Ladies & Gentlemen, Your Lose Angeles Dodgers.

I hate 2 things:

1) Blowing my own horn.
2) When the Dodgers lose (and stink)

That being said, I hate to blow my own horn, but I told you the Dodgers would stink. Back in early April I made a series of predictions and one of those predictions was that the Blue would finish in 4th place in the West. Where are they on 7/20/10? Mired in 4th place after losing 5 straight. Is the season over? Not by a long shot. There's plenty of baseball left to be played and plenty of opportunity for the Dodgers to climb right back up there. The question is, can they? My answer at this time is an emphatic "no."

They're right where Frank McCourt's team oughta be. They have poor starting pitching. They have a horrific bullpen. They have rather little hitting. They have poor defense. They play extremely poor fundamental baseball. They have very little heart. They have a dispassionate manager. They have an owner who doesn't care. Hence, 4th place. It is this blogger's opinion that, so long as McCheap isn't going to try to land an ace or a big bat, the Dodgers should consider being sellers rather than buyers in the next 2 weeks. Shall we go through the lineup?

THE OUTFIELD

One of my more recent predictions was that Manny would again be on the DL before season's. Who knew he would hurt himself again THAT NIGHT? Manny is absent. Manny is powerless. Manny is over. I'm over Manny.

Bill Shaikin's Sunday article regarding possibly moving the plateaued Matt Kemp made sense. Sure Kemp is still only 25 and, with his incredible natural gifts, should have many great years in front of him. Problem is, he doesn't. Not unless he gets a personality and brain overhaul. He just doesn't make the adjustments and doesn't have the baseball smarts. Opposing pitchers toy with him. Most of his power numbers were put up in April and early May. I no longer believe in Matt Kemp as a potential superstar and the face of the team. If they could move him for a top notch starter whom they could hang onto for a few years, it might be well worth it. Watching him makes me miss Reed Johnson.

Andre Ethier is the new face of the Dodgers. He's great. Problem is, he's the only one. And he has a few flaws that hurt the team. One is, he simply can't hit lefties very well at all. And there are lefties in baseball. This makes him kind of streaky. The other is, it still seems like he regards his personal performance over that of the team. I know that's not fair for me to say without having spoken to Andre or knowing him personally, but I can read his body language. The other is, he's not the fastest guy out there by a long shot. He's also pressing a little. I don't blame him. He's got very little support around him in the lineup.

THE INFIELD

James Loney is having a career year. He's now officially an effective singles-hitting first baseman. I used to compare him to Mark Grace, but at least Grace hit doubles. I disagree with most on his defense. I think Loney plays a mediocre to under par first base. This team has no pop. We need a first baseman with pop. I don''t hate Loney. But if you can move him for some prospects or someone who can be a game changer, let's do it.

I love Blake DeWitt's efforts and he may end up being a mainstay in someone's lineup one of these days, and he does a lot of little things that people don't notice, but he's no Ian Kinsler or Chase Utley. Jaimie Carroll does everything better than De Witt and should play everyday.

Furcal is on fire and made a well-deserved appearance in the All-Star game. I can't say anything negative about this man. He's their only offense right now. He's a solid choice at short until, at such time, Dee Gordon is ready.

Casey Blake is not a particularly good ballplayer. He's a better than average fielder and a very poor hitter. A little pop down the line - he hits practically EVERYTHING down the line, and if he doesn't, he usually strikes out. He's been trying to drive the ball the other way of late, but it ain't working. He's hitting .247 with far too few RBI's for an everyday 3rd baseman. I'm sure he's a great guy. I don't like him as a ballplayer. I'd rather give Ronnie Belliard a shot everyday.

Russell Martin - Martin stinks. Of all 14 starting catchers in the NL, I rank him nearly last. I even rank him behind some of the backup catchers. Don't believe me? I'd rather have Hundley, Posey, Olivo, Montero, Snyder, Soto, Molina, Doumit, Ruiz, Pudge, Paulino, McCann, Barajas or Hernandez.

THE BENCH

Carroll and Reed Johnson are great. AJ Ellis and Garret Anderson are awful. I like Xavier Paul, but he has no pop.

STARTING PITCHING

I was watching Giants 20 year-old Ross Bumgarner shut down the Blue last night and I was noticing how much more poise and confidence he has on the mound than Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw's a fine pitcher, but he needs to get tougher. So far, he's just an ace by default.

I'm not particularly impressed with Billingsley. He's had a few solid games. He doesn't exactly strike fear in the hearts of men. His stuff isn't that impressive and he gives up a lot of dongs. Kuroda is solid, has some great games and some terrible games sandwiched in. I don't trust him to be the man. I mean, let's fact it, he's not exactly C.C. Sabathia. Can't complain about Vicente Padilla. He's been a great 4th starter. Could be the best number 4 guy in the league along with Jonathan Sanchez and R.A Dickey. They have no number five guy because McCheap doesn't want to spend the money.

THE PEN

Broxton is not a great closer. He throws gas. He has loads of talent. But he's a lucky closer a lot of the time. He just gets too freaked out and still doesn't know how to shut teams down. Looks the part, but doesn't appear to have the psyche for it. I would prefer Kuo, but Hong Chih can't throw 2 days in a row. The rest of the pen is lousy with the exception of Weaver and Schlichting who are just okay.

THE MANAGER

After getting beaten down 2 straight games in blazing hot St. Louie, the Dodgers and Hiroki Kuroda had a shot in the next game. John Jay hits a double play grounder and the umpire blows the call at first base, leading to the Cards first run. Torre just sits in the dugout. Not a peep out of him. Need I say more? Okay, then I will... what the hell is he doing batting Casey Blake in the cleanup spot last night? Is he out of his 70 year-old mind? Happy birthday, Joe.

We're beginning to learn about these young guys they brought up a few years ago to be the future of the organization. They're simply not a strong enough core. They won the West the last 2 seasons because they got quality innings from their starters and their pen and they were girded by a potent Manny for much of that time. If they start moving some of these guys for some real prospects, they could have a shot in a few years. This core, however, are just not good enough to win anything this year or any year. They could've be with some valuable additions, but their soon-to-be-divorced owner doesn't want to spend the money. And why should he? It's not like the Dodgers led the Majors in attendance or anything last year. ... Oh, wait a minute, they did.