-- Long-time Dodgers photographer Jon SooHoo is running a series of historical team photos at his MLB blog, including one with background on Kevin Waters, the team's handyman for over 20 years.

-- The New York Post's Kevin Kernan profiles Mattingly’s son, Preston -– a former first-round pick of the Dodgers -- after he signed with the Yankees as a minor-league free agent.

-- Let the investigation begin. The Dodgers blogger softball tournament last weekend, organized by the Left Field Pavilion for charity, was won by ... the Left Field Pavilion Forum 2.

-- CBS Sports' Scott Miller has a nice overview about what it’s like covering spring training every day for six weeks.

ALSO:

Second cut looming for Dodgers bidders

It's time for Dodgers to lock up Andre Ethier

James Loney says blow to head led to his odd behavior after crash

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Dee Gordon walks back to the bench after striking out against the Arizona Diamondbacks back in August. Credit: Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press

It's time for the Dodgers to lock up Andre Ethier

If the Dodgers believe in Andre Ethier, if they are confident he will rebound and have a successful 2012 season, they need to sign him to a long-term contract. Like soon.

If they wait and he puts together another season like he did in 2009 (31 homers, 92 runs, 106 runs batted in) or even approaches a full season like the start he was off to in 2010 before breaking his pinkie, it could either cost them a serious amount of dough or his services completely.

It’s a risk worth taking, and I know when talking about the moody Ethier, risk is inherent.

At the end of the season, Ethier will become a free agent for the first time. He was already talking about leaving the team on the eve of last season, so it’s not hard to imagine his heading elsewhere next winter.

Ethier is coming off the worst season of his career (11 homers, 62 RBIs, a .421 slugging percentage). He is coming off knee surgery.

He is unlikely to ever be cheaper to sign to a multiyear contract than he is right now.

But if he puts together a big season and enters free agency, the Dodgers might have to compete with the likes of the Red Sox or Yankees and the price for the two-time All-Star takes off.

Dodgers community caravan scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday

Andre Ethier, James Loney and Dee Gordon will be among the players participating in the Dodgers’ annual community caravan Tuesday and Wednesday.

Newcomers Adam Kennedy and Jerry Hairston Jr. will be part of the community outreach effort, as will former players such as Fernando Valenzuela and Tommy Davis.

One stop on the two-day tour will be open to the public: lunch on Tuesday at a South Los Angeles location that will be revealed at the Dodgers’ Twitter account (@Dodgers) at 12:30 p.m. that day. The lunch will from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

On the caravan that day will be current players Gordon, Kennedy, Tony Gwynn Jr., Kenley Jansen, Josh Lindblom and Ramon Troncoso; former players Davis, Shawn Green, Al Ferrara and Dennis Powell; and broadcaster Eric Collins.

ALSO:

Dodgers reach agreement with reliever Todd Coffey

The Dodger who can have the greatest effect on the 2012 season

Dodgers Web musings: 2012 team is not wowing followers

-- Dylan Hernandez

The Dodger who can have the greatest effect on the 2012 season

  

Dodgers' Frank McCourt: MLB owners' new inspiration

He is the key to the Dodgers’ 2012 season, the one player in a position to most affect whether the team is again mediocre, or poised to make a postseason run.

Andre Ethier, a dismayed Dodgers nation turns its eyes to you.

The Dodgers went into the off-season talking about how they would make a run at a big bat. As you just might possibly have noticed, it never arrived.

Now even if you’re doing the massive assuming the Dodgers are for 2012 -– Matt Kemp will approach the same numbers, Juan Rivera will still drive in runs, Juan Uribe can’t possibly be as awful as he was in 2011, Dee Gordon will hold up over the course of the season, James Loney will more closely resemble his second-half self -– that still doesn’t figure to be enough to lift the team into the playoffs.

The one player who has the potential to have a massively better year in 2012 is Ethier.

The extremely talented, emotional, hard-working, inconsistent, prideful, exasperating All-Star right fielder.

After the 2009 season, Ethier was on the verge of superstardom. He hit 31 home runs, had 106 RBI and completed his second consecutive season with a slugging percentage north of .500. He started 2011 like he might make a run at the triple crown. Then came a broken pinkie from which he never seemed to fully recover.

Last year there was an early 30-game hitting streak in an otherwise disappointing season. Finally there was that odd, they’re-making-me-play-hurt rant, followed by denial, followed by season-ending knee surgery.

His final 2011 numbers: .292 batting average, 11 homers, 62 RBI, 67 runs and a career-low .421 slugging percentage.

There is plenty of room for improvement there, and if Ethier can do it, he can provide that big bat that was sorely missing last year. He is the one player who can make a dramatic difference in the Dodgers' lineup.

Which doesn’t mean it will happen, though I suspect it will. Still, prophesying Ethier’s future performance is like trying to predict the next Alec Baldwin remark. Could be really good, could be what the hell?

Now there are a couple of very good reasons to anticipate Ethier will bounce back with a huge season. Presumably he is healthy, his knee surgery was not major and that pinkie certainly should have healed by now. And he is in his contract year. He signed a one-year, $10.95-million deal this winter and can become a free agent for the first time at the end of the coming season.

General Manager Ned Colletti said the Dodgers were interested in signing Ethier to a long-term deal, which so far hasn’t happened. Ethier took notice of Chad Billingsley getting a three-year deal last spring, and that was long before Kemp signed his $160-million deal this off-season.

Ethier may determine he'll be in a better negotiating position after putting in a full, healthy season, whether re-signing with the Dodgers or hitting the open market. Or maybe he would prefer the security of a big contract right now. It’s Ethier, so it’s a guessing game.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said Ethier gave away 100 at-bats last season by letting his emotions get the best of him. That was almost 20% of his season. For a guy who bats in the middle of the order.

Ethier turns 30 in April, so you would like to think he’s maturing enough to stay focused and not allow setbacks to send him gyrating off course. He is an intelligent and, when he wants to be, highly charming (as demonstrated in the following MLB.com video) player. He and Kemp could own this town.

And if the Dodgers are going to contend, he’ll need to.

 RELATED:

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If Stan Kroenke gets the Dodgers, doesn't L.A. get the Rams?

-- Steve Dilbeck

Dodgers Web musings: Can Clayton Kershaw do it again?

Short answer: Not likely.

At least not at the same glorious heights he pitched during his 2011 Cy Young season. ESPN/LA’s Jon Weisman examined the top pitching seasons by pitchers 21-25 years old since 1958, using ERA+ (earned-run average adjusted for the type of ballpark pitched in).

Of the top 50 performances, only four showed a slight improvement the next season. The rest dropped off fairly significantly.

Also on the web:

-- Here is a video of Kershaw’s acceptance speech for the Cy Young award last week.

  

-- Former Dodgers managing partner Bob Daly had a lot to say to The Times’ T.J. Simers on Frank McCourt: "The man got a gift from God and unfortunately blew it, and blew it on his own personal craziness."

And this wise word for McCourt’s successor: "Here's the test to see if we get a smart or stupid owner. If you make a deal and allow McCourt to keep the land and parking lots, you are out of your mind.”

-- The Times’ Bill Plaschke thinks the Dodgers’ main priority now should be signing Kershaw to a long-term deal.

-- USA Today’s Bob Nightengale examines the pros and cons of each group reportedly bidding on the Dodgers, as does blogger Chad Moriyama.

-- Thanks to blogger Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy for pointing out this roundtable segment on the Steve Mason and John Ireland show on ESPN 710-AM called "Meet the Bidders."

-- Hall of Fame baseball writer Ross Newhan said of all the groups interested in the Dodgers, only three or four may actually have the equity to purchase the team.

-- Andre Ethier "punked" his good friend, Red Sox Dustin Pedroia, on a WEEI sports show, actually getting him riled when he pretended to be an irate Boston fan unimpressed with Pedroia’s talents.

-- Ethier is also scheduled to appear with Mark Willard on Saturday at 710-AM, but a release of the interview includes this comment: "I've kind of dealt with this knee thing for the past two years, put it off for one off-season and then last season it just became a thing where a lot of things started multiplying and getting worse and something where I couldn't quite get back my swing."

-- Forbes’ Mike Ozanian writes Stan Kroenke’s bid for the Dodgers implies he’s bringing the Rams with him.

-- ESPN’s Buster Olney looks at the legacy of McCourt (Insider status required), and it ain’t pretty: “Frank McCourt will be remembered as the Richard Nixon of baseball owners, as someone who inexplicably squandered enormous opportunity and went out the door in shame.”

-- Safe to say, Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown is unimpressed with the Dodgers’ off-season, ranking them 19^th best team in MLB.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Why Dodgers -- despite it all -- can still win the NL West

Because they play in a division where there is always hope. Every season, for most every team. Like it's required.

Parity hasn't simply arrived in the National League West, it's taken up residence. Not some shingle temporarily hung on the wall, but carved in granite at the front door.

The Arizona Diamondbacks finished last in the NL West in 2010 and then won the division last season. In five of the last six seasons, an NL West team coming off a losing season advanced to the postseason the next year.

The Dodgers are filled with "ifs" and crossed fingers and gambles. Not unlike every team in the division.

If Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe return to form, if James Loney hits like he did in the second half, if Matt Kemp approaches his 2011 season, if Juan Rivera can keep up his RBI form, if Dee Gordon can perform over a full season, if young closers Javy Guerra and Kenley Jansen can keep it going, if new starters Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano pitch effectively ... then the Dodgers win!

There is no juggernaut in the NL West, no powerhouse team, nothing even approaching a dominant club.

Dodgers Web musings: Last 100 days of Frank McCourt

Come on, join the countdown! Every Dodgers fans should be in on it. A reason to get all giddy.

Some count the days to when catchers and pitchers report, some to opening day. But as Mike Petriello points out at Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness, there is something bigger for Dodgers fans to compute as the 2012 season looms.

It’s now down to the final 100 days of Frank McCourt, bankrupt Dodgers owner.

Now doesn’t that make you smile?

Initial bids to join the team’s auction are due Monday. Major League Baseball will then whittle the list down to an approved group. McCourt has until April 1 to select the winning bid. And then on April 30, he is to hand over the keys and ride into the Beverly Hills sunset, hopefully sans parking lots.

Also on the Web:

-- ESPN’s Lester Munson takes an in-depth look at the looming lawsuit between McCourt and the Bingham McCutchen law firm that botched up his postmarital agreement with ex-wife Jamie.

Munson wrote there is little doubt it is shaping up as one of the largest malpractice lawsuits in American history, and estimates that if the team auction goes badly, the award could be as high as $500 million.

That seems pretty outlandish, considering he’s only paying Jamie $131 million in their divorce settlement, and she was going to probably get that anyway. McCourt would have to prove the botched PMA forced him to sell the team. And it seems that only rings true in that his taking the team in to $573 million in debt might not have come to light without the divorce.

-- Clayton Kershaw visited the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. MLB has the video:

  

-- The Dodgers have added a pair of catchers, Matt Wallach and Griff Erickson, to their list of nonroster spring invitees. Matt is the son of third base coach Tim Wallach.

-- ESPN/LA’s Jon Weisman has a list (updated) of players he argues were team MVPs during their days as a Dodger and on a competing club.

-- Forbes’ Mike Ozanian examines the unusual concessions McCourt was able to get MLB to agree upon in order for him to agree to sell the team.

-- The Times’ Jim Pelz on Dodger Stadium again hosting supercross Saturday night.

-- Thanks to Paul Oberjuerge for uncovering this post from The Baseball Diaspora on the 2011 Bobblehead All-Americans. Andre Ethier, in throwback baby-blue jersey, makes the team.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Dodgers sign Andre Ethier for $10.95 million

The Dodgers and outfielder Andre Ethier agreed today on a one-year contract for $10.95 million plus incentive bonuses, according to CAA Sports, the agency that represents Ethier.

Ethier, an all-star in each of the last two seasons, made $9.3 million in 2011. He will turn 30 in April, and he is eligible for free agency after the coming season.

Ethier hit .292 with a career-low 11 home runs last year, increasingly troubled by a right-knee injury that eventually required surgery in September. He hit .311 with an .846 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in the first half of the season and .252 with a .672 OPS in the second half.

He also hit .220 against left-handers. If that performance does not improve, the Dodgers could use either Juan Rivera or Jerry Sands in place of Ethier against left-handers.

ALSO:

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Bud Selig could be haunted by deal over Dodgers

Dodgers wave goodbye as Hiroki Kuroda signs with Yankees

-- Bill Shaikin

Photo: Andre Ethier. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Presenting your 2012 Dodgers lineup (Updated)

One thing about having an almost entirely set 25-man roster  -- you can start figuring out what the daily lineup is going to look like. Even if it is still December.

The Dodgers’ heavy off-season work, or at least their modest lifting, is all done. Unless you’re still the kind that holds out hope of an unexpected Prince Fielder signing.

But if no significant additions are coming, it’s not hard to visualize the Dodgers’ main daily lineup, at least against right-handers:

Shortstop Dee Gordon (L), second baseman Mark Ellis (R), right fielder Andre Ethier (L), center fielder Matt Kemp (R), left fielder Juan Rivera (R), first baseman James Loney (L), third baseman Juan Uribe (R) and catcher A.J. Ellis (R).

And let the rest of the National League tremble in its wake.

This is not necessarily a terrible lineup, though it’s dependent on a lot of things going right. Probably way too many things, but then the same can pretty much be said for the rest of the National League West.

Gordon hit .304 with 24 stolen bases in his 233 plate appearances of his rookie season. But he had only seven walks, leaving him with a .325 on-base percentage. Still, that’s a fairly small sample size at a young stage in his career. He figures only to get better, and is such lightning on the bases, he has to be given the leadoff spot. Anyway, there’s really no one else in that lineup to bat leadoff.

Mark Ellis split his time last season batting second and seventh, but hit .297 in the two spot, as opposed to .215 hitting seventh.

The Dodgers are gambling that a trio of hitters returns to form next season -- Ethier, Loney and Uribe. Ethier, 29, will be key. Coming off minor knee surgery, he has the most upside. And the Dodgers will need it if they bat him third.

All they want from Kemp is more of the same, which is the same thing as asking for everything. Kemp, who came in second in the N.L. MVP voting, could have a slight drop-off and still be one of the game’s premier hitters.

[Update: In the orginal post I had a brain cramp and wrote Kemp started the season batting third and late in the season was moved to fourth, which is actually reverse from what happened. My my No.1 fan, Benjamin Villarreal Camacho, ever-so kindly pointed out my mistake. Kemp actually hit slightly better in the cleanup spot (.647 vs. .569 slugging), so it remains to be seen which way Manager Don Mattingly goes in 2012.

Batting Rivera hitting behind Kemp was given credit for Kemp’s strong finish, so wherever Kemp bats, Rivera is likely to follow. Kemp hitting third, Rivera fourth and Ethier fifth only happened nine times in 2011.]

Mattingly could bat Uribe sixth instead of Loney, but he seems to like alternating his left-right bats in the lineup.

Uribe is coming off one of the most disappointing seasons in Dodgers history. He has a lot to prove, and at age 33, not much time to prove it. The Dodgers are counting on Loney being the hitter he was the second half, which is understandable but difficult to depend upon. Anything offensively from A.J. Ellis is a bonus.

Against left-handers, Mattingly could choose to sit Loney and play Rivera or Jerry Sands at first. Ethier, too, could get spelled if he doesn’t improve against lefties (.220 last season).

Outside of Gordon and Kemp, it's a lineup devoid of speed. It could have decent power, but after Kemp, that's no lock either. There are plenty of "maybes'' with this group, but that could prove a season's theme.

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-- Steve Dilbeck

Jerry Sands would still be better off playing every day in minors

That would be Jerry Sands, the one Dodgers prospect with power close to being ready to play every day. The question is, how close?

The Dodgers’ current outfield has Matt Kemp in center, Andre Ethier in right, and for the most part Juan Rivera in left. Rivera could split time with Tony Gwynn Jr., Jerry Hairston Jr., and the theory goes, Sands.

Only I’m thinking, despite his strong September, Sands would be best served starting next season as an everyday player back at triple A.

He’s 24 and still needs to play regularly. And even if Manager Don Mattingly goes all lefty-right splits and plays Rivera some at first for James Loney, or Sands or Rivera for Ethier, I doubt he’s going to get the kind of at-bats the still-young hitter needs to continue to develop.

And despite saying otherwise, maybe the Dodgers are thinking the same thing. There is a report at MLB Trade Rumors that the Dodgers and Cubs are talking to Coco Crisp about playing left field.

Crisp, 32, is a  speedy switch-hitting outfielder who put up some very respectable numbers last season for the A’s (.264, 27 doubles, 49 steals, 69 runs). He would no doubt be a solid addition for the Dodgers, but one who would need real playing time.

How seriously the Dodgers are about this is uncertain. Crisp earned $5.75 million last year, so it could be as simple as his agent calling the Dodgers and saying his price has come down, are you interested? Of course, you would think it’d have to come down fairly significantly to pique the bankrupt Dodgers’ interest.