The offensive emptiness that is the Dodgers 2012 bench

Look real hard and you can find it. It’s there, just not exactly under the spotlight. Maybe not in hiding, though you could make the argument that the Dodgers will try it.

It is the Dodgers’ bench, such as it. And as it is, it’s wholly unimpressive.

Presenting your 2012 Dodgers in reserve: catcher Matt Treanor, infielders Jerry Hairston Jr. and Adam Kennedy, and outfielders Tony Gwynn Jr. and Jerry Sands.

There’s some versatility and some nice defensive elements, but offensively there just isn’t much there. The power hitter is Sands, he of the 194 career at-bats? The left-handed bats are Gwynn and Kennedy?

This is all as currently scheduled, of course. And these things almost never go as scheduled. Which would explain why the Dodgers started last season with Xavier Paul, Hector Gimenez and Ivan DeJesus Jr. on the roster.

General manager Ned Colletti said he thinks this year’s bench can be superior to last season’s, before quickly asking which Dodgers’ bench he should reference.

"Unfortunately our bench ended up playing," Colletti said. "The bench was really the second bench."

Which is why the 2012 edition is so scary. Chances are, some of them are going to have to play more than expected. And this is what manager Don Mattingly will have to choose from based on last season’s numbers:

Player                         Avg.                OBP                 SLG

Treanor                      .214                .338                .291

Hairston                     .270                .344                .383

Kennedy                     .234                .277                .355

Gwynn                        .256                .308                .353

Sands                         .253                .338                .389

And as a group, it’s not like it’s a bunch of kids approaching their prime. Kennedy is 36, and Treanor will be in March and Hairston in May.

Plus you have to remember the Dodgers’ regular everyday lineup is already going to have its risks. Rookie shortstop Dee Gordon batted .304 last season but in only 224 at-bats, so we’ve yet to see if pitchers adjust to the slight Gordon. And A.J. Ellis is going to be the main catcher, and has a career .262 average with zippo power in 206 career at-bats.

There’s not a strong pinch-hitter in the group, either. Career averages as pinch-hitters: Treanor .200, Hairston .174, Kennedy .223, Gwynn .288, Sands .000 (only four at-bats). There's not really a reserve shortstop.

Last year the Dodgers wanted to start the season with a bench of Dioner Navarro, Jamey Carroll, Aaron Miles, Tony Gwynn Jr., Marcus Thames/Jay Gibbons. Navarro and Thames were busts, and Gibbons couldn’t overcome vision issues. Yet they still might prove a better group.

The Dodgers 25-man roster is basically set. If everyone makes it through spring healthy, there are no position openings.

 ``If it goes the way it’s planned, the team has some flexibility to it but not a whole lot,’’ Colletti said.

On days when Juan Rivera or James Loney don't start, the bench will get a boost but it could use plenty more. It could have used a Coco Crisp, but Colletti denied an interest in the outfielder before he re-signed with the A’s.

``Never had a conversation,’’ Colletti said.

Colletti is operating under budget constraints unworthy of a team playing in the second-largest market in the country, but such are the times when your team is in bankruptcy court.

And such is the bench.

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-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Dodger Stadium. Credit: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times.

It's Manny Ramirez in the role of a lifetime

And now for his latest incarnation, it’s Manny Ramirez, role model! Honest to Charles Barkley.

There’s an image for you. Manny, the guy who sets a proper example, whose behavior every youngster should try to emulate. You know, minus his temper tantrums and twice being busted for performance enhancing drugs and being arrested on domestic violence charges.

It’s true, though, Manny wants back in baseball and to show everyone the right way to do things. He turns 40 in May, and they say it’s never too late.

But in a lengthy video piece with ESPN’s Pedro Gomez -- worth viewing if only to see him with his dreadlocks in a hair net and exercising in the pool with Florida retirees -- Manny talks of being a new man.

"I want to show people that Manny can change and he can do the right thing," he said.

Guess he could start by not talking in the third person. Or maybe I forgot what it sounded like to hear him speak, since he stopped talking to the media (and thus the fans) on an apparent whim his last season with the Dodgers.

When last seen at the plate, Manny was a ghost of his former fearsome self. He hit .261 with the White Sox the last month of the 2010 season after the Dodgers released him. He had one hit in 17 at-bats to start last season with Tampa Bay before his second PED bust and prompt retirement.

Now his suspension has been reduced to 50 games and he is trying to sign with a team to go out more on his own terms.

"I don’t want to leave the game like that," Manny told Gomez.

Asked why he wants back, Manny said: "First, I could still play. Second, I’m going to be a role model. A bunch of guys are going to look at me and say,'He made mistakes and he didn’t quit. Look how he finished.' "

The Dodgers, of course, have a bench pretty much devoid of power and could use a deep threat in reserve. I’d say the chances of his playing for the Dodgers next season are about the same as Zack Wheat, dead since 1972.

Asked if he’d be interested in bringing Manny back, Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said: "Not really. I love Manny but he was a huge distraction the last time he was here. I don’t think that’s what our clubhouse needs at this moment."

Manny and his wife have reconciled and he gets emotional talking to Gomez about almost losing his family. And he appears serious about his comeback, having dropped some weight.

"You don’t know what you have until you lose it," Manny said.

Or for some teams, you know exactly what you have and try to lose it.

Manny was a lock for the Hall of Fame who has now soiled his career so badly there’s something sad about his attempted reinvention. For his sake, may Manny get the finish he dreams of. Most teams, however, will probably search for their role models elsewhere.

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-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Manny Ramirez. Credit: Luis Sinco / 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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Don Mattingly in 'The Nutcracker'

It's Don Mattingly as you've never seen him, or wanted to.

Say one thing about Mattingly, he is one helluva sport.

For a good cause, he dons wig and giant skirt for a local Evansvillle, Ind., rendition of "The Nutcracker.''

Can't seem to embed it, but here's the link: Don Mattingly in the Nutcracker.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Dodgers Web musings: Fear and Frank McCourt; Bryan Stow speaks

Hey, that was telling. That told you just how much we’ve come to loath and distrust Frank McCourt. How in the deep recesses of our little hearts we feared McCourt was actually nefarious and devious enough to still be scheming to keep the Dodgers.

Despite an agreement with baseball to sell and having to come up with $130 million to pay a settlement with ex-wife Jamie at the end of April, and that he would risk all his remaining millions if he attempted to renege on his deal with Major League Baseball.

Yet the trepidation was difficult to fight. And the Cubans, mafia or CIA weren’t even involved.

Hall of Fame baseball writer Ross Newhan first broached on his blog what everyone was afraid to say aloud on Dec. 2, asking: "Does McCourt really intend to sell?’’

Instant shivers.

When McCourt failed to produce his book on the team’s financial situation weeks after his agreement with MLB and then won the right to put the team’s media rights up for sale now, suspicions were fanned.

On Wednesday Fred Roggin on KNBC picked up on the paranoia with a segment in which he asked: "Maybe McCourt’s end game is not to sell at all." And he ended it with this comment on the agreement with MLB: "It’s not signed in blood, let’s put it that way, so anything can happen."

 Mike Petriello at MikeSciosciasTragicIllness reluctantly followed up on the conspiracy theory, asking: "What if Frank McCourt was running a long con in order to attempt to keep the team?" And the mistrust grew until Friday The Times’ Bill Shaikin finally addressed it, rationally explaining why it would be foolhardy.

Although, just to keep everyone a tad nervous, I must mention he ends his report with: "Impossible? No, but the chances of Prince Fielder playing first base for the Dodgers next year appear better than the chances of such a strategy succeeding.’’

Prince, of course, is still available.

Also on the Web:

-- That’s the Christmas spirit: Don Mattingly agrees to don dress and wig for a performance of "The Nutcracker."

-- Thanks to Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homebody for this video of Bryan Stow speaking on video for the first time on the Bay Area's NBC affiliate.

 

 -- The Register’s Howard Cole on Matt Kemp’s visit Thursday to the City of Hope, where he surprised Cole’s best friend, laid up after having been donated bone marrow.

-- In a video, Dodgers.com beat writer Ken Gurnick offers his team’s offseason analysis.

 

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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.

Dodgers Web musings: Frank McCourt has eviction notice?

Sometimes you want something to be true so badly, the blinders come on to all the potential pitfalls. History be damned, you just want to believe.

And so it is with the official news that Frank McCourt must bid a final adieu to the Dodgers by April 30^th.

It’s in writing and everything, though we’ve been down that road before. Late Tuesday night the sales agreement reached between McCourt and Major League Baseball was finally filed in bankruptcy court.

As The Times’ Bill Shaikin reported, it wasn’t exactly all good news. As expected, the agreement does give McCourt the ability to keep the parking lots surrounding Dodger Stadium and sign a "long-term lease" with the new owner. That’s plenty scary, so you just have to cross fingers that an agreement is reached for the team, stadium and surrounding property.

Otherwise, the agreement actually allows McCourt to build parking garages to replace existing spaces so he could develop the property. How insane is that? Somebody is going to drop a billion dollars to buy the team and stadium, only to watch McCourt develop the property around it? I’m thinking they’re going to want a lot more control than that.

But it’s still encouraging that the agreement does require McCourt divest himself of the team by April 30. Count the days.

Initial bids for the team are due by Jan. 13.

Also on the Web:

— Meet the new Dodgers, same as the old Dodgers? The Times’ Dylan Hernandez looks at Don Mattingly’s current team overview at the winter meetings.

— MLB.com offers a video of part of Mattingly’s interview, including an almost desperate plea: "We’re going to have to have guys have good years."

   

— Despite their flurry of activity, Tony Jackson of ESPN/LA writes that the Dodgers are still pursuing another bat, but this one via trade.

— Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness tries to determine which player could be that hoped-for bat.

— The Times in an editorial wants a new Dodgers owner who values the community.

— Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy on news of Clayton Kershaw’s next scheduled sojourn to Africa.

— Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com has the details of the team's spring training schedule. Shaikin writes that it returns the traditional Freeway Series this spring with the Angels.

— The Times’ Diane Pucin writes that the Dodgers’ next media-rights contract is shaping up as a monster battle between titans Fox and Time Warner.

— The Astros have interviewed Dodgers Assistant General Manager Logan White for their vacant GM position.

— Hall of Fame baseball writer Ross Newhan thinks Magic Johnson might be wise to cool his talk of spending big if he gets ownership of the Dodgers.

— ESPN’s David Schoenfield doesn’t think much of the Dodgers’ off-season acquisitions, figuring he’s added a bunch of mediocre 30-somethings.

— ESPN’s Jon Weisman is feeling uninspired by the Dodgers’ winter but longs for spring.

— SB Nation’s Jeff Sullivan is actually depressed looking at the Dodgers’ infield for 2012.

— If you doubt Tommy Lasorda can still spin a good yarn, check out his stories on new Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine in the Boston Globe.

— And finally, remember that scene in the John Cusack film "High Fidelity" when he envisions different scenarios on how to greet rival Tim Robbins when he comes into his record store? Including the one where Jack Black leaps over the counter?

TMZ plays off that on its premise of what you might say to McCourt if you ran into him in a restaurant.

   

— Steve Dilbeck

 

Don Mattingly talks about Dodgers' ownership issues

Manager Don Mattingly said that as a player or coach, he never understood the influence an owner had on a team.

“When you’re a player, you’re just kind of playing and you’re thinking, ‘What’s the owner doing?’” Mattingly said. “It’s, ‘We have to do it down here.’"

As a rookie manager leading a team with major ownership issues last season, Mattingly said his thinking changed.

While Mattingly maintained the off-the-field problems didn’t affect the way players approached their at-bats or fielded ground balls, he said, “That’s the one thing I really felt like I had an understanding of, that force that ownership causes. It’s a driving force that says, ‘We’re going here. This is our mission. This is how we’re going to get there. You guys are entrusted to make that happen, but this is where we’re going.’”

Mattingly said he felt that circumstances forced him and General Manager Ned Colletti to take that responsibility.

“You just can’t do it from those seats,” Mattingly said. “I know there was lots of trouble with everything that was going on and Mr. (Frank) McCourt didn’t want to be a distraction by being down in the clubhouse … and he a lot to deal with … but I think that’s what we missed last year, more than anything, is that driving force.”

Mattingly said he hasn’t spoken to McCourt this winter.

What about Magic Johnson? The former Lakers star is part of a group preparing to bid for the Dodgers.

“Have not,” he said. “I haven’t talked to Larry Bird, either.”

Dodgers Web musings: Fodder, Prince Fielder, slugger James Loney

Why so quiet?

Hey, it had to happen sometime. After some early free agent signings and the Cy Young and MVP announcements, there has now actually been a moment of calm for the Dodgers’ front office.

Not completely, of course. There are those ever popular nonroster invitees to locate, and you can bet General Manager Ned Colletti is scouring the waiver wire to find fresh fodder before the winter meetings start next Sunday in Dallas.

He has reportedly already picked up a pair of journeyman arms for the bullpen.

Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi, via a Venezuelan publication, reports the Dodgers are on the verge of signing left-handed reliever Wil Ledzema. And Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy reports, via the Melbourne Aces, they have signed right-hander Shane Lindsay.

Both were signed to minor-league contracts, presumably with invites to the big-league camp, and neither were designed to get you sprinting to the ticket window.

Ledzema will be 31 in January and this will be his eighth team in seven years. Did I mention he was a left-handed reliever? He spent most of last season at triple-A, appearing in five games for the Blue Jays.

Lindsay, who turns 27 in January, has spent all but six innings of his career in the minors.

These are the low-risk, moderate-reward (Mike MacDougal) type offseason signings that Colletti adores, though that would hardly make him unique amongst GMs.

Also on the Web:

--Hey, what if the price tag for free agent Prince Fielder actually managed to come down somewhere within sight of the Dodgers? I mean, like only needing binoculars instead of a telescope.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman thinks it will take a contract worth about $200 million to nab Fielder.

But ESPN’s Jim Bowden reports there has been so little action on Fielder than some now think he could yet return to Milwaukee.

--Colletti, however, told Mel Antonen of MLB Network Radio last week that James Loney would be his first baseman next season. And, oh yeah, he thought Loney could hit 20-25 home runs.

--The San Francisco Chronicle reprinted a great 1962 column from Charles McCabe on Sunday about how local gamblers suspected that Willie McCovey’s sudden September illness was the work of a nefarious Walter O’Malley and almost led to a great collapse by the Giants.

--To the surprise of no one, Dodgers.com's Ken Gurnick reports the Dodgers did not offer arbitration to any of their remaining seven free agents.

--All his bunting drives Mike Petriello nuts, but he tips his cap to the job Don Mattingly did in a trying rookie season as manager.

--What is it about Boston real estate and its links to the Dodgers? Yahoo Sports’ Ben Maller reports, via the Boston Herald, that after trying to sell his downtown Boston pad for six years, Manny Ramirez finally unloaded it for nearly $300,000 less than he paid for it in 2001.

--Ex-Dodger Bobby Valentine -- ex a lot of teams -- is expected to be named the next Red Sox manager, the Denver Post’s Troy Renck reports.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Slugger Prince Fielder is congratulated by Milwaukee teammates last season after scoring in Game 4 of the NLCS. Credit: Tannen Maury / EPA

Clayton Kershaw wins N.L. Cy Young Award

It was Clayton Kershaw opening-day starter, Clayton Kershaw an ace,  and now Clayton Kershaw … National League Cy Young Award winner.

The evolution of the left-hander’s breakthrough 2011 season was capped Thursday when he was named the Cy Young winner by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America. Kershaw received 27 of a possible 32 first-place votes, easily outdistancing second-place finisher Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Kershaw won the N.L. pitching triple crown in 2011, tying for the league lead in victories with 21, and leading it with 248 strikeouts and a 2.28 ERA.

And, oh yeah, he’s 23 years old.

Kershaw becomes the eighth Dodger to win the award -- Sandy Koufax won it three times (giving the Dodgers 10 Cy Young Awards total) -- and the first since Eric Gagne in 2003. He’s the youngest N.L. winner since Dwight Gooden earned the honor in 1985 at age 20.

Kershaw had oozed potential since the Dodgers selected him as the seventh overall pick in the 2006 draft. By his third season, he was already pitching for the Dodgers. By 2009, he was a regular member of the rotation.

Former Dodgers manager Joe Torre wanted to be careful not to place too much pressure on the young pitcher in 2010, but last season new manager Don Mattingly named Kershaw his opening-day starter on the first day of spring.

Kershaw, married and unusually mature for his youth, embraced his role as the team ace.