Hanley Ramirez‘s rehab stint with Rancho Cucamonga has gone well, and he’s supposedly in line to return to The Show early this week.

Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez went 1-for-3 with two RBIs in his first of two scheduled rehab starts with the Quakes, as Rancho downed the visiting Lake Elsinore Storm, 8-3, at LoanMart Field on Saturday night.

Ramirez led off the game with a single to center and followed that with an RBI groundout, a sharp groundout to second base and a sacrifice fly to center before he was replaced by Darnell Sweeney in the seventh inning.

The first game went swimmingly, and the second game went well too…

He followed it up Sunday with six more innings, going 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored. Ramirez is recovering from a torn ligament in his right thumb that required surgery on March 22.

…but he dove head-first into second base during the game, and his hand was heavily wrapped in the clubhouse afterward.

Believed to be precautionary. RT @cousneddie did he reinjure the hand? Report he left stadium with hand heavily wrapped

— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) April 29, 2013

He left without speaking to reporters, apparently, which is probably more bad than good.

—–

Mark Ellis has yet to undergo an MRI on his injured quad, and the Dodgers will play the waiting game on a retroactive DL stint.

The Dodgers won’t have the services of Mark Ellis for at least Saturday night and possibly the weekend, but the second baseman hasn’t been placed on the disabled list just yet. Ellis strained his right quad and left in the fifth inning on Friday night against the Brewers.

Ellis was said to be feeling much better on Saturday, so much so that he didn’t even have an MRI exam. He walked on the aquatic treadmill underwater Saturday in the Dodgers’ new training facility to test the leg.

“I hate to say it, but I feel like it’s good news because it’s not like he walks in today and he has to be on the list. He was really good today,” said manager Don Mattingly. “Let’s see what he looks like tomorrow, and we’ll be closer to making a decision tomorrow. Obviously we’ll bite the bullet for a day or two, and see where we’re at.”

So they’re optimistic he can avoid a DL stint, but he hasn’t tried to actually run yet.

“I’m still kind of day-to-day, but I’m really optimistic at this point,” Ellis said.

Ellis said he is able to swing and throw without discomfort. He took swings in the batting cage Sunday morning, but has yet to start running to test his injured leg.

Ellis did not have an MRI. He said he was nervous when he first felt the injury, but felt better soon after.

“I thought it was going to be something a little bit more serious,” Ellis said. “But that went away pretty quick after jogging back to the dugout.”

With the team’s history of players gutting it out through injury, it’s probably best if he just plays it safe.

—–

Chris Capuano has rehabbed without setback and will make at least one rehab appearance before returning.

Chris Capuano threw a simulated game to Dodgers hitters on Saturday, and the Dodgers left-hander gets closer to a return to the starting rotation. He hasn’t had any setbacks while on the disabled list with a strained left calf, but at the same time is anxious to return to the mound in a major league game.

“I haven’t felt one thing, knock on wood, in this whole process,” Capuano said. “Throwing hasn’t been a problem all along. I’ve been able to long toss and do my pens full out. Just yesterday we started running outside, and we’ll progress to more lateral, explosive type movements, so I’ll be able to bounce off the mound and run the bases.”

“I’ve been running at 60 or 70 percent body weight, and have been gradually increasing that to 80 or 90 percent. That’s a really good tool to slowly reintroduce running,” Capuano said. “With this new facility it’s been a great place to rehab. There’s just every kind of device to get you healthy here possible.”

He’ll likely toe the rubber on Wednesday.

—–

Stephen Fife had felt soreness in his right shoulder for roughly a week before the decision was made to shelve him.

The decision to put Stephen Fife on the disabled list with right shoulder bursitis was ultimately made on Friday, though it has been developing for about a week. Fife first felt soreness in his right shoulder after his Sunday start in Baltimore.

“It came up after the last start. The morning of the off day he woke up sore,” manager Don Mattingly said of Fife. “The next day he was better. He threw in New York but it was easy toss, and that was okay. But once yesterday came he wasn’t able to really throw. They felt like it was better, but it wasn’t going to be enough to make him start.”

Fife said he has had his shoulder on ice every day this week, and has been shut down for three or four days from throwing. But he feels the injury won’t keep him out much longer than his 15 days on the disabled list, retroactive to Apr. 22.

He was headed down whenever Capuano returned anyway, and with Matt Magill‘s excellent debut and Ted Lilly soon to return, Fife may fall further down the depth chart.

—–

Adrian Gonzalez was scratched from Saturday’s game with a skin infection in his right leg.

The latest Dodgers player to fall is Adrian Gonzalez, who was scratched from Saturday night’s lineup with a small skin infection in his right leg. Gonzalez is currently at the hospital but is expected back later Saturday and will be available to play later in the game against the Brewers.

The ailment was not serious, as Gonzalez entered Saturday’s game and played Sunday.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Yasiel Puig, in addition to being shelved on the DL, has now been arrested in Chattanooga.

Dodgers prospect Yasiel Puig was arrested Sunday morning and charged with speeding, reckless driving and driving without proof of insurance.

Puig was arrested by police in Chattanooga, Tenn., and spent a short time in the Hamilton County jail before he was released. Puig has a hearing in Hamilton County court scheduled for May 14.

“We’re aware of it … we take it seriously,” said Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti. “We’ll be handling discipline internally.”

As far as arrests go, this is probably best-case scenario, but it’s still dumb.

—–

Ted Lilly was recalled on Wednesday and Tim Federowicz was optioned. Then on Saturday, Stephen Fife was placed on the DL and Matt Magill was recalled.

—–

In MILB news, the team released LHP Gregg Downing.

Stephen Fife is having shoulder problems, because why wouldn’t he with the way the injuries have been going for the Dodgers.

Stephen Fife, who was scheduled to start Saturday night against the Brewers, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder bursitis. Matt Magill was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque and will make his major league debut in place of Fife.

The upside is that the Dodgers get to test out their top prospects, I guess.

—–

Will Carroll is reporting Zack Greinke will begin a scheduled throwing session next week.

— Will Carroll (@injuryexpert) April 25, 2013

While it certainly seems like a quick recovery, Carroll also notes that it was always expected Greinke would resume throwing following the broken collarbone at this time. Therefore, it doesn’t mean he’ll return to game action any earlier than the original timetable of eight weeks.

Eric Stephen caught up with Don Mattingly and reports that Greinke’s throwing will not be strenuous for the time being.

Don Mattingly said Zack Greinke has been playing catch but nothing strenuous just yet. “He’s not going to start throwing bullpens.”

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) April 27, 2013

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Chad Billingsley‘s elbow finally went boom, and the righty underwent Tommy John surgery, which will sideline him until sometime next season.

Chad Billingsley met with team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Tuesday and the news was not good. The Dodgers’ right-hander will need Tommy John surgery to repair the partially torn ligament in his right elbow. An MRI taken Saturday revealed an injury to the ligament.

Billingsley had increased tightness and pain in his right elbow in a bullpen session on Apr. 19, and he was scratched on Sunday in Baltimore and placed on the disabled list.

The surgery went off as expected with no complications.

The Tommy John surgery performed on Chad Billingsley’s right elbow Wednesday night went as expected, and he could be sidelined for a year.

Should his rehab go well, I would figure no earlier than after the 2014 All-Star Game for Bills’ return.

—–

Hanley Ramirez will head out on a rehab assignment beginning Saturday, as he continues to be ahead of schedule in his return from a torn ligament in his thumb.

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez is likely to begin a Minor League rehab assignment within the next few days, but he’ll still need to wear a splint when he returns to the Dodgers, because the repaired ligament in his right thumb will still be healing.

“Maybe by the end of next week I hope to be [active],” Ramirez said after an improved workout, watched by manager Don Mattingly. “It’s still swollen. It doesn’t look normal yet. I don’t want to come back and go back to the DL. It won’t be 100 percent, but it’ll be at a level I’m comfortable with.

“Right now I think about it a little bit. I still feel it. I have to wear the splint for six weeks. If I come back early, I still have to have it.”

After undergoing surgery on March 22, Ramirez was told his healing time would be six to eight weeks, but he’s been throwing and hitting for more than a week.

HanRam will head to Rancho Cucamonga for the assignment. His goal is to return by the time his “I See You” bobblehead is given out, which just so happens to be this Tuesday.

Rancho coming soon!!!!!

— Hanley Ramirez (@HanleyRamirez) April 25, 2013

—–

Mark Ellis left Friday’s game with a strained right quad suffered as he ran to first to try and beat out a grounder.

Ellis will have an MRI on Saturday and will likely hit the DL if the strain is confirmed.

“He kind of seemed to be optimistic, but we’ll just have to see. It’s tough to see that tonight. Tomorrow probably will be a better indicator.”

Mattingly didn’t want to speculate, but it does sound like an injury that will keep Ellis sidelined for the immediate future.

“If I had to guess, usually guys don’t come out of games like that and it not be something,” Mattingly said. “It’s usually something that’s not going to be a day or two.”

Much like with my fantasy team, the injuries are never-ending and one after another.

—–

Chris Capuano threw a bullpen session Thursday and will take the hill in a simulated game on Sunday. The lefty is on the mend after suffering a left calf strain in the Carlos Quentin Debacle and further aggravating the injury in his only start of the season.

“Cappy hasn’t had to stop at all because of his arm,” said Mattingly.

The next step for Capuano after the simulated game would be a minor league rehab start before he is ready to be activated. The date for Capuano to be activated figures to be May 8, the final game of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium against the Diamondbacks.

With Dodgers pitchers falling left and right, some good news is more than welcome.

—–

Shawn Tolleson had surgery on a herniated disk in his lower back and will be on the shelf for three to five months.

Dodgers reliever Shawn Tolleson was scheduled to undergo surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back Thursday. He will be out three to five months.

Tough break for a really talented guy.

—–

On the minor-league side of things, there were six DL moves made:

Placed on 7-day DL: C Webster Rivas, SS Ozzie Martinez, OF Yasiel Puig
Reinstated from DL: C Pratt Maynard, SS Casio Grider, OF Brian Cavazos-Galvez

Yasiel Puig obviously highlights that list.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Ted Lilly will make his first start of the season on Wednesday, replacing the injured Chris Capuano, who had replaced the injured Zack Greinke.

Ted Lilly will start Wednesday night’s game against the Mets, manager Don Mattingly confirmed Friday. Lilly replaces the injured Chris Capuano, who previously replaced the injured Zack Greinke.

“That’s our plan,” said Mattingly. “Obviously, he’s got to come out of the bullpen today and one more [side session], but that’s the plan.”

Though the results of his rehab starts were not necessarily good, Lilly was happy with the progression of each start.

Lilly said each of his three rehab starts was better than the previous with his delivery and ability to adjust. He said he’s looking forward to competing again in the Major Leagues for the first time since last May.

He’s back to reclaim his homer-giver-upper throne!

In all seriousness, he better be ready.

—–

Chad Billingsley was placed on the 15-day DL with right elbow pain. Stephen Fife was recalled to replace Bills and he started in his place on Sunday.

What was once a ridiculously deep starting staff has now been decimated, with three guys injured and a fourth dealt.

—–

Tim Federowicz was recalled for a second time to replace the injured Capuano.

One day after he left his start in the third inning against the Padres with a left calf strain, Dodgers pitcher Chris Capuano was placed on the 15-day disabled list. To take his place on the roster, the Dodgers recalled catcher Tim Federowicz from Triple-A Albuquerque.

With a trip to the American League, the Dodgers decided to bring up another bat rather than replace an arm with an arm.

—–

Josh Wall was recalled once again, taking the place of an injured Shawn Tolleson.

Wall, who was among the final roster cuts of spring training, had a 2.08 ERA in four games with the Isotopes with one save, five strikeouts and three walks in 4⅓ innings.

The move was announced literally right before first pitch and at the time Wall was en route to Dodger Stadium, on Jackie Robinson Night.

Unfortunately, at the rate he’s going, he’ll be back down sooner than later.

—–

Jerry Hairston Jr., who had been appealing his one-game suspension stemming from the Carlos Quentin debacle, dropped the appeal and served the suspension on Wednesday.

—–

The Dodgers signed pitcher Anthony Ortega to a minor-league deal and assigned him to AAA to replace the recently called-up Stephen Fife.

—–

The Dodgers continue to pluck from the international pool of talent, signing RHP Osiris Ramirez (Puerto Plata), RHP Angel German, and 3B Jimy Perez (Bani).

—–

A slew of minor-league moves also went down:

Signed: RHP Victor Arano, 2B David Compton, OF Antonio Torres
Released: RHP Danny Carela
Loaned To Mexican League: RHP Javier Solano (Monterrey), LHP Thomas Melgarejo (Saltillo), 2B Jesus Alberto Arredondo (Monclova)

Biggest name on that list is probably relief pitcher Javier Solano.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Chad Billingsley, with his elbow basically hanging by a thread and ready to explode at any moment, has been placed on the 15-day DL with right elbow pain. The move is retroactive to April 16 and it marks his second stint on the DL in the young season.

#Dodgers place RHP Chad Billingsley on 15-day DL (right elbow pain) retroactive to 4/16 and recall RHP Stephen Fife to make today’s start.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 21, 2013

Billingsley underwent a MRI exam yesterday. Results still haven’t been reviewed by #DrNealElAttrache.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) April 21, 2013

Billingsley said the feeling in his elbow isn’t the same as last year.This elbow pain didn’t happen on 1 pitch like last year

— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) April 21, 2013

While it was an admirable attempt to help the team, at least in theory, he really should have gotten Tommy John surgery last August/September.

Stephen Fife was recalled to replace Bills and started Sunday in his place.

—–

Hanley Ramirez continues to progress with his rehab, though Don Mattingly doesn’t foresee a rehab assignment for another week or so.

Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez took live early batting practice at Camden Yards before Friday night’s game and hit with power, but manager Don Mattingly said a Minor League rehab assignment is still at least a week away.

“It’s still a little sore in the joint, three weeks without moving it,” said Ramirez, who appeared ginger on his throws to first base.

“What he’s been able to do has shocked all of us,” said Mattingly. “Taking BP, his swing is like normal. Is he able to do that without the brace? There’s still healing to be done. It seems his throwing, he still has trouble with the feel making all his throws. He asked if he could DH tonight and I couldn’t hardly argue. I wouldn’t mind it.”

The Dodgers are pleased with the power Ramirez has shown in BP, and the fact that he’s healing ahead of schedule bodes well for a team with offensive vortexes at both 3B and SS.

—–

Chris Capuano hit the 15-day DL with a left calf strain suffered during the Carlos Quentin/Zack Greinke incident two Thursdays ago.

#Dodgers place LHP Chris Capuano on 15-day DL (left calf strain); recall C Tim Federowicz from @abqtopes.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 17, 2013

Capuano received treatment between the original injury and his spot-start on Tuesday, before re-injuring it during the game while running to cover first base.

The left calf strain that put Dodgers pitcher Chris Capuano on the disabled list on Wednesday originally surfaced on Thursday night during the benches-clearing incident in San Diego that sidelined Zack Greinke.

Capuano said he felt tightness before that game and felt it worsen while sprinting in from the bullpen during the fracas that was triggered when Greinke hit Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin with a pitch.

Capuano said he thought the injury had responded enough to four days of treatment to allow him to start Tuesday night in Greinke’s place, only for the muscle to partially tear when he sprinted off the mound to cover first base in the second inning.

Chris had an MRI and received an injection of platelet-rich plasma in the affected area on Thursday.

—–

Where is Yasiel Puig? On the DL.

The answer to why Dodgers outfield prospect Yasiel Puig didn’t play for Double-A Chattanooga on Friday night was the simplest of sorts. No, he wasn’t en route to Baltimore to join the Dodgers. Instead, Puig was placed on the seven-day disabled list with a sprained left thumb, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.

While this should serve to blunt the madness surrounding his name, he desperately needs the plate appearances.

—–

Down on the farm, five Dodgers got healthy and three more hit the DL.

RHP Matt Shelton, C Pratt Maynard, and OF Devin Shines were placed on the 7-day DL, while RHP Steve Ames, RHP Juan Noriega, C Jan Vazquez, SS Ozzie Martinez, and OF Pat Stover were reinstated from the DL.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

The Dodgers announced the cuts of eight players yesterday, moves that essentially set the Opening Day roster for the team.

The club reassigned right-handers Kevin Gregg and Peter Moylan, utility man Alfredo Amezaga and catcher Matt Wallach to Minor League camp.

In addition, the Dodgers optioned outfielder Alex Castellanos, right-hander Stephen Fife, utility man Elian Herrera and right-hander Josh Wall to Minor League camp.

Welp, this turned out completely differently than what I had assumed was going to happen, with some moves for the better and some for the worse. However, the primary reason that happened was because the Dodgers basically pushed back the tough decisions for a week or two.

—–

Lineup

C – A.J. Ellis
1B – Adrian Gonzalez
2B – Mark Ellis
3B – Luis Cruz
SS – Justin Sellers
LF – Carl Crawford
CF – Matt Kemp
RF – Andre Ethier

Bench

B – Tim Federowicz
B – Nick Punto
B – Juan Uribe
B – Jerry Hairston Jr.
B – Skip Schumaker

DL – Hanley Ramirez

Rotation

1 – Clayton Kershaw
2 – Zack Greinke
3 – Josh Beckett
4 – Hyun Jin Ryu

Bullpen

CL – Brandon League
ST – Kenley Jansen
RP – Ronald Belisario
RP – J.P. Howell
RP – Paco Rodriguez
RP – Matt Guerrier
RP – Chris Capuano
RP – Aaron Harang

DL – Chad Billingsley
DL – Scott Elbert
DL – Ted Lilly

—–

So that’s the Opening Day roster barring a sudden injury or trade.

I still don’t understand why Justin Sellers needs to be the starter when a platoon at third would work just fine. Regardless, nothing we can do about it now except hope that Sellers hits a lot of balls on the ground and those balls find holes over the next couple of months.

Pleasantly surprised though that Paco Rodriguez makes the staff over Kevin Gregg and friends, as he’s probably the fourth-best reliever on this team right now.

As I alluded to earlier though, the bad part is that this is temporary. Scott Elbert and Hanley Ramirez are out months, but Chad Billingsley and Ted Lilly can come off the DL soon because their stints are retroactive, so moves will need to be made similar to what I speculated earlier.

Basically, trades needs to happen, and soon. I struggle to see a way they make carrying seven or eight starters work long-term without damaging the potential of the bullpen, because they’d have to make moves like sending Paco down because he has options.

So all in all, while the Opening Day roster is set, what the team has really done is just push the tough decisions back, so it’s now in a week or two that we’ll see what the team truly plans on doing for the rest of the season.

Baseball fans love to talk about clutch plays and clutch players, and Dodgers fans are no exception, but like with a pitcher’s best and worst pitches, there tends to be a lack of evidence presented. As such, I decided to find some basis for clutch plays and clutch players, courtesy of the WPA and Clutch statistics.

WPA

Most sabermetric statistics are context neutral — they do not consider the situation of a particular event or how some plays are more crucial to a win than others. While wOBA rates all home runs as equal, we know intuitively that a home run in the third inning of a blowout is less important to that win than a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of a close game. Win Probability Added (WPA) captures this difference by measuring how individual players affect their team’s win expectancy on a per-play basis.

Clutch

In the words of David Appelman, this calculation measures, “…how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment.” It also compares a player against himself, so a player who hits .300 in high leverage situations when he’s an overall .300 hitter is not considered clutch.

So that’s the foundation for this post, and since that’s now been established, let’s get on with it, shall we?

As always, visuals have been provided because, let’s be honest, everything is better with visuals.

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I feel like it’s necessary to point out that none of this is predictive of the future or telling of the past. It’s a post about stuff that happened in 2012. That’s all.

In other words, please don’t link back to this while saying, “LOOK! THIS DUDE IS SO CLUTCH, BRO!” No.

—–

Top Five Clutchiest McClutchington Outs Of 2012

1. Kenley Jansen – 46.8%

The Dodgers were clinging onto an 8-7 lead with one down in the bottom of the ninth and runners on first and third. At this point, you’d almost be happy with a tied game.

One Jason Kubel swing later and it was a win instead.

2. Javy Guerra – 31.6%

Tied at 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning, the Padres got runners on first and second with nobody out. Not looking good for the Dodgers.

But then the impossible happened and … well … you can see it for yourself.

3. Ronald Belisario – 27.5%

Tied at two in the bottom of the eighth inning and facing a bases loaded jam with one out, Ronald Belisario gets out of it thanks to what basically amounts to luck.

Matt Holliday smashed a liner, but it was right at Mark Ellis, who doubled up the runner at second.

4. Kenley Jansen – 24.7%

With runners on second and third in the top of the ninth and one down, the Dodgers are clinging to a 6-5 lead when Kenley Jansen induces a harmless infield pop-up.

5. Brandon League – 20.0%

Tied at three with one down in the bottom of the tenth and a runner on third, Brandon League keeps him there by inducing a strikeout.

—–

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that the most clutch plays of the season all went to relievers.

That said, I am shocked that Javy Guerra‘s play wasn’t tops on this list, since it’s almost never that you induce three outs on one pitch.

—–

Top Five Clutchiest Dodgers Of 2012 – Ball Thrower Division

1. Brandon League – 0.70
2. Josh Lindblom – 0.47
3. Nate Eovaldi – 0.34
4. Shawn Tolleson – 0.34
5. Stephen Fife – 0.32

The 2013 projection for the Dodgers from Dan Szymborski‘s ZiPS system was released last week, and given that it’s probably my favorite forecasting tool, it’s worth a look to see how the team fared.

Forecasting is not a complete science, obviously, and I’ll address some of the potential pitfalls as we go along, but it’s better to use objective tools like these than the hopes/dreams of fans or the bitterness/wishes of haters.

To start us off, how does the team fare, generally speaking? A solid playoff contender, for sure, but a super team? Doesn’t seem likely.

—–

The Field Players

Despite all the hype over the recent acquisitions, the key cogs in this machine are still Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp. It’s a promising sign then, that Kemp projects at a 144 OPS+ and the system has confidence in him continuing to put up offensive numbers in the ~.900 OPS range. His defense in center still lags below average, but his bat more than makes up for it. His playing time projection has dropped due to his injury woes last season, and quite frankly, it’s hard to fault it for that. Regardless, he still figures to be the most valuable field player on the team.

Adrian Gonzalez is slated to be another bright spot, as ZiPS pegs him to bounceback a bit, though not as much as some want, clocking in at an ~.830 OPS/128 OPS+. That would still be his lowest OPS+ since 2008 (besides 2012, of course), but it’s a marked improvement considering his age and negatively trending skills. A-Gon compensates for that lagging bat a bit by putting up plus defense almost worth a win by itself. Hanley Ramirez factors in as yet another bounceback candidate, projecting at a 115 OPS+, which is an upgrade over last year’s 106 and is closer to his pre-2011 production. Defensively, even his horribad -8 run defensive rating is optimistic to me, as he was truly terrible with the glove last year. Given that I already wanted to barf seeing him trying to turn a double play in 2012, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him put up horrid defensive numbers after basically not playing the position all of spring.

Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of the offensive optimism ends. Luis Cruz checks in at 84 OPS+ (106 last year), which will anger many fans, but is completely reasonable given the track record. He remains valuable through plus defense, though given the sample size, there’s reason to be skeptical there as well. A.J. Ellis at 96 OPS+ (118) is another depressing but completely logical projection, as evidenced by everybody’s surprise in 2012 at his potent bat. Andre Ethier at 112 OPS+ (123) is hard to figure for me, because he has been consistently putting up ~120 OPS+ seasons even if it has come down from the ~130 OPS+ range two years ago. I suppose the projection system thinks he’ll get old in a hurry … or maybe it just thinks he’ll face an inordinately high amount of lefties. Mark Ellis at 81 OPS+ (93) shouldn’t be much of a surprise considering he’s 36 and put up an 80 OPS+ at Coors Field in 2011.

The last guy of the starters is Carl Crawford, who is the enigma of the 2013 season. He checks in at 104, which is notable because it’s basically his career OPS+ and it’s about what he did in limited time in 2012 over in Boston. That’s of particular note for me, because what he did in Boston in 2012 can be attributed to a mechanical fix that I pointed out in an article for Baseball Prospectus. Understandably, his playing time checks in low, but if he can produce like he did in 2012 but over a whole season, the Dodgers will be much better for it.

Overall, after fixing the playing time of A.J., adjusting Ethier’s offense up a bit, and adjusting Hanley’s defense down a bit, the starting lineup totaled about 22 WAR.

—–

The Bench & The Prospects

Assuming a bench of Tim Federowicz, Scott Van Slyke or Alex Castellanos, Jerry Hairston Jr., Nick Punto, and Skip Schumaker, we’re looking at around 3 WAR here after playing time is adjusted back to realistic bench levels. I’m guessing Alfredo Amezaga or Tony Gwynn Jr. work their way in somehow, but a five-man bench seems likely initially if the Dodgers can’t deal multiple pitchers before the season starts. Neither player would affect the WAR projection much though.

Honestly? I have to hope the Dodgers do something to improve the bench, because the current configuration looks rather mediocre, and the other options are keeping Juan Uribe and/or Elian Herrera. Yuck.

The good news is that Joc Pederson, T-Fed, SVS, and Castle are projected to be solid at the MLB level, though it sees Dee Gordon basically languishing behind.

—–

The Rotation

Clayton Kershaw is simply a beast, and he figures to check in with a 75 FIP-. This might seem high considering his 2011 and 2012 ERA- figures of 63 and 67, respectively, but when you consider that Felix Hernandez clocks in at 78 FIP- for 2013, you get the picture.

What might surprise is how close new acquisition Zack Greinke comes in behind him, as he figures to put up an FIP- of 81. Granted, he has always projected favorably, as his career FIP- is 80, while his career ERA- is 88, but even adjusting slightly for that, there’s a definite case there for the best 1-2 punch in the majors.

Unfortunately, this is where it gets murky, as Chad Billingsley has the stuff to be the #3, but if I were a betting man, I would bet his elbow implodes before July. He projects at 92 FIP-, which would put him around last year’s performance, which was his arguably his best season since 2008. However, given the nature of his injury and its history in the league, you can basically never rely on him to stay healthy again until he has Tommy John surgery.

Next in the pecking order are Josh Beckett, who comes in below-average at 103, and foreign import Hyun Jin Ryu, who comes in well below-average at 116. As mentioned before, the scouting reports for Beckett match this projection, as he’s no longer a front-line starter due to his decrease in velocity. However, if he can manage to learn to pitch a bit more, he still has the curve to perhaps slot in as a #3 more than a #4. Ryu is a case where I would take any projection with a mound of salt, because there’s hardly anything to base objective projections on. Personally, I don’t think Ryu has the stuff to be a #2, nor do I think he’ll be a #3 on a team with a $250 million payroll, but he should slot in comfortably in the back-end of the rotation for years. I would project something slightly below-average for 2013 and then hope for better.

The rotation is a strong point because it has both arguably the best 1-2 punch in the majors and depth, with Chris Capuano (108 FIP-) and Aaron Harang (114 FIP) presumably traded for upgrades (or maybe kept somehow?), and it checks in at about 17 WAR.

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The Bullpen & The Prospects

As of right now, I’m assuming a bullpen of Brandon League, Kenley Jansen, Ronald Belisario, Javy Guerra, Matt Guerrier, J.P. Howell, and Ted Lilly.

Jansen is the best of the bunch (63 FIP-) and League projects a distant second (92 FIP-), but Belisario has the most upside in these projections (101 FIP-). After that, Guerra, Guerrier, and Howell are all around replacement level. Lilly projects as a league-average pitcher, assuming he’s healthy, which would be a boon to a team that has a ticking time bomb in the rotation.

As far as prospects go, ZiPS thinks Chris Reed could be a replacement-level fill-in right now, but Zach Lee, Matt Magill, and Garrett Gould need more seasoning. And for all of you who have Stephen Fife wet dreams (yes, you’re out there), he projects at a 4.91 FIP, so keep it in your pants.

Speaking of replacement level, that especially applies to the Dodgers bullpen because of Shawn Tolleson, Scott Elbert, Steven Ames, and Paco Rodriguez, so the 4 WAR projection for this pen figures to be solid.

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Team Projection

A replacement-level team figures to win 43 games, and the team with the lowest amount of wins to get into the playoffs last year was the Cardinals at 88 wins, so 42 WAR puts you in the contender range and 45 WAR makes you viable, while 50 WAR will generally make a team a safe bet to be in the postseason. The Dodgers total 46 WAR, which puts them well within the playoff hunt: good but not great.

The Dodgers basically project neck-and-neck with the rival Giants, while the D-Backs lag behind a bit by maybe a half dozen wins or so, but they’re well within striking distance as well.

So make no mistake, the Dodgers recent spending habits did not make them an elite team, as the money simply duct-taped over both a flawed team and farm system depleted by Frank McCourt‘s ownership and Ned Colletti‘s questionable decisions. But that’s not to denigrate the job the new owners have done, as they turned the franchise into a legitimate playoff contender seemingly overnight, which is still saying a lot about what money can do.

Granted, “we gave you a team that has the chance to make the playoffs” is not what fans want to hear, but it’s an acceptable scenario as they lay the foundation to rebuild the franchise the correct way in their own minds. The 2013 projections might not reflect world-beaters like most seem to expect, but it’s a projection based on historical trends rather than hopes and dreams.

The 2013 Dodgers are indeed a team with a lot of upside, and if everything breaks correctly, they could very well end up being one of the best teams in the league, but they also carry a ton of inherent age and injury risk, which is why the projections come in understandably conservative. Either way, if nothing else, this team figures to be never boring.

Clayton Kershaw

After Clayton Kershaw‘s 2011 performance, for which he won the Cy Young Award, I wasn’t sure I could be more impressed with him going forward. That’s not to say I was certain he had peaked, but it would no longer come as a surprise to me or anyone else. What impressed me so much about his 2012 season though, was the fact that he had another fantastic season while pitching through physical adversity.

Kershaw had to deal with plantar fasciitis throughout most, if not all of, the campaign, on top of a late-season hip injury that could have led to surgery, and an early-season illness that forced him to last just three innings in his 2012 debut.

After 2011 bests in FIP (2.28), SIERA (2.81), xFIP (2.84), BB/9 IP (2.08), and WAR (7.2), Clayton followed with excellent marks across that spectrum yet again, with a 2.53 FIP, 3.24 SIERA, 3.25 xFIP, 2.49 free passes per nine, and a 6.3 WAR. His strikeouts remained above one per inning (9.57/9 IP in 2011, 9.05 in 2012), and he backed up his 0.98 WHIP last season with a 1.02 mark this year.

Kid K has made his living missing bats and inducing weak contact, and he continued that trend in 2012, inducing a mess of infield popups (12.2 IFFB%) and increasing the amount of ground balls he generates for a fourth consecutive season (39.4%/40.1%/43.2%/46.9%).

In line for his second consecutive Cy, and fresh off of winning the Roberto Clemente Award, Clayton heads into 2013 on the last year of the two-year deal he signed to avoid arbitration. Slated to make just $11 million in ’13, the underpaid Clayton should have already received a long-term extension. Locking up the young stud southpaw should be the primary objective of Ned Colletti and his staff going forward.

Chad Billingsley

Entering 2012, Chad Billingsley was coming off of a pair of interesting and contrasting seasons: 2010 was his best season ever, while 2011 saw him take a step back. Always the lightning rod for Dodgers fans, especially with Jonathan Broxton away in Kansas City, Bills was at somewhat of a crossroads, as a good campaign would go a long way with the organization, while a sub-par one could have easily landed him elsewhere.

Always a Billingsley fan myself, I was very optimistic about his 2012 prospects, with one caveat:

Bills struggles resulted in a WAR cut in half from the previous year (2.1, down from 4.5) and questions about his mechanics and health. Still shy of his 28th birthday, Billingsley has every chance to rebound, and much like his poor second half of 2009 led to his best professional season, said rebound in 2012 would not be the least surprising to me. In fact, I’ll call it right now, as I fully expect Chad to be productive as Kershaw’s running mate next season, provided he is in fact healthy.

And unfortunately, that caveat became reality, as Chad suffered from an elbow injury that sent him to the DL twice, felled him permanently from August 24th on, and may require Tommy John surgery if plasma injections and rest don’t suffice as a rehab method.

Prior to being shut down, Chad started 25 games, and in just shy of 150 innings, had been excellent. A FIP of 3.34, SIERA of 3.83, and HR/9 of just 0.66 worked to produce a 2.5 WAR. On pace for another 3.5 WAR season, what was most impressive about the 2012 version of Billingsley was the fact that he had cut down significantly on his walks, trimming a 4.02 BB/9 mark down to 2.71.

While Bills isn’t the pitcher Kershaw is, we saw what cutting down on free passes did for Clayton, and it was working well for Chad too before his elbow got in the way of what was shaping up to be one of his best seasons. The Dodgers were able to lock him up prior to the 2011 season for a team-friendly three-year contract with a club option for 2015, and Chad will make $11 million this upcoming year whether or not he can throw a pitch.

A 2013 prediction for Chad really can’t be accurately made, as we have little idea whether the treatments he’s presently undergoing will ultimately allow him to pitch, though the most recent news is very promising. Tommy John surgery would wipe out his entire season, but if the treatments work and he’s able to suit up for the Dodgers next year, there’s ample reason to expect another solid year.

Chris Capuano

Chris Capuano was signed to a back-loaded two-year, $10 million deal with a 2014 mutual option, and while I wasn’t thrilled with the back-loaded nature of the deal, I was alright with him being brought on as a #4 starter. Granted, with the Dodgers #3 being Ted Lilly, they really had no #3 and a plethora of #4/#5 options, but with Cap there was at least some upside.

Coming off a bounce back 2011 season following injury issues, Capuano had a solid #3/#4 type season, whiffing 7.35/9 IP while issuing 2.45 BB/9. Like the two men to follow in this review, Chris struggled in limiting home runs, allowing over one per contest. Those walk and homer numbers were improvements over his 2011 season with the Mets, but he also struck out almost a batter less per nine than he did in his lone season in New York.

A look at his FIP, SIERA, and WAR don’t offer a clear picture beyond the aforementioned #3/#4 starter status, as he improved his FIP from 2011 (4.04/3.95), as well as his WAR (1.4/2.3), but saw a decently sharp increase in his SIERA (3.63/3.90). Cap allows a lot of hard contact (~20% LD career) and fly balls (~40% career), so pitching in a park like Dodger Stadium helps to mitigate the struggles associated with that.

Perhaps most interesting is Chris’ career pre- and post-ASG splits. In 2012, Capuano allowed a .232/.295/.374/.669 line to opponents pre-break, but that ballooned to .281/.317/.454/.770 following the mid-summer classic. Those numbers hold true for his career, as he’s always been more of a first-half pitcher (.257/.320/.414/.734 vs. .273/.331/.473/.804 with BABIP and K/BB marks that have remained steady).

He’ll enter 2013 as the #3 or #4 starter, and if he can up that strikeout rate a bit, he could be solid yet again.

Aaron Harang

Signed to a back-loaded two-year, $12 million deal with a mutual option for 2014 — a deal I was against at the time and still am upset with — Aaron Harang was exactly what he has been since Dusty Baker ruined his arm a few years back: an overpaid #4/#5 starter.

In 31 starts and just under 180 innings, Harang struck out a paltry 6.56 per nine while issuing an poor 4.26 free passes per nine. His shiny ERA may lead many to see his season as a success, but dig just a bit deeper and you find a 4.14 FIP, 4.87 SIERA, and just a 1.7 WAR.

Harang hasn’t exceeded 2.3 WAR since 2007, has not struck out more than seven per nine since 2009, and has seen his walk rate trend up in the last four seasons. That’s … uh … not good, and barring a trade, Harang will return and try to hold off age for another 30 or so starts.

Ted Lilly

Lilly only made eight starts in 2012, totaling under 50 innings, as the injury bug bit him hard in the form of a left shoulder ailment that would end up requiring arthroscopic surgery.

Prior to his injury, in an obviously small sample size, the veteran lefty posted a 3.92 FIP and 4.81 SIERA while seeing a sharp drop in his strikeout numbers from 2011 and his career rate (5.73 in ’12, 7.38 in ’11, 7.64 career).

Entering the final year of a back-loaded three-year-deal that will pay him $12 million in 2013, Lilly no longer has no-trade clause protection, but considering that he is coming off of an injury to his pitching shoulder and will be 37 for the duration of next season, there’s not much value to be had on the trade market anyway.

Lilly will reportedly be available for Spring Training barring any setback, and with a rotation already set, there’s a chance Lilly winds up in the pen to complement Scott Elbert and/or Paco Rodriguez, occupying a long-relief role and spot-starting when necessary.

Josh Beckett

Acquired in the massive deal with Boston, Josh Beckett arrived on the heels of an overblown but still bad 21 starts with the Red Sox in 2012. I say overblown because he was pitching like a #3 starter in 2012, but with all of the focus on his personality and the September collapse of 2011, you’d have thought he was pitching his way out of baseball entirely.

His results were terrible in Boston (5.23 ERA), but Beckett had posted a 4.26 FIP and 4.28 SIERA before the deal, while walking 2.7 per 9. Most concerning were his drop in strikeouts to roughly 6.5 per 9 after five straight seasons of over 8.0 per 9.

Upon his arrival, Beckett was solid and showed improvement, striking out almost 8.0 per 9 with a 3.82 FIP and 3.81 SIERA. While some might attribute that to the new manager and new clubhouse environment, it’s far more likely due to the weaker league and weaker division, offensively-speaking.

Beckett is under contract for another two seasons, each at $15.75 million, and slots in as the #2 or #3 starter heading into 2013. Going into his age-33 season, Beckett is no sure thing to transform back into the front of the rotation starter he once was, though that’s what the Dodgers will need out of him if they don’t go out and get an arm in the off-season.

Joe Blanton

Acquired from the Phillies for a PTNBL that eventually became pitcher Ryan O’Sullivan, Joe Blanton turned in a solid ten starts for the Blue Crew, posting a 3.74 FIP and 3.61 SIERA while whiffing 8.0 per 9 and walking 2.5 per 9.

Blanton’s strikeouts were a pleasant surprise, as his career mark sits just above 6.0 per 9, though he did struggle with the home run, as usual, allowing over one per game as a Dodger. Blanton’s overall season numbers are fifth-starter material, as he posted a 1.7 WAR, though his peripherals were good enough to be a #4.

After making $8.5 million each of the last two seasons, Blanton heads to free agency, and entering his age-32 season, he’ll certainly be looking for at least a two-year commitment from a team. The Dodgers will be after an arm or two, and there are worse options than him, but with the Dodgers flush in cash I doubt he’ll be a target.

Odds & Ends

Nate Eovaldi made 10 starts for the Dodgers prior to being dealt to Florida for Hanley Ramirez. In those ten starts, the 22-year-old righty struck out just 5.4/9 IP while walking 3.2/9 IP. He put up an FIP of 4.11 and a SIERA of 4.67.

While some are high on his stuff and potential as a #3 starter, I always saw him as a reliever due to his low strikeout numbers, and for the chance that Hanley hits again, it was a great trade in my book.

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Stephen Fife, acquired in the Trayvon Robinson deal that made no sense at the time, made just five spot-starts for the Dodgers in 2012. Everything I saw from the 26-year-old profiles as a bullpen arm who can spot-start here and there.

With an FIP of 4.14 and a SIERA of 4.67, I suppose he could be a fifth starter, but again, he seems to profile as a fungible relief arm with his lack of swing and miss stuff and the decrease in strikeouts as he’s advanced levels to face more competent hitting.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

Chad delved into it further here, but the Dodgers have retained the services of Ned Colletti with a multi-year extension. They have also let it be known that Don Mattingly won’t be going anywhere.

Mattingly I can live with (but please, for the love of every God ever worshiped, stop bunting, especially with A.J. Ellis), though my preference has always been Tim Wallach. My feelings on Colletti are well-known by now.

#CollettiFail

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Dee Gordon was reinstated from the 60-day DL after a rehab stint with the Albuquerque Isotopes following a torn ligament in his thumb that felled him for over 50 games. He’ll take over Adam Kennedy‘s spot on the 40-man roster, as Kennedy was placed on the 60-day DL with a groin strain.

Gordon’s playing time will almost certainly be relegated to a pinch-running role barring injury to an infielder.

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Elian Herrera was recalled from the ‘Topes. He’ll take over Kennedy’s role of being, well, a bench piece we all dread to see play.

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Stephen Fife was also brought back up from AAA for his second stint with the big league club. He’ll add depth to the pen and could end up permanently replacing Clayton Kershaw in the rotation if Kershaw’s injury is serious.

The Isotopes, Lookouts, and Raptors all made the playoffs in 2012.

The Isotopes went up against a team with the best hitter in minor league baseball in Wil Myers. It was, as expected, a slugfest, but the Omaha Stormchasers got the best of the ‘Topes, 3-2.

The Lookouts went up against one of the more stacked teams in the minors in the Jackson Generals. They, like the ‘Topes, were dispatched, 3-1. A couple of bright spots include Onelki Garcia‘s performance and the fact that Joc Pederson got his first taste of Double-A (3-for-11 with a triple).

Fortunately for the minor league system, the Raptors were able to win its first-round series 2-1 and move on to the Pioneer League championship behind some strong pitching and some timely hitting.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (3-5)

Runs Scored: 38
Runs Allowed: 51

Player Of The Week

Elian Herrera – OF/IF

Herrera, who had his share of success in the majors this season, closed out the final week of the minor league regular season with one of his best weeks: 12-for-25 (.480) with two doubles, two triples, five RBI, and three runs scored. He finishes the season with a .341/.381/.520 line in 64 games. Herrera should be on the Dodgers’ bench soon.

Pitcher Of The Week

Stephen Fife – RHP

Fife earned his fourth award of the season by having a nice outing for the Isotopes on Friday: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. He finishes the season at 11-7 with a 4.66 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 10.4 H/9, 0.9 HR/9, 2.9 BB/9, and a 2.11 K/BB. He might get recalled if the Dodgers need a starter or a long man.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (5-2)

Runs Scored: 29
Runs Allowed: 17

Player Of The Week

Luis Nunez – 1B/OF

Once again, the Lookouts struggled to score runs this week. Nunez was the best hitter of the bunch, going 6-for-18 (.333) with a home run, two doubles, three RBI, and four runs scored. This was Nunez’s fourth award of the season. He finishes the year at .257/.319/.420.

Pitcher Of The Week

Zach Lee – RHP

Lee didn’t fare too well in the Lookouts’ second playoff game, but he had a great week prior to the postseason: 12 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 12 K. He finishes his 2012 campaign with some solid numbers: 6-6, 4.14 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 3.76 FIP, 3.63 SIERA, 2.1 BB/9, and a 7.7 K/9. Not bad for a 20-year-old who spent the majority of his time in Double-A (62 IP vs. 55 1/3 IP).

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (3-5)

Runs Scored: 33
Runs Allowed: 60

Player Of The Week

Pedro Baez – 3B

Baez, who was demoted after making the Double-A All-Star team earlier in the season, had his best week of the season. He went 13-for-24 (.542) with two doubles and two runs scored. His arm is great and it might be about time the team gave this light-hitting third baseman a shot on the mound. Baez finishes the season with a .221/.307/.375 triple slash with 11 home runs, 27 doubles, five triples, and 58 RBI.

Pitcher Of The Week

Onelki Garcia – LHP

Garcia made his professional debut and fared quite well: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K. It’s a modest outing, but a nice one for a debut. How did he follow that up? With a great showing in the Double-A playoffs (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K). Not sure where he’s going to begin next season, but I’m hoping it’s Double-A. He could be the Dodgers’ second-best pitching prospect by this time next season.

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Great Lakes Loons (5-3)

Runs Scored: 35
Runs Allowed: 38

Player Of The Week

Jesus Alberto Arredondo – 2B

An early season favorite of mine, Arredondo hasn’t made an appearance on this list since I started this feature. Well, he was able to close out his 2012 campaign with a nice showing: 9-for-20 (.450), two doubles, a triple, three RBI, and three runs scored. Arredondo finishes the season with a .253/.305/.339 triple slash. After the way he began the season, I expected more from him.

Pitcher Of The Week

Joel Lima – RHP

Lima made two of his three starts for the Loons in the season’s final week, and he pitched quite well: 12 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. He threw 28 games for the Loons, but only three in the rotation. He finishes the season with a 4.52 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and a .277 batting average against.

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Ogden Raptors (5-1)

Runs Scored: 53
Runs Allowed: 34

Player Of The Week

Justin Boudreaux – IF

Boudreaux, who struggled mightily in Great Lakes this season, had himself a week for the Raptors. He went 5-for-16 (.313) with a home run, four doubles, seven RBI, and four runs scored. For the season, he hit .195/.292/.305 between Ogden and Great Lakes. I rated him as a top 30 prospect prior to the season. Obviously, I missed badly on this one.

Pitcher Of The Week

Lindsey Caughel – RHP

The Dodgers’ 23rd-round pick, despite being nearly 22 in the Pioneer League, is showing he might have some ability down the road. He had a nice outing in the season’s last week: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K. He followed that up with a great outing in the Pioneer League playoffs. Caughel had a nice debut season between Ogden and Arizona: 5-4, 3.32 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 3.33 FIP, 3.72 SIERA, 1.7 BB/9, and a 6.5 K/9.

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Arizona League Dodgers (1-3)

Runs Scored: 14
Runs Allowed: 24

Player Of The Week

Stefan Jarrin – 2B

It was hard to find an offensive star for the AZL Dodgers this week, so I went with the guy who hit a home run. He went 2-for-7 (.286) with the aforementioned home run, two RBI, and two runs scored. He finishes his second professional season much like he did his first: .209/.305/.363.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ronny Lugo – RHP

Lugo had the best appearance of the week for the pitching staff: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. It was his first and only start of the season. He finishes with an ugly 6.27 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, and a .333 BAA.

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Dominican Summer League Dodgers (0-0)

Season ended Aug. 25.

Now that rosters have expanded, let the speculation on who gets the September call begin!

Pump the brakes a bit though, because unfortunately for the people who wish to see young players show their stuff: 1) the 40-man roster is full 2) guys on the 60-day DL are due to return 3) um … the team just traded away all of the top prospects that were close to contributing.

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One of the primary issues is that Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands are still on the Dodgers 40-man roster, so it creates a bit of a mess in terms of roster spots. This is especially true because Ted Lilly (maybe) and Dee Gordon are set to return, which means guys will have to get designated just to fit them in. Perhaps Chad Billingsley, Kenley Jansen, or Scott Elbert could be placed on the 60-day DL, but that creates more holes, not less.

Either way, guys like Adam Kennedy, Juan Uribe, Matt Angle, Elian Herrera, and Stephen Fife might not want to get too comfortable on the 40-man, depending on what direction the team decides on. However, due to the roster crunch, those hoping for players not on the 40-man roster to get called — like John Ely, Tony Gwynn Jr., and Bobby Abreu — might be left disappointed.

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Among those who I feel could help the team immediately are Tim Federowicz, Javy Guerra, Josh Wall, and Alex Castellanos. I already went over the reasons Guerra could contribute, as I believed sending him down to begin with was foolish. Wall, despite just an average year at AAA, has the raw stuff catch fire and help stabilize a suddenly shaky bullpen. Federowicz is not as good a hitter as his .296/.371/.465/.836 line in AAA would indicate, but he’s a good defender and is an upgrade over Matt Treanor right now. Castellanos could provide right-handed thump off the bench, as his .338/.431/.610/1.041 line in AAA would somewhat indicate. I’d rather see him get a chance than continue to run Juan Rivera out there, that’s for sure.

Other possibilities on the 40-man are Scott Van Slyke and Fife. Van Slyke could do much the same as Castellanos, but I have less confidence in his bat. Still, he can hardly be a worse pinch hitting option than Uribe or Kennedy or Nick Punto. I’m not sure Fife would fit in the bullpen, but if he’s not going to get designated then he could be called up to use as a long man.

Ely, Gwynn, and Abreu could all help, but I have to think they’re long shots due to the roster crunch reasons I mentioned earlier. Personally, I would have no problem designating about a half dozen players, but the team has somehow managed to resist doing that all year, so I don’t see why they would start now. With that said, if a starter goes down with injury, Ely deserves a chance after putting up a 3.20 ERA in 168.2 innings with solid peripherals in that league. Gwynn has put up a .304/.400/.393/.793 line at AAA and I really feel like he has to be added to the 40-man and called up somehow, if for no other reason than to pinch run. If Abreu’s healthy, he could probably do what Shane Victorino is producing in left right now sans the defense, so he could be a useful bench guy.

—–

Assuming Billingsley, Jansen, and Elbert return from injury, and that Gordon will be back but not Lilly, I would call on Federowicz, Guerra, Wall, Castellanos, Van Slyke, Gwynn, and Abreu while designating Uribe, Angle, and Herrera.

The Dodgers shored up their rotation today by acquiring Joe Blanton from the Phillies for a player to be named later.

OFFICIAL: @dodgers today acquired starting pitcher Joe Blanton from @phillies for a player to be named later.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2012

Blanton is owed about $2.9 million for the rest of 2012 and the Dodgers will be picking up the tab for that. Just like with the Shane Victorino trade, the PTBNL isn’t a cause for concern, as they are rarely meaningful prospects in the end.

But how about Blanton?

He should be a clear upgrade over Stephen Fife (4.65 FIP/5.20 xFIP/5.77 SIERA) and provides insurance in case Ted Lilly never quite makes it back from shoulder problems, which by his own account seems likely.

Up until 2010, Blanton had a 5.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, but over the last 174.2 innings from 2011 on, he’s posted a 7.7 K/9 and a 1.4 BB/9. As a result, while his ERA is 4.59 this year, his FIP sits at a solid 3.98, while his xFIP and SIERA are both 3.39. The move from Citizens Bank Park to Dodger Stadium may not only mean he’s a significant improvement as a #5, but may make him the third best option on a staff with a lot of solid but not great pitchers.

Surprised by the peripherals? So is … uh … everybody, but the point is that he’s a solid upgrade that will help the Dodgers and might actually end up making more of a marginal wins difference than Victorino.

The Albuquerque Isotopes and Chattanooga Lookouts had the best week in the Dodgers minor league system, both winning five games this week. The ‘Topes scored the most runs this week with 54, while the Great Lakes Loons gave up the fewest with 24.

The Arizona League Dodgers, a team that had been rolling, had one game in which it gave up 20 runs. The lowlight of the week for sure.

With the trade deadline fast approaching, some of these guys could be making their last appearances on this list.

—–

Albuquerque Isotopes (5-2)

Runs Scored: 54
Runs Allowed: 40

Player Of The Week

Josh Fields – 3B

Fields has been one of the Pacific Coast League‘s hottest hitters, and that continued this week: 10-for-23 (.435) with two home runs, four doubles, nine RBI, nine runs scored, and four walks. Fields is up to .345/.411/.525 on the season, and if the Dodgers don’t find an upgrade at third base he might actually get a shot at the hot corner. This was his third award in four weeks and his fourth overall.

Pitcher Of The Week

Stephen Fife – RHP

Fife had the best week of any Isotopes pitcher despite making his MLB debut this week (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K). He had an even better outing for Albuquerque after he was optioned: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 12 K. It was his best outing of the season and there might be some hope for him as a swingman in the majors. This is Fife’s third award of the season.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (5-1)

Runs Scored: 37
Runs Allowed: 28

Player Of The Week

Rafael Ynoa – 2B

Believe it or not, this is Ynoa’s third award of the season. He went 11-for-23 (.478) with a double, four RBI, two walks, and a stolen base. He’s raised his season triple slash to .305/.375/.366. He has decent on-base skills but zero power.

Pitcher Of The Week

Allen Webster – RHP

The man who could be traded for Ryan Dempster, Webster had himself quite an outing on Friday: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. He’s showing why he’s one of the Dodgers top prospects after a terribly slow start to the season. He’s getting better and stronger as the season goes on and he should only be traded for an impact player — definitely not a rental like Dempster.

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (2-5)

Runs Scored: 17
Runs Allowed: 34

Player Of The Week

Scott Wingo – 2B

Wingo had himself quite a week for the Quakes: 10-for-24 (.417) with three doubles and four runs scored. He has a good eye, drawing 41 walks in 84 games, and plays a decent second base. This is his third honor this season. He needs to finish the season strong to get on the prospect radar.

Pitcher Of The Week

Andres Santiago – RHP

Santiago is on fire, capturing his third straight award and fourth on the season by having another good outing: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. His ERA is high (4.48), but his peripherals continue to improve (1.19 WHIP, 7.7 H/9, 10.3 K/9, 3.46 K/BB, 3.05 FIP). He’s the Quakes best pitcher right now.

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Great Lakes Loons (4-2)

Runs Scored: 29
Runs Allowed: 24

Player Of The Week

O’Koyea Dickson – 1B/DH

Dickson has been noticeably absent from this list for more than a month because of a horrifically bad slump to start the second half. However, it seems he might be back on track after going 8-for-25 (.320) with a home run, two doubles, seven RBI, and three runs scored. He still owns a respectable .842 OPS in the Midwest League. I’d still like to see him promoted to Rancho Cucamonga.

Pitcher Of The Week

Gustavo Gomez – RHP

Gomez makes his first appearance on this list, which is a little surprising. He had a solid outing on Saturday: 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. The 21-year-old has struggled a lot with the Loons, posting a 5.92 ERA and a .291 BAA. It’d be nice to see him finish the season on a strong note.

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Ogden Raptors (2-4)

Runs Scored: 28
Runs Allowed: 37

Player Of The Week

Pat Stover – OF

The Dodgers 40th-round pick this year, Stover could end up being a steal. Oh, and he had a solid week for the Raptors: 6-for-17 (.353) with a home run, three RBI, two runs, and two walks. He owns a .375/.452/.438 triple slash in his first 21 professional games.

Pitcher Of The Week

Matt Laney – LHP

Laney, who began the season with Great Lakes, had the best week of any Raptor pitcher: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He’s actually pitched worse since going to Ogden.

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Arizona League Dodgers (1-4)

Runs Scored: 17
Runs Allowed: 39

Player Of The Week

Jesmuel Valentin – SS

The Dodgers 2012 second-round pick makes his first appearance on this list by going 4-for-13 (.308) with a home run, three RBI, four runs scored, and three walks. Valentin got off to a slow start but is up to a decent .253/.366/.400 triple slash in his debut season. He’s scored 19 runs and has 19 hits.

Pitcher Of The Week

Lindsey Caughel – RHP

The Dodgers 2012 23rd-round pick had the best week of the bunch, which isn’t saying much: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He had a decent game, but no one else had a week worth noting for the team.

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Dominican Summer League Dodgers (3-3)

Runs Scored: 32
Runs Allowed: 28

Player Of The Week

Melvin Santana – 2B

Santana has taken over as the team’s best player by earning his third consecutive POTW award. Santana went 6-for-16 (.375) with a double, four runs scored, and three stolen bases. He owns a .313/.387/.507 line with 38 runs scored.

Pitcher Of The Week

Wander Beras – LHP

Beras, like Santana, earns his third consecutive POTW award for the DSL Dodgers by having another fantastic outing: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K. He’s struck out 73 hitters in 56 1/3 innings, but he’s 23 years old at the lowest level of the minors.

GM Ned Colletti says the Dodgers are far from done after landing Hanley Ramirez, as they still want a starter and a bat.

The Dodgers landed the middle-of-the-order bat they’ve been looking for in Hanley Ramirez, but general manager Ned Colletti on Wednesday said he’s still looking for a starting pitcher and another hitter.

“We’re still hunting for starting pitching. We won’t let this deal stand in the way of that,” said the general manager, who dealt starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and Minor League pitcher Scott McGough to the Marlins for Ramirez and left-handed reliever Randy Choate.

Completely makes sense, but who? Hence the mess of rumors to follow.

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Ryan Dempster Dumpster Fire Of Rumors

Yesterday, it was widely reported that the Dodgers were the front-runners for Ryan Dempster and that the team was confident they could land him.

A trade between the Dodgers and Cubs still seems “realistic,” Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.

The Dodgers have the upper hand in talks with the Cubs, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.

The Dodgers are feeling increasingly confident that they can work out a deal for Dempster, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. The Cubs don’t have many alternatives given Dempster’s interest in playing for L.A. and his no-trade protection.

Today, it has been more of the same.

The Dodgers and Cubs continue talking and “might” be getting closer to a deal involving Dempster, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.

Rival executives say the Dodgers are projecting an air of optimism about their chances of obtaining Dempster, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports (on Twitter).

There seems to be a consensus on his destination, which makes sense since he’s all but said it’s the only place he’ll go at this point.

I had no problem with acquiring Dempster, because I figured he would be the upgrade that would come the cheapest for the team. That is, until I saw this tweeted:

Source: #Cubs have asked #Dodgers for Allen Webster as primary piece in Ryan Dempster talks.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 25, 2012

Uh … yeah … no thanks.

I thought the price was supposed to go down as they lose leverage, not up.

Allen Webster is a more advanced version of Garrett Gould with better velocity.

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Danny Knobler of CBS Sports reports that the availability of James Shields has drawn interest.

The Angels aren’t the only team in pursuit of James Shields. The Rangers and Dodgers have also made the Rays trade offers for the right-hander, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports.

Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports says the Dodgers have alternatives to Dempster in … uh … vastly superior pitchers.

The Dodgers have Zack Greinke and Josh Johnson on their list in case they don’t trade for Dempster, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.

Odd but okay.

Jayson Stark of ESPN reports that the Dodgers are in on basically every starting pitcher on the market.

The Dodgers are in on a number of starting pitchers, including Nolasco, Blanton, Kevin Millwood, and Jason Vargas in addition to Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza. They’ve also checked in on outfield and first base help, including Victorino and Justin Morneau.

The team is also looking at outfield and first base, which wouldn’t surprise Ken Rosenthal.

Source: #Dodgers deal for Victorino or Pence possible even if team gets Dempster along with H. Ramirez. LA has been in talks with #Phillies.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 25, 2012

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In terms of pitching, I’m sort of at the point now where if the Dodgers don’t swing a trade for an elite arm, I’d rather they just do nothing. If Dempster is seriously going to command at least a top five prospect in the system, why bother? With Ted Lilly on his way back, the team has five starters, and John Ely, Stephen Fife, and Webster wait in the minors.

As far as the bats go, I’ve already explained why I’d rather the team not acquire Shane Victorino, and Justin Morneau‘s 0.0 WAR line of .253/.314/.437/.751 doesn’t impress me. The only name that’s intriguing is Hunter Pence. His .267/.334/.447/.781 line isn’t impressive, but he’s a ~3 WAR player that would represent a meaningful upgrade.

Previously, I took a look at potential Chad Billingsley replacements at AAA in Stephen Fife and John Ely, wondering whether Ely would ever get another crack. Well, today the Dodgers put Billingsley on the 15-day DL and promoted Fife to start.

The Dodgers placed right-hander Chad Billingsley on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday with an inflamed elbow flexor tendon, and they recalled Stephen Fife from Triple-A Albuquerque to start on Tuesday night in Billingsley’s place.

Manager Don Mattingly said on Monday night that he thought Billingsley would miss only one start, which Billingsley confirmed on Tuesday is still the plan.

Billingsley is going to throw a bullpen session on Friday after taking a couple of days off to rest his elbow, which he said feels the same as it has the past few days.

As I said before though, it’s not like the Dodgers had a shortage of guys to be designated for assignment. I’m still unsure why they didn’t go with clearly the best pitcher on the Isotopes.

After a scare the other day due to the results of his first MRI, which led to speculation that he could miss up to a year, Chad Billingsley‘s second MRI came back with much better news for him and the Dodgers.

Manager Don Mattingly said he doubts Tuesday’s starter will be Chad Billingsley, who took an MRI on Monday — his second in as many days — that revealed only inflammation in his sore elbow. Billingsley played catch before Monday’s game and said it went well.

Mattingly added the team was being cautious with scratching Billingsley from his scheduled start on Sunday. After Monday’s game, the manager said the team doesn’t want to push the panic button and feel forced to start Billingsley and risk further injury. Mattingly said he doesn’t foresee any time needed on the disabled list and expects Billingsley to miss just this one start.

But somebody has to start for him, so who will it be? Not Jamey Wright according to Don Mattingly, but Stephen Fife and John Ely seem like prime candidates to me.

A likely scenario would be the team calls up Fife to start Tuesday and sends down either Josh Wall or Shawn Tolleson, who pitched two innings in relief on Monday. Javy Guerra, who is expected back Tuesday or Wednesday from visiting his father in Mexico, would likely return from the bereavement list on Wednesday, when the team sends Fife back down after making the spot start.

It’s interesting that Ely isn’t even mentioned, despite the fact that he’s been by far the best pitcher at AAA for the Dodgers and has MLB experience. Of course, a large reason for the preference for Fife lies in his status on the 40-man roster, but I do wonder if there are other reasons at play.

A while back on True Blue LA, there was a since-deleted FanPost that got featured on the main page. It was from some area scout (or something like that) sharing information from a scouting meeting with Ned Colletti. In the FanPost, along with other solid insight, he mentioned Colletti’s dislike for Ely. Fife, on the other hand, was traded for by Colletti in what I still consider a confusing deal.

I mention this because Ely has a 3.22 ERA, 3.29 FIP, and 2.78 SIERA, whereas Fife is at 4.53, 3.91, and 4.37. It’s not like Fife’s a better prospect than Ely, nor does he have a plus arm, so I’m unsure why Ely merits zero attention in this case.

I understand the complication with the Dodgers 40-man roster, but it’s not like they are short on players who can be designated without worrying about: 1) hurting the team or 2) a team picking the player up.

Just saying.

While the Dodgers minor league teams didn’t do well in the win-loss column, there were some solid performances this week. The Isotopes tied with the Lookouts for fewest runs allowed at 28. The ‘Topes also had trouble scoring though, averaging just three runs per game this week.

The Quakes, after scoring just 16 runs last week, exploded for 51 runs this week. They also had the most wins for the week (four). Then again, they also allowed 44 runs — most in the system.

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Ethan Martin is on the list for the second consecutive week, while Josh Fields, Michael Pericht, Zach Lee, and Scott Schebler are all making their first appearance on the POTW list.

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I’ll be seeing the Quakes live on Tuesday and Wednesday as they come up my way to face the Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics affiliate). Unfortunately, with Chris Reed‘s promotion, I won’t get to see him (wasn’t scheduled to pitch anyway). The projected starters, if things stay the way they are right now, are Jon Michael Redding (whom I saw last year) on Tuesday and Lee on Wednesday. Garrett Gould also relieved Lee in his last appearance, so maybe I’ll get to see him pitch, too.

Follow me on Twitter (@FeelinKindaBlue) for updates and photos from the games.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (2-5)

Runs Scored: 21
Runs Allowed: 28

Player Of The Week

Josh Fields – 3B

I’d have thought Fields would have made this list sooner, but this is his first honor of the season. He went 8-for-25 (.32o) with a home run, two doubles, three RBI, and five runs scored. Take the next sentence with a grain of salt: Fields has a nice on-base percentage, but his .454 slugging percentage leaves a little to be desired.

Pitcher Of The Week

Stephen Fife – RHP

Fife takes home the POTW award for the second time in three weeks by having his best outing of the season: 6 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. After a horrendous start to the season (a one-time owner of a 9.92 ERA), Fife has a 5.43 ERA in 11 starts — roughly 0.80 points more than league-average. So, that’s progress … I suppose.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (3-4)

Runs Scored: 28
Runs Allowed: 28

Player Of The Week

Luis Nunez – INF

This is Nunez’s second award, and he picked it up in a week where no one really impressed at the plate for the Lookouts. Nunez went 9-for-30 (.300) with four doubles, a triple, four RBI, and three runs scored. The 25-year-old is getting a lot of the playing time over a guy like Jake Lemmerman (for some reason) and is not exactly tearing the cover off the ball: .274/.316/.411.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ethan Martin – RHP

Martin takes home this honor for the second consecutive week by having a really good performance against Birmingham: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K. He’s allowed four runs in his last three outings and has given up just three home runs this season (all in the same game). He’s easily the most surprising prospect in the Dodgers system and has definitely restored my faith in him.

I’m looking forward to doing midseason prospect rankings on my blog. I had him slotted in at No. 37 to start the season. Let’s just say he could easily be 20 spots higher than that come later in the month.

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (4-3)

Runs Scored: 51
Runs Allowed: 44

Player Of The Week

Michael Pericht – C

It’s hard to overlook a 10-for-20 week for Bobby Coyle or a 12-for-27 week by Chris Retheford, but Pericht’s hits had more substance than Coyle and his week was slightly better than Retheford’s.

Pericht, the subject of my most recent post, went 12-for-23 (.522) with three home runs, two doubles, 10 RBI, and six runs scored. The big catcher is hitting .337/.409/.704 this season in 98 at-bats. His playing time should increase in the coming weeks.

Pitcher Of The Week

Zach Lee – RHP

This could have gone to Jordan Roberts, but Lee’s outing — short as it was — was masterful: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K. That’s the Zach Lee we all know and love.

He appears to be 100 percent after spending some time in Arizona for Extended Spring Training. Now that he’s back (hopefully for the rest of the season), and with Chris Reed getting promoted to Double-A, he’s the unquestioned ace of the staff. But most importantly, he needs to stay healthy. I assume he’s on target for about 130 innings this season after throwing 109 in his debut campaign.

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Great Lakes Loons (2-4)

Runs Scored: 25
Runs Allowed: 33

Player Of The Week

Scott Schebler – OF

Schebler had a great week for the Loons, going 10-for-28 (.357) with a home run, four doubles, seven RBI, and four runs scored. Schebler has been hot and cold this season, so this is just a typical hot streak for him. He’s hitting .261/.298/.441 on the season.

As you can probably tell by the OBP, he doesn’t draw any walks — eight in 222 at-bats. That rate isn’t going to get it done. However, 26 of his 58 hits have gone for extra bases, so the ability is there. He’s just 21, but it’s hard to teach plate discipline.

Pitcher Of The Week

Joel Lima – RHP

This is Lima’s second award, and he picked it up by pitching two games in long relief: 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K. It wasn’t a great week for the Loons on the mound, so that’s why a reliever gets the award for the third consecutive week. On the season, Lima has a 1.33 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .203 BAA in 20 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old is one of the Loons’ go-to guys out of the bullpen when a starting pitcher falters in an appearance.

The Lookouts were the best team of the week in the Dodgers farm system, going 5-1 while allowing just 19 runs in those six games. Outfielder Blake Smith was also named league player of the week. The Quakes and Loons both scored the most runs this week at 34.

The Isotopes were carried by two of the three players acquired in the Trayvon Robinson deal from last July in Tim Federowicz and Stephen Fife. However, the roster has been ravaged by the Dodgers due to an abnormal number of injuries on the big league roster.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (1-5)

Runs Scored: 27
Runs Allowed: 43

Player Of The Week

Tim Federowicz – C

Federowicz wins this award for the second time in four weeks, going 7-for-21 (.333) with a home run, four doubles, and eight RBI. He’s not showing the desired offensive ability from a prospect in the Pacific Coast League, but Federowicz has never been known for his bat. He’s at .286/.342/.466 with three home runs, 24 RBI, and 13 doubles.

Pitcher Of The Week

Stephen Fife – RHP

This one is pretty much by default, as no one with the Isotopes really dominated on the hill. Fife had a decent week: 13 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, and 6 K. He’s starting to settle down after a horrific start to the season. Still, his 5.32 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, and .305 batting average against aren’t exactly stats to brag about.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (5-1)

Runs Scored: 33
Runs Allowed: 19

Player Of The Week

Blake Smith – OF

Unlike the choices for Albuquerque, this one was a no-brainer. Smith was named the Southern League Player Of The Week, so he naturally wins this week’s award (his second overall). Smith went 8-for-18 (.444) with two home runs, two doubles, a triple, and 11 RBI.

Smith has struggled in Double-A so far, posting a .255/.335/.453 line with a 27.7 strikeout percentage. However, he’s shown some on-base ability (9.7 percent walk rate) and some pop (.453 slugging). He just needs to focus on making more contact.

Pitcher Of The Week

Nate Eovaldi – RHP

Eovaldi had his best week of the season, going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA, six hits allowed, one run, and six strikeouts. The only hiccup came with his seven walks allowed. Still, he seems to be getting back on track after the Dodgers messed with his routine a month ago.

He’s 2-2 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, .250 BAA, 7.9 H/9, 0.5 HR/9, 3.4 BB/9, and a 7.1 K/9. It’ll be nice when he’s in Los Angeles for good.

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (4-3)

Runs Scored: 34
Runs Allowed: 32

Player Of The Week

Scott Wingo – 2B

Wingo takes his second POTW award by going 8-for-21 (.381) with a double, five RBI, two runs scored, seven walks (against two strikeouts), and a stolen base. The 23-year-old has a .265/.387/.353 line with the Quakes and has hit all over the lineup (leadoff, second, third, eighth, ninth). With the rate Dodger infielders are dropping, he could reach Los Angeles before too long (I’m only half-joking).

Pitcher Of The Week

Eric Eadington – LHP

Eadington was a recently called up from Great Lakes and struggled in his second outing (1 1/3 IP, 4 runs). However, he was nearly flawless this week: 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 save. The big lefty has a ridiculous 34:4 K:BB rate between Rancho and Great Lakes and seems to be getting acclimated to California League hitters and the environment.

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Great Lakes Loons (3-4)

Runs Scored: 34
Runs Allowed: 32

Player Of The Week

O’Koyea Dickson – 1B/DH

Dickson earns his second consecutive POTW award by going 8-for-23 (.348) with a home run, five RBI, four runs scored, and three walks. Dickson is performing quite well to start his season, posting a .377/.460/.642 line in his first 15 games.

If he’s still hitting this well (or close to it) in early June, it should be good enough for a promotion to Rancho Cucamonga.

Pitcher Of The Week

Joel Lima – RHP

It wasn’t the best of weeks for the Loons pitching staff, but Lima did some good work out of the bullpen: 2 G, 5 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K. Lima has pitched just three games for the Loons, but the 23-year-old has been solid in his first 8 2/3 innings of work: 1.07 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and a .241 BAA.

Chris Withrow, Scott Van Slyke, Alex Castellanos, John Wall, Stephen Fife, Michael Antonini, and Alfredo Silverio were optioned to minor league camp, while Russ Mitchell and Shane Lindsay, both non-roster invitees to camp, were reassigned to the minor league side.

No surprises there.

However, one surprise is third baseman Josh Fields, who apparently now has a good shot at making the roster.

Fields is Mitchell with a history of Major League success, a corner infielder who slugged 23 home runs as a rookie for the Chicago White Sox in 2007, only to have his career get sidetracked by knee and hip surgeries.

His road back to the Major Leagues hasn’t been an easy one and included a detour to Japan last summer. He’s in Dodgers camp on a Minor League contract, but he’s made enough of an early impression that he leaped past Mitchell as an insurance candidate at third base if Juan Uribe should fail again, and at first base behind James Loney.

Fields, Jerry Sands and Justin Sellers are probably fighting for the last roster spot, barring injury.

If that’s true, then Fields is making the team, I think.

Now I’ve basically come to terms with the fact that the Dodgers won’t be keeping Jerry Sands, because … Dodgers. Plus, carrying Justin Sellers would mean taking eleventy trillion utility infielders on the roster, so I’m pretty sure Fields ends up as the odd man in.

While I guess that’s a nice story, let’s get one thing straight here: Fields has a career rWAR of -1.3 and a career fWAR of -0.1. To say the reason his career is currently on the brink is due to injuries is asinine because even in that breakout season he was worth 0.9 rWAR and 0.6 fWAR.

My point is that people should stop pretending like he has a ton of upside because it isn’t true, and he’s far more likely to end up as the 2010 Garret Anderson than 2006 Olmedo Saenz.