It is fast approaching. The day that Dodgers fans will be able to smile about the Dodgers once more. Even if we pull a .500 season, most of us believe that good times may be coming in the offseason. Though the season has not started, I have already began looking forward to the offseason and what it should bring. Of course, what we acquire will depend strongly on how our season goes. There are those that believe that, no matter what, the Dodgers must be buyers at the deadline. I disagree. I think if this season goes the way of the last one, we again should sell high if possible. After that, we should pluck the best players from FA and work forward. When you consider that the addition of two players drastically changes the makeup of this team, you start to see how close we could be. Personally, I believe we are only one bat and one #2 away from competing with the best. I really do. Here is where it gets weird. I do not want another FA firstbaseman. I want to stick with Loney if he has found his trigger again. I am completely happy with a guy who hits .280 20 90. I think his glove coupled with Dee's range/arm is the perfect compliment to a pitching staff in need of defense. I think that if Young Alex can produce .275 15 75 as a second baseman, I will be on top of the world. I think that Ned may have walked into a winner. It is apparent that he will never be a GG second baseman. However, he fields decently and appears to have some pop. When was the last time we had a 2nd baseman we could count on long term who could actually hit? Do not even bring up Joey Ballgame. I am not worried about 3rd. It has been a hole since Beltre left (with the Beard keeping it warm for awhile). We need to be grooming someone to take it and run. I actually suggest Sands. There has been rumors that he was tried there and it may be the perfect spot for him. This leaves catcher. Yes, NED FUCKED UP. The Santana situation pisses me off every time I think about it. His fuckup has cost us plenty. I am hoping that a tandem of Fedex and Ellis are enough to get great D and a team that can walk more than .375. I would be happy with that--given our options. We need a LFer with power. I love Gwynn but he is simply not consistent enough. Hamilton could slide in easily. He would actually do better in RF with Ethier sliding over but whatever. Hamilton will be 32. Yes, he is getting older but he can still hit and will take a walk. He is the perfect guy to protect Kemp. Hamilton plus fastball equals trouble. This would allow Ethier to move up to the 2 hole where he should be. He can walk and go deep. He make pitchers pay for pitching to him. You would be looking at: Gordon/Ethier/Kemp/Hamilton/Loney/Sands/Alex/Fedex/P ---not bad at all. As far as pitching goes, we need one this next offseason. We have Cap and Harang under contract. As such, we need not waste them. Unless we can dump one for some nice prospects, we can use them. We have Eovaldi and RDL in the wings. I love this problem. Lee is two years out. We grab Cain and put him as the #2 and we start the season with: Kershaw/Cain/Bills/Cap/Harang/Lilly. We could spin one and keep the profits. We could let RDR take someone's job and move Eovaldi to LR role. We have a ton of flamethrowers on the way. We need to learn how to use them as bait for good young bats. A good GM could have us equalled out by July of next season. Guys, if played correctly, we are about 2 years from going very deep into the playoffs. We just need someone to lead us there and make smart moves.
