What Next?

It's November, so you know what that means. World Series baseball! The Giants and the Ranger will try to end it this evenning.

What does this mean for the rest of us not in Texas or San Francisco? We can start lamenting about what could have been and cultivating hope for next year. Next year.The Dodgers have a ways to go. They've got three pitchers up front. No real ace. Clayton Kershaw may be that, technically, but has not showed the consistency and control to be the loss stopper the team needs. Billingsley was much improved in 2010 but I want to see two seasons back to back where he keeps it together. Lilly is a nice veteran and should provide some stability for the youngsters. They will need to look hard at the bullpen, though. It's a mess.

I'm not sure what you do with Broxton. He seemed to fall apart at the Yankee series. I'm not sure I trust him with the ball in the 9th. Kuo might be a better choice but you always wonder what's up with his arm after all those surgeries.  Do you just throw him out there and cross your fingers?

As far as offense and defense, we're going to have to see what's going to happen behind the plate with Martin. He may be done, unfortunately. We may have to start looking at alternatives. Barajas was a decent short -term fix but they'll need to keep their eyes open.

Loney is what he is at first. Good glove, decent average, no power. If you can get it from somewhere else, you can live with it. You need to, Giant's not withstanding, have three sticks that the other team needs to think about. If all you have is Kemp and Ethier, they'll probably regress again as they did the second half of last season know that Manny wasn't coming bac. Call it what you want. It's one thing to keep the seat warm if you know someone is going to sit in it.

Casey Blake is a fine and serviceable third baseman but if the opportunity arises to get some power consistently from the position, I would seriously hope they would look at it. Jamie Carroll/Ryan Theriot platooning at second is not critical at this point. Carroll turned out to be a nice guy to have with his flexibility at many positions. As for Furcal, as long as he stays healthy, he's a great spark plug at the top of the order.

Which leaves left field. Realistically, if you got a strong bat somewhere else like third, first or even catcher, Podsednik would be a nice player to have out there. The problem is we had Pierre before and the kids really need someone to shoulder the stress. Not necessarily the full production, just deflect the pressure. So, where ever that guy is, the Dodgers need a big stick, Like an Adam Dunn. Yes, he strikes out a lot but if her were behind Kemp and Ethier, there would be a lot of RBIs produced.

You listening, Ned? By the way, you know who the owner is, yet?