The talk is the Dodgers are interested in Randy Johnson. Lowe is going elsewhere, Maddux will probably retire, Schmidt will laugh at them while he gets another year of paychecks, so they're interested in a veteran arm to be a third or fourth starter. Johnson is a roll of the dice- at best he will be a 3-4 guy who gives them 25 starts, has some flashes of brilliance, but also of inconsistency, but also a guy who will mentor a still-green Kershaw and workhorse Billingsley, who pitched well last year but faltered big time this year in the postseason. At worst, you have another year of a less-expensive Scmidt collecting paychecks while he is hurt. He will bring some things to the table, but he won;t fill any of their main pitching needs, an ace or at least an experienced, not-too-old innings-eater like Lowe.
Billingsley will have another year under his belt, and has already shown he can carry the pitching staff for short periods of time. Kuroda is another guy who despite some maddening inconsistency, is good for many quality starts. Kershaw will develop this year, with or without a "mentor"-type. It leads us to two things: a fifth starter and an ace. Johnson is neither. The Dodgers should pursue Sabathia, work on a trade for Peavy, or like I said before, lure back Lowe. Fifth starters are a dime-a-dozen, and Johnson doesn't want to end his career battling with Eric Stutts for starts, and he won't fill the hole of a 1 or 1A starter.
The Dodgers need a frontline starter along with a big bat in the middle of the order. While Johnson will bring competitiveness and the kids will learn from him, he will not fit into what they need, and they should pass.
Melanie Fitzpatrick
Jessica Hart
Back in Time: November 6
Yankees' World Championships
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