One player the Dodgers won’t bring up to fill gaps is Yasiel Puig. It’s nice to dream of the day they do though… By Owen Main

When it came to the Dodgers of the past few years and even this year’s Lakers teams, my rants about injuries of players on my favorite teams have been pretty steadfast. In a nutshell, here’s my prevailing thought:

If you sign players who have a history of injury and pencil them in to play 90 percent of the games in a season, PLEASE don’t insult my intelligence and act completely surprised and taken off-guard when said players are injured and the season doesn’t go like you would have liked it to. (see Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, and a less recent baseball example: Rafael Furcal).

My point is always that if you have players like this on your roster, have a backup plan.

The Lakers of this past season had a hard time with a back-up plan for Steve Nash and Dwight Howard’s injuries. When Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol also went down, their chances went (in the words of the great Chick Hearn) “from slim to none. And Slim just left the building.”

Which brings me to this year’s Dodgers roster. One of the reasons why I bought into the “Whole New Blue” mantra was because these guys seemed to have a plan. Players were treated conservatively in the preseason and there seemed to be a solid, quality backup everywhere you turned.

Matt Kemp seemed to be getting healthier by the day. Carl Crawford was developing back into the Carl Crawford fans in Tampa Bay knew so well. Hanley Ramirez was on-track to get back from a World Baseball Classic injury that forced him to be out until April 29. The team had EIGHT starting pitchers to help account for any potential injuries. Yasiel Puig, Dee Gordon, Tony Gwynn Jr., Scott Van Slyke, Elian Herrera, and Justin Sellars are all players who have spent time in the minor leagues this season and, with the exception of Puig and Van Slyke, have significant major league experience.

The team had insurance policies on insurance policies, or so it seemed.

It started with the rotation.

First, Aaron Harang was traded. Who needs eight starting pitchers? Seven is more than enough. Then Zach Grienke went down (Carlos Quentin has been playing for weeks…). Then Chad Billingsley needed Tommy John surgery. And then there were five.

Chris Capuano was rushed into duty and looked all right, but then he got hurt, too. Ted Lilly came off the Disabled List and quickly returned to the trainer’s office after only a few starts. The mantra that you can never have enough pitching has proven true for the boys in blue, but that’s only been half the battle when it comes to injuries.

After only 12 plate appearances, Hanley Ramirez went back on the disabled list. Luis Cruz may as well have been injured for as much production as he’s given the Dodgers. Adrian Gonzalez injured his neck and Mark Ellis is now on the disabled list too.

Yes, the Dodgers still have Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford, sometimes Gonzalez, and Clayton Kershaw healthy and they don’t really have an excuse to be as bad as they’ve been.

At this point, when the team is forced to start a number of reliable utility players throughout the infield, this fan is willing to give them something of a pass.

They had quality back-ups, but having to play them all at once wasn’t in the plan. In the midst of getting swept by the Giants, the Dodgers started Juan Uribe, Nick Punto, Gordon, and Cruz in the infield. Cruz was probably the weakest option of the bunch and he’s the only one who was penciled in as a starter at the beginning of the year.

With a lineup like that, all Dodgers fans can do is wait and hope that time doesn’t run out on guys getting healthy. In this case, the injury bug really has been more like a plague.

It was only a year ago. Twelve months. I went to the cactus league for the first time. So many conversations. The tone was always the same.

In Surprise, taking in the Dodgers and Royals:

“You’re Dodgers fans, huh?” A combination of giddiness and sorrow on the face of the man with the “KC” hat.

Out to dinner at Grimaldi’s in Scottsdale:

“… .” Silence. It’s the worst thing you can hear from a fan of the opposition. There was virtually no trash talking. It means, we don’t care about you because you don’t pose any threat to us. Those orange and black-clad Giants fans turned out to be right too. The Giants won last year’s World Series.

New Dodgers ownership has shown willingness to take chances with players like Hyun-Jin Ryu and fans are paying attention. By Owen Main

Between last year’s spring training and the end of the 2012 season, a lot happened for the Dodgers. The team was sold to an ownership group that proved their commitment to winning almost instantly with a pair of blockbuster trades. First there was Hanley Ramirez. Then there was the  trade for Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, and Carl Crawford. In a few short months, the ownership group created a buzz around the team that endured the offseason and has fans more excited this year than any in recent memory.

“The one thing that I didn’t know coming in because it was so new is how awesome the ownership group was. They’re awesome,” said Adrian Gonzalez, who played 36 games for the Dodgers after being traded from the Red Sox. “They’ve got one thing in mind and that’s to win and it’s great to be a part of.”

Even when they made the playoffs, getting over the hump to being true contenders year after year was never in the cards. The previous ownership group seemed to want to win just enough games to keep fans coming. The new ownership group wants to win. Period. At all costs. This year, the Dodgers’ payroll is expected to top $200 million. 

After a hectic final six weeks of the season during last year’s pennant chase, the core player’s on this year’s version of the Dodgers has had more time to gel this Spring.

“Guys move around so much in the league now that everybody knows everybody,” said Gonzalez. “It was just a situation where we came in, we were a few games down in both the wild card and the division and it was like ‘you got to win, you got to win’ and that made it tough. I think we put a little pressure on ourselves and we tried too hard and things didn’t come out so it’s definitely a lot more settled knowing that we’ve got a full season to go through all the ups and downs.”

Last season, the Dodgers led the division as late as August before losing the National League West to the surging Giants, who ended up winning the World Series for the second time in two years. This year though, the Dodgers are in their first spring training with the new ownership group.

“Last spring training everybody was anticipating new ownership and all that stuff and this year everything’s more settled,” said second-baseman Mark Ellis. “The feeling’s good. Expectations are high, which is good. We accept those expectations and we’re excited to get going. I think everybody’s just anxious to get out of here and start playing the regular season.”

The team has also invested more than $100 million on stadium renovations in the offseason according to team president Stan Kasten, doing work on every level of the stadium to benefit “every single fan, whether it’s bathrooms, concessions, concourses, artwork,” said Kasten.

After testing out the new digs during the freeway series this weekend, the Dodgers will begin the season on Opening Day — April 1st — at 1:10 pm vs. the Giants.

Spring training is a time for fans to bask in Arizona sunshine that makes the winter seem like a different memory. Fans from all over the country flock to Arizona and Florida to get an up-close and personal look at their favorite players practicing things like bunting, run-downs, and pitchers covering first. If you are a baseball junkie, it’s a dream come true. According to some of the players though, this one has been too long.

Veterans like Mark Ellis (above) and Jerry Hairston agree that spring training is too long. By Owen Main

“This year it’s way too long,” said Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis. In his 11th season, Ellis has resorted to mind games to keep from getting complacent during the spring.

“The thing you’ve got to guard against is being bored. You can’t get bored in spring training. You get to a point where you get tired of just playing meaningless games but you have to kind of trick yourself a little bit and realize that you’ve got to keep going and keep getting ready for the regular season.”

In his 16th year, Jerry Hairston agrees that the preseason is just too lengthy.

“It’s been a long spring training,” said Hairston. “It actually needs to be shorter, but with the [World Baseball Classic], it was even longer… . I was just talking to veteran guys like myself, Brandon League, Arron Harang, [Chris Capuano], all those guys. It’s been tough because when guys have played in the playoffs, played in World Series, they know what’s at stake and when it’s the big leagues, when it’s time. In March you just want to get yourself ready, Make sure you’re healthy, and ready to go. It’s been a long spring training.”

This year’s spring training was extended due to the World Baseball Classic. No baseball player likes their routine to be altered, but for many teams, players were not in camp for an extended period of time during spring training. Like preseason games in the National Football League, the theme of spring training seems to be as much about keeping players healthy as it is getting players ready.

“The one thing you don’t want to do is grind during spring training, said Hairston. “I’ve learned that from veteran guys. Guys like Cal Ripken, Delino DeShields, Brady Anderson. Make sure you don’t grind through spring training. Get your work in, make sure you play hard, but don’t grind. The grind is the 162 and hopefully the playoffs and world series, so I make sure I have fun, enjoy my time, and make sure that as the season starts approaching, get yourself mentally ready, whether it’s music — throw in some Enya every once in a while — get your mind right for the season.”

Whatever they’re listening to, Dodgers fans hope that the spring doesn’t bring any additional injuries. Hanley Ramirez, the Dodgers starting shortstop, injured his thumb in the World Baseball Classic. Ramirez may be out 8 weeks, and that is just the type of injury the Dodgers would like to avoid any more of.

“Yeah, we’re ready [for the season to start],” said Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis. “We’re fine tuning, hoping we all get out of camp healthy, unscathed this last week, and we’ll be ready for the Giants opening day.”