Tuesday, August 07, 2012

ESPN Pundits Think The Dodgers Are Still Short

So say David Schoenfield, Christina Kahrl, and Arash Markazi, in "NL West Dilemmas"

1. Will the Dodgers' deadline moves make the difference in the division or the postseason?

David Schoenfield, SweetSpot: Hanley Ramirez is certainly an upgrade for the offense, but I'm not sure Joe Blanton is that much of an improvement. Nate Eovaldi, Ted Lilly and Stephen Fife combined for a 3.48 ERA in the fifth spot, a number that Blanton will be hard-pressed to match. With no clear No. 2 behind Clayton Kershaw, it's the offense that will have to pick things up.

Christina Kahrl, ESPN.com: As weak as NL West lineups like the Rockies' have become, I just don't see the Dodgers' rotation being an asset beyond Kershaw and a collection of No. 4 or 5 types. Adding HanRam and Shane Victorino is nice, but that rotation doesn't let them afford luxuries like carrying James Loney, and trading Josh Lindblom is the self-inflicted wound people forget too easily.

Arash Markazi, ESPNLosAngeles.com: There's no question the Dodgers are still an ace short. That will come back to bite them in the postseason, where they will be shooting for an upset in every game that Clayton Kershaw doesn't take the mound. Nevertheless, the moves the Dodgers made in picking up Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino might just be enough to get them to the postseason, which is something not many thought was possible with this team before the season.

Yikes, that's not very reassuring.

4 comments:

MR.F said...

I dunno. Shane Victorino is only 5'9", but the rest of the team is pretty tall.

DodgersKingsoftheGalaxy said...

What a load, i'm not saying they will go very far but this is just shallow analysis. For people who do this for a paycheck it is pretty sad they don't bother going in depth. Also it's nice to see another slight at Bills who can be a very good pitcher.

Franklin Stubbs said...

It is funny how nobody thought we needed pitching until we didn't get in on Dempster. Pure hindsight analysis.

Franklin Stubbs said...

Not that I want Harang around, but that's a problem of subtraction, not addition.