Dodgers 2007 Season Preview

The Dodgers 2006 season was full of memorable moments. There was the 11 game winning streak that put them in fist place in the NL West,(they later went 17-1 during that stetch), winning the wild card and reaching the playoffs and who could forget the back to back to back to back homeruns that tied the game against there rival San Diego Padres who were later defeated in extra innings on a Nomar Garciaparra walk off homerun. Those were some of the great dodger moments from the 2006 season. This year the Dodgers made some changes and plan to have more success in the upcoming 2007 season.

During the off-season some players on the dodgers roster decided to test the free agent market. Some players left, some players stayed. The most surprising story was J.D. Drew opting out and signing with the Boston Red-Sox. Julio Lugo then followed him out and signed with Boston as well. Next in line was Eric Gagne who decided to not take the deal the Dodgers were offering and signed with Texas. Greg Maddux also decided to sign elsewhere. (San Diego) That left Ned Colleti with a lot of holes to fill.

First on the Dodgers off-season list was to acquire pitching. Colleti did so and reached out to a former employee of his back in the Giants days and Signed RHP Jason Schmidt to a 3-year deal. That signing was probably the most important acquisition the Dodgers made because it gave them the ace in their pitching staff they have been searching for in years. The Dodgers also signed another pitcher, El Camino High product and ex-Philly LHP Randy Wolf and lastly the Dodgers were able to re-sign Takaisho Saito and are hoping he could continue with the success he had in the closer role from last year. Another player who chose to re-sign with the Dodgers was Nomar Garciaparra who had his most productive season since his Boston days. He was even named the Comeback player of the year.

That left the Dodgers with a couple of holes to fill. The Dodgers signed Luis Gonzalez to play left field and bat 5th in the lineup and give the Dodgers the big left handed bat they needed to replace Drew. Ned Colleti felt the need to add more speed at the top of the order and signed Juan Pierre to play Center field and bat at the top of the order, which will give the Dodgers a nice 1-2 punch. With no back up catcher the Dodgers signed Mike Lieberthal form the Phillies to back up 2nd year catcher Russel Martin.

The upcoming 2007 season for the dodgers looks to be promising. With all the acquisitions the Dodgers made this off-season the team is headed in the right direction. The National League West did get stronger with every team making big moves such as Barry Zito to the Giants, Greg Maddux to the Padres and Randy Johnson back to the Diamondbacks but if the Dodgers manage to stay healthy they should be able to take control and lead the National league West and win their division. If the Dodgers win their division expect them to make a strong run in the playoffs and get past the first round. Remember the Dodgers are a different team from last year’s team. They added more pitching to give them depth and speed to get more runners on to allow Kent, Nomar and the rest of the lineup to knock in some runs. With the season less than 2 months away the Dodgers are confident they made the right moves to win the NL West and make some noise in the playoffs.