The Dodgers Off Season

The Dodgers big splash this off season was the signing of two starting pitchers. Zack Greinke, the prize of the free agent pitching class and $147 million in salary, and Hyun-Jin Ryu, a left-handed starting pitcher from South Korea and a $61 million investment. They also signed infielder Skip Schumaker away from the St. Louis Cardinals. He is a left-handed bat and will compete for playing time at Second Base with incumbent Mark Ellis. The Dodgers off season was prefaced during 2012 by several big trades that set the team up for this year. Outfielder and reclamation project Carl Crawford never stepped onto the field last year for the Dodgers, Hanley Ramirez will be moved back to his natural position of Shortstop, Adrian Gonzalez will look to regain his power stroke after only hitting 3 Homeruns after his trade to the Dodgers, and right-handed starting pitcher Josh Beckett who had a 2-3 record with a sub-3.00 Era after the trade. The Dodgers have 8 starting pitchers on their roster right now and if Chad Billingsley and his elbow are healthy, it looks like Chris Capuano, Aaron Harang, and oft-injured Ted Lilly are the odd men out and depending on what happens over the course of Spring Training, might be traded before the beginning of the season. Shane Victorino and left-handed reliever Randy Choate were the big free agent losses for the Dodgers but they were quickly replaced. Victorino did not relish the thought of being a part-time player and if Scott Elbert cannot make it back from his second elbow surgery of the off season, Choate may be a bigger loss than the fans might think.