With all the recent excitement in the Dodgers front office, people may have forgotten the actual players. Going into the 2014 offseason after what was a very disappointing postseason run for the Dodgers, it seems as if they may not look the same come March. Hanley Ramirez seems a lock to not re-sign and the outfield situation needs to be finally solved. Josh Beckett is retiring and the bullpen needs to get rid of almost everyone. The Dodgers need to have a good off-season in order to reposition themselves as the class of the National League.

New president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has a large task ahead of him with the Dodgers. By Andrew_Friedman_and_Joe_Maddon.jpeg: Jennifer Huber derivative work: Delaywaves talk (Andrew_Friedman_and_Joe_Maddon.jpeg) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

With Beckett gone, starting pitching should also be looked at. The Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, Zach Greinke, and Hyun-jin Ryu as their front three starters, but the back end of the rotation is the key to winning championships. Like Brian Wilson, Dan Haren will return to the club after picking up his player option. Haren gives them a nice fourth or fifth starter, but they need another.

There are a many options the Dodgers can choose from but I suggest the idea of signing a fourth starter rather than a fifth. Some interesting names are available that include Ervin Santana, Hiroki Kuroda, and Jake Peavy. The Dodgers’ spending habits lately would indicate at least a mild interest in players Jon Lester or Max Scherzer, though new management might not be as excited at the idea of another huge contract.

Finally, the Dodgers need to solve their outfield situation and upgrade a few positions. The Dodgers have too many outfielders and need to do something about it. Who gets the boot?

Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, or Yasiel Puig? Puig is basically untouchable, as he should be. Kemp should be as well after his resurgence last season, which leaves Ethier or Crawford. They both have terrible contracts, which will make it tricky to trade them. Trading Ethier seems the most likely to happen. A team like the Detroit Tigers may be interested, especially with uncertainty surrounding Torii Hunter.

Upgrading at the catcher position would vastly improve the team. AJ Ellis commands the plate as well as any catcher in the league but his hitting isn’t what the Dodgers need to get them over the hump. The only clear option to replacing Ellis for the Dodgers is with Russell Martin. Martin would bring some extra power as well as his control of the plate to the Dodgers, a team he spent a large chunk of his career with.

With Hanley Ramirez half way out the door, the shortstop position is open while they wait for prospect Corey Seager to grow. Some intriguing options in the free agent market, but making a trade with the White Sox for shortstop Alexi Ramirez makes sense. Maybe an Ethier, prospect and money for Ramirez trade would work?

It is essential that the Dodgers have a good and productive offseason in order to repeat as NL West champions and hopefully mirror their Northern California rivals and hoist a World Series trophy for the first time since 1988.

Thus far into the 2014-2015 NBA season and sadly enough we can already see that the Los Angeles Lakers are who we thought they were. They currently sit at 0-5 through their first five games. Granted, they have played some of the top Western Conference teams in all five games and have managed to keep a few games close. With Kobe Bryant back, this group of Lakers may be more exciting to watch than last year’s team, but they sure aren’t even as close to as successful.

They are ranked dead last in the NBA in points allowed per game and rank 21^st overall in rebounding. They lost their big-time rookie in Julius Randle during the season opener to a broken leg and once that happened, it seemed another dark cloud would hover over the Lakers season. Coming into the season not many people realistically saw the Lakers contending, but to watch the Lakers get blown out in most of their games so far is just saddening. The NBA is a much better entertainment source when the Lakers are relevant and right now they are anything but.

The “40^th ranked player” according to ESPN, Kobe Bryant is averaging 27.6 points per game thus showing his doubters that he has returned to at least a part of his former self after the injuries. Another bright spot for the Lakers has been the play of  Jordan Hill, who has been the Lakers second best player averaging 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. It has seemed at times that Kobe has resorted back to 2004-2005 Kobe where he would rather shoot a fully contested shot than pass to his teammates. If the Lakers want to even be somewhat relevant Kobe is going to have to learn to trust his teammates instead of shooting almost every time he has the ball.

While it is still early, the Lakers’ play has been terrible and looks like another long season in Laker land. Nick Young is on his way back back soon and he should help them with some things but his lack of production on defense won’t help them at all. Despite all this losing, it seems as if Laker fans aren’t reeling after losses or calling for Scott’s job like they did D’Antoni; after all Laker fans get to watch Kobe once again and that is all they could ask while him fades off into retirement in a few years.

Every offseason brings speculation and rumors and every offseason something happens that nobody saw coming. It’s what makes the hot stove so hot. The 2014-2015 MLB offseason will be no different as there are numerous high-powered free agents looking to test the free agent market. After what was a crazy 2014 baseball season, the 2015 season should be another great one but first we have to figure out all the craziest of the offseason. Here are my predictions for some of baseballs biggest free agents and the predictions for the 2014 season award winners:

Max Scherzer is a free agent this winter and could find a new home come next season. By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA (Max Scherzer) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

MVP: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

CY Young: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

Manager of the year: Matt Williams, Washington Nationals

Rookie of the year: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets

2014 AL Award Predictions:

MVP: Mike Trout, Anaheim Angels

CY Young: Corey Kluber, Cleveland Indians

Manager of the year: Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals

Rookie of the year: Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox

Free Agents:

Max Scherzer (SP, Tigers): Signs with the Mariners

Jon Lester (SP, Athletics): Signs with the Cubs

James Shields (SP, Royals): Signs with the Yankees

Pablo Sandoval (3B, Giants): Re-signs with the Giants

Hanley Ramirez (SS, Dodgers): Signs with the Yankees

Nelson Cruz (RF, Orioles): Re-signs with the Orioles

Victor Martinez (C, Tigers): Re-signs with the Tigers

Melky Cabrera (RF, Blue Jays): Signs with the White Sox

Russell Martin (C, Pirates): Signs with the Dodgers

Ervin Santana (SP, Braves): Signs with the Dodgers

Francisco Liriano (SP, Pirates): Signs with the Twins

Brandon McCarthy (SP, Yankees): Signs with the Orioles

David Robertson (RP, Yankees): Signs with the Orioles

Kenta Maeda (SP, Japan): Signs with the Astros

Yasmany Tomas (OF, Cuba): Signs with the Rangers

Chase Headley (3B, Yankees): Signs with the Red Sox

Andrew Miller (RP, Orioles): Signs with the Tigers

Justin Masterson (SP, Cardinals): Signs with the Brewers

Jed Lowrie (SS, Athletics): Signs with the Nationals

Asdrubal Cabrera (SS, Nationals): Signs with the Reds

Nick Markakis (OF, Orioles): Signs with the Giants

Adam LaRoche (1B, Nationals): Signs with the Padres

Jake Peavy (SP, Giants): Signs with the Cubs

Mike Morse (OF, Giants): Signs with the Royals

Alex Rios (OF, Rangers): Signs with the Mets

Luke Gregerson (RP, Athletics): Signs with the Dodgers

Edinson Volquez (SP, Pirates): Signs with the Braves

Torii Hunter (OF, Tigers): Re-signs with the Tigers

AJ Burnett (SP, Phillies): Signs with the Red Sox

Sergio Romo (RP, Giants): Signs with the Dodgers

Francisco Rodriguez (RP, Brewers): Signs with the Angels

Rafael Soriano (RP, Nationals): Signs with the Tigers

Aaron Harang (SP, Braves): Signs with the Giants

Nori Aoki (OF, Royals): Re-signs with the Royals

Billy Butler (DH, Royals): Signs with the Indians

Stephen Drew (SS, Yankees): Signs with the Marlins

Chad Billingsley (SP, Dodgers): Signs with the Padres

A.J. Pierzynski (C, Cardinals): Signs with the White Sox

Jason Grilli (RP, Angels): Signs with the Giants

Emillio Bonifacio (2B, Braves): Re-signs with the Braves

Brandon Morrow (SP, Blue Jays): Signs with the Diamondbacks

It’s always fun to speculate. Who would you like to see on your favorite team?

For a really cool analysis of free agents, check out Fangraphs, who crowd-sourced what free agents should get what kind of deal. It’s always fun to see the difference between what the fans think a player is worth and what that player gets on the open market.

You can see the post here.

Over the last few seasons the Los Angeles Lakers have fallen victim to a massive amount of key injuries that have not only derailed their winning hopes but the hopes of fans as well. It has become something to expect over the last few years where it has take over its own role over the team. From Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and all the other role player injuries that have missed games yet despite this fact the worst injury of them all happened in the season opener against the Rockets.

The Lakers may have gotten Kobe back but lost rookie Julius Randle to a major injury. By Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

Seeing his first regular season game in front of the Staples Center crowd, Randle struggled to find his way. He played just 14 minutes and seemed a little nervous. In the fourth quarter of the blowout game, Randle suffered a broken leg and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher as Staples Center went silent. It was like watching Kobe tear his Achilles all over again, except it was for a rookie who had never played a single game in the NBA.

How could this happen? Especially to a player like Randle in his first career NBA game, it’s just unfathomable. The injury to Randle seems like a foreshadowing for things to come — for the Lakers having another bad season. With the injury to Randle, the Lakers will need to look to rely more on Ed Davis, Ryan Kelly, and Carlos Boozer. The only glimpse of hope that Laker fans should enjoy if Randle is indeed out for the season is that their crosstown rival Blake Griffin also missed his entire rookie season and (some could argue) came back stronger because of it.

Injuries and situations like this make you forget about the game and put a sense of perspective into sports. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt no matter what team you root for, so let’s all hope and pray that Randle comes back stronger because of this and it will then be a bump in the road to success for the young kid. Until then all we can do is wait and say, get well soon Julius. We already miss you!

There will be a team from California in the 2014 World Series and no it won’t be the Dodgers or Angels; it will be the San Francisco Giants. Again. It hurts me to say, but the Giants are the most complete team in the league, and are better than their Southern California counterparts. Since winning two World Series titles in the last four seasons, the Giants have quietly been one of the better teams in baseball but haven’t got the recognition they deserved because of all the hype of their So-Cal rivals. I’ve got to give credit where credit is due.

Madison Bumgarner has lead the Giants back to the fall classic in 2014. By SD Dirk on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

They handily beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card game in Pittsburgh, then the Washington Nationals who had the best record in the National League. The Giants dispatched them in four games.

The pipe dream would have been to finally see a Dodgers-Giants NLCS, but the Dodgers couldn’t live up to their part of the deal and handed the Cardinals a series win thus setting up another Cardinals-Giants NLCS showdown.

A combination of great pitching from the Giants and injuries and mistakes for the Cardinals gave San Francisco the series win and another World Series appearance.

The San Francisco Giants will meet the red-hot — and surprising — Kansas City Royals in the World Series starting October 21^st in Kansas City. Recent history favors the Giants to win the series, but the way the Royals are playing anything is possible. My advice to the Royals would be to make sure to take the first two games in Kansas City, otherwise the Giants might get to party in San Francisco, celebrating a third consecutive even-year World Series title.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have not made a World Series since 1988. With their loss this week, they won’t have a spot in the fall classic in 2014. A team with the highest payroll in baseball in one of the best baseball cities in America shouldn’t be eliminated from the playoffs as early as the division series. The Dodgers squad is made up of different types of talent that honestly don’t really work together to create a complete team. This season, their raw talent led them to the division title, and fans and experts alike looked past their obvious shortcomings.

Ned Colletti’s job could be in jeopardy after the team’s clear holes weren’t addressed. By PVSBond, via Wikimedia Commons

It has been two seasons since both trades went down and what do the Dodgers have to show for it? Two division titles and two playoff beat-downs at the hands of the St Louis Cardinals, who have are arguably become the San Antonio Spurs of Major League Baseball.

While the regular season winning is nice, when you spend that much money on a team it is championship or bust. So the question remains who is to blame for the Dodgers disappointments and what do they do about it?

Clayton Kershaw had a historic season. The Dodgers’ ace went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA, but his postseason demons struck again against a familiar opponent. He is now 3-7 with a 4.83 ERA against the St. Louis Cardinals and 70-22 with a 1.99 ERA against everyone else. Kershaw cruised through six innings in game one, only having allowed two runs before squandering a four run lead and giving up eight runs in the 7^th inning. While Kershaw deserves some of the blame, Mattingly also deserves some for not pulling out his star pitcher once the Cardinals had closed to 6-4. I don’t care who the pitcher is or how much you trust them, once they start giving up runs and putting the game in jeopardy you take them out especially in the 7^th inning of a home playoff game. Mattingly in his Dodger career has made a lot of blunder-headed mistakes but none like this playoff series.

His first mistake was with Kershaw in Game One. Then, in game three he took Hyun Jin Ryu out after the 6^th inning when he was pitching a masterful game on the road. After the game, Ryu came out and said that he felt fine to pitch the 7^th inning. Instead of bringing in a relief pitcher that has carried the team all season like Brandon League, he brings in Scott Elbert who promptly gives up a two run home run that sealed the Dodgers game-three fate.

In Game Four, with Kershaw pitching on three days rest, the Dodgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead and Mattingly left Kershaw in for the 7^th against the heart of the Cardinals order, which lead to a three-run home run and the end of the Dodgers’ season.

All signs point to Don Mattingly and all-star pitcher Clayton Kershaw taking the majority of the blame. While they both made mistakes, they shouldn’t get all of fans’ ire. Mattingly made some dumb decisions, but in the end he isn’t the one who goes out onto the field and plays. The big hitters the Dodgers have didn’t produce and the bullpen, which was the weakest link of the Dodgers team all season, struck again.

The person who deserves the most blame for the Dodgers’ disappointments has to be general manager Ned Colletti. There have been rumors swirling that there might be changes in the Dodgers front office and I hope they are true. At the trade deadline, Colletti had opportunities to pursue bullpen help that might have saved the Dodgers season. Instead, Colletti went out and got back-end pitchers Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correia neither of whom made the postseason roster.

While Colletti has built teams that made the postseason, he continues to disregard the team’s biggest needs and it ends up costing them late in the season. The Dodgers could use a new General Manager in their system and maybe then they will finally reach the World Series. The Padres and Diamondbacks have already changed their GMs so the Dodgers should continue the trend in the NL West.

Leave no doubt, this team needs some fixing. In order for this team to be fixed it is going to take major work. Much of the team is locked in for years to come in their respective deals. One solution would be to upgrade on a few positions including third base and catcher. Juan Uribe and AJ Ellis have been good clubhouse guys but their production on the field has been less than expected and more consistent production is needed from those positions. For me, the most important factor of the 2015 offseason will be getting bullpen help. Kenley Jansen is the only bullpen guy the Dodgers could rely on this season and even he has some issues.

Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, Dee Gordon, Clayton Kershaw, Zach Greinke, Hyun Jin Ryu and Kenley Jansen should be the main players returning to the team next season due to their success. Trading Andre Ethier and re- signing Justin Turner should be priorities going into the offseason. This coming offseason is going to be a tough one on both the Dodgers front office and the players but this team will be back again next season and should again be favorites to win a championship. In the mean time, the front office needs to make some changes in both player personnel and front office personnel, because the Dodgers have the core talent to win a title but proving it out on the field is a whole different story.

The 2014-2015 NHL season is upon us. This season will be one of the more exciting seasons in recent memory after a great round of playoffs at the end of last year. The Los Angeles Kings, the hometown defending Stanley Cup champs, will have to get through a brutal Western Conference to repeat.

In the Eastern conference, most teams have improved from a season ago and will try unseat the Rangers as the Stanley Cup Finals representatives. Predictions are always fun so here are my predictions for each division standings and the 16 teams that will make the playoffs:

Can King Henrik lead the Rangers back to the Stanley Cup Finals again this season? By Robert Kowal, via Wikimedia Commons

Atlantic Division

Tampa Bay Lightning (2)

Boston Bruins (3)

Montreal Canadiens (5)

Detroit Red Wings

Toronto Maple Leafs

Ottawa Senators

Florida Panthers

Buffalo Sabres

Metropolitan Division

Pittsburgh Penguins (1)

New York Rangers (4)

Columbus Blue Jackets (6)

New Jersey Devils (7, wild card team)

New York Islanders (8, wild card team)

Philadelphia Flyers

Washington Capitals

Carolina Hurricanes

Western Conference:

Central Division

Chicago Blackhawks (1)

Dallas Stars (4)

Minnesota Wild (5)

St Louis Blues (7, wild card team)

Colorado Avalanche

Nashville Predators

Winnipeg Jets

Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks (2)

Los Angeles Kings (3)

San Jose Sharks (6)

Vancouver Canucks (8, wild card team)

Calgary Flames

Phoenix Coyotes

Edmonton Oilers

Playoffs:

Eastern Conference:

#1. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #8 New York Islanders, (Islanders in 7 games)

#2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #7 New Jersey Devils, (Lightning in 6 games)

#3 Boston Bruins vs. #5 Montreal Canadiens, (Bruins in 5 games)

#4 New York Rangers vs. #6 Columbus Blue Jackets (Rangers in 6 games)

Western Conference:

#1 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #8 Vancouver Canucks, (Blackhawks in 4 games)

#2 Anaheim Ducks vs. #7 St Louis Blues, (Ducks in 6 games)

#3 Los Angeles Kings vs. #6 San Jose Sharks, (Kings in 6 games)

#4 Dallas Stars vs. #5 Minnesota Wild, (Wild in 7 games)

Semi Finals:

Eastern Conference:

#2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #3 Boston Bruins, (Lighting in 7 games)

#4 New York Rangers vs. #8 New York Islanders, (Rangers in 6 games)

Western Conference:

#1 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #4 Minnesota Wild, (Wild in 6 games)

#2 Anaheim Ducks vs. #3 Los Angeles Kings, (Ducks in 7 games)

Eastern Conference Finals:

#2 Tampa Bay Lighting vs. #4 New York Rangers, (Lightning in 5 games)

Western Conference Finals:

#2 Anaheim Ducks vs. #5 Minnesota Wild, (Ducks in 7 games)

Stanley Cup Finals:

#2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. #2 Anaheim Ducks, (Lightning in 6 games)

We all know about the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Warriors, and the rest of the top Western Conference teams. The opposite of this is the Pelicansbut the team that nobody is talking about is the New Orleans Pelicans. Led by power-forward Anthony Davis, the Pelicans are stacked with different playmakers and weapons that will help them legitimately compete. They’ve got Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, and Ryan Anderson. They traded for center Omer Asik, who brings some veteran leadership along with a pounder in the paint on defense. Having the rim protection of Asik and Davis will make it very difficult for competitors to score inside on the Pelicans.

Tyreke Evans and the Pelicans will surprise people this coming NBA season. By Keith Allison, via Wikimedia Commons

Davis is 21 years old and Holiday is 24. Both Gordon and Evans are 25, and Anderson is 26, so the Pelicans’ core players are still so young and have much to learn and grow. Being that they are still a very young team and with the youth comes immaturity and lack of experience but this team is extremely talented and they will compete for a playoff spot this season. They won’t win the NBA title but they will be in the running for the 7^th or 8^th seed in the Western Conference. Every season each conference has a surprise team and this season, the Pelicans will be that team in the West.

Over the course of the upcoming NBA season many people will be talking about or picking the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA title but I say hold on just a second. Yes, creating a team that combines LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love is very impressive. On paper, they may look like the best team but they still have to overcome some hurdles. Before we can proclaim them the NBA champions for 2015 we have to see them play together; remember it took LeBron, Wade, and Bosh a while to get it right, and that big three was much better than the one constructed now. Team chemistry is such an underrated aspect of basketball. Just look at the San Antonio Spurs and you will see why. I believe the Cavs will win one title with their current core players. It just won’t be this season.

Will this be the year Kevin Durant leads the Thunder to a title? By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

The Western conference finals will be the Spurs and Thunder again, but the Oklahoma City Thunder will be the 2014-2015 NBA champions. Kevin Durant has improved every season since he has come into the league, which is extremely scary for the rest of the league. Oklahoma City posted a record of 59-23 last season with Russell Westbrook just coming off a major injury. They battled the Spurs in the conference finals and that was without Serge Ibaka for the first two games of the series. The only thing that may hold back the Thunder is their bench play, but I think Jeremy Lamb has learned how to play in the NBA plus adding sharp-shooter Anthony Morrow, and rookie Mitch McGary should help them.

Durant and Westbrook create a dynamic one-two punch scoring option that no other team can match. I know many people have been critical of Westbrook and Durant playing together but I think that they compliment each other very well. Westbrook just needs to pass the ball to Durant a little bit more but that’s on the coach. I think that if the Thunder don’t win this year that Scott Brooks should be fired and OKC should get some new blood into their coaching position. Brooks is, without a doubt, on the hot seat.

Having a player in Durant who averaged 32 points per game in the prime of his career puts the Thunder in a prime position already and I expect for them to finally take that next step in 2015. Seattle fans may not like it but the Thunder looks ready to win their first title in the Oklahoma City franchise history. When all is said and done, this will be known as the “Year of Durant”.

After going 44-28 last season, good enough for the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference, the Wizards look primed for a big season ahead of them in 2014-2015. For a team that has been trying to get over the hump since the Gilbert Arenas days, this will be their best team in a long time.

The time is now for John Wall to take the Wizards far into the playoffs. By Geoff Livingston (Flickr: John Wall) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

They added free agents Paul Pierce and DeJuan Blair to the mix to give them much needed veteran leadership especially from Pierce. Pierce replaces Trevor Ariza who had a stellar year for Washington last season.

Even at his advanced age, Pierce is still a better scorer than Ariza, but definitely doesn’t play the same kind of defense. The main catalysts of the Wizards are in their backcourt where Bradley Beal and John Wall have figured out how to play together and create a very scary duo.

Washington will bring back veteran and spunky point-guard Andre Miller. They also brought back center Marcin Gortat, who averaged 13.2 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game to pair with power-forward Nene. With that physical duo patrolling the middle, it will be tough for anybody to score at the basket without a fight.

Washington averaged the 16^th most points in the NBA but held their own on the defensive side of the ball being ranked in the top ten in points allowed. Head Coach Randy Wittman has this team primed to make a long postseason run and lucky for him, they finally have the pieces to do so. The fans at the Verizon Center should be very hopeful when the season starts and should do their best to make it a tough place for opponents to play.

The East has gotten a little better than last season and the Wizards will have to play their best basketball all season long if they want to keep up with the East’s elites but they have the man and firepower to do so. A note to the rest of the NBA, don’t sleep on Washington — the nation’s capitol has a relevant basketball team again.