Los Angeles Dodgers

Contributor: Aaron Jay Sapiro, mvn.com/mlb-dodgers

2007 Record: 82-80

2007 Summary: We failed. The big bats failed as we finished second to last in the NL with only 129 Home Runs. The clutch bats failed as we finished last in the NL with a .395 SLG with RISP, and dead last in all of Major League Baseball with a .327 SLG with RISP and two outs.

The bodies failed, 15 Million-Dollar Man Jason Schmidt was lost early in the season, along with other pitchers Randy Wolf, Yhency Brazoban, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Chin-Hui Tsao.

There was turmoil in the locker room, and management flipped-flopped on whether to go with the vets or embrace the popular LA youth movement.

In the end, everyone pointed fingers, and the team finished 25-32 in the last two months of the season, while division foes Arizona and Colorado battled it out for the chance to get swept in the World Series.

2008 Key Additions: Yes, Joe Torre is a manager and doesn't actually play, but that's still got to be the biggest acquisition of the Dodger off season. Andruw Jones, arguably the best defensive Center Fielder of this decade will be in Dodger Blue. And Hiroki Kuroda, who went 103-89 with a 3.69 ERA in 11 years in Japan will be the fourth starter. Gary Bennett was added as the backup catcher.

2008 Key Losses: Not much. Luis Gonzalez is gone thank goodness. Randy Wolf, Mike Lieberthal, Rudy Seanez, Roberto Hernandez, Mark Hendrickson, and David Wells are no longer Dodgers. But the biggest loss was probably Backup
Infielder/Clutch Pinch Hitter/Longest Tenured Dodger/Fan Favorite/The Killer Tomato, Olmedo Saenz. He'll be sorely missed.

2008 Starting Lineup:
This is what it should be:
1. Rafael Furcal SS
2. Russell Martin C
3. Matt Kemp RF
4. Andruw Jones CF
5. Jeff Kent 2B
6. James Loney 1B
7. Nomar Garciapara/ Andy LaRoche/ Anyone healthy enough to play third 3B
8. Juan Pierre/ Andre Ethier LF

2008 Starting Rotation: Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Esteban Loaiza

2008 Closer: Takashi Saito

2008 MVP: Russell Martin. The do-everything catcher is back again as the cornerstone of the Dodger franchise. In his first full MLB Season last year, he was the NL's starting catcher, was the Gold Glove winner as the league's best defensive catcher, and won the Silver Slugger as it's best offensive catcher.

And, oh by the way, he lead all NL catchers in Games, At Bats, Runs, Hits, Home Runs, Total Bases, Stolen Bases, Batting Average, Slugging Percentage, and On Base Percentage.

No one works as hard as Russell does. If he can continue to blossom offensively while managing the pitching staff the way he has proved he can do, he is clearly the most valuable player on this baseball team.

2008 Season Prediction: Joe Torre's only here for there years, and we overpaid for Andruw Jones so we could have him for only two. The talent level of this team is easily comparable to if not better than the cream of the National League. This is an organization and a nation of fans that needs to win now. We've had one total playoff victory since Tommy and Gibby in '88. Certain things can be accomplished, but as a team, I'd say anything short of a World Series appearance would be a letdown.

Standings Prediction:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Colorado Rockies
4. San Diego Padres
5. San Francisco Giants