Hot Stove Observations

Hasn't this been quite an off season for the Southern California MLB teams? The one thing everyone can agree upon is that it has been active. For Dodgers & Padres fans it also has been rather exciting.

The Padres have made a complete 180 degree turn from their recent philosophy of building from within & avoiding acquisition of expensive veterans as a quick path to respectability & competitiveness. They won't be accused of timidity - but will these steps result in a more competitive team? Jobs will be on the line based upon their performance out of the gate in 2015. To start they have replaced 22 players from their 40 man roster since last Spring with 14 of those since the end of the 2014 season. The headliners are the trio of new outfielders Matt Kemp, Justin Upton & Will Myers - all legitimate All Start candidates.

Bottom line - this will be an interesting team to follow from Peoria to October and .... if I wasn't a dyed in the wool lifetime Dodgers fan this is a team I would be pulling for to get to the World Series. Instead I would love to see them be the Wild Card team that faces my Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.

In Anaheim the Angels are ready this season to commit to a Championship run because their future gets cloudy thereafter due to significant pieces of the puzzle being free agency eligible at the end of both the 2015 & 2016 campaigns.

They have a solid core of veterans at or near their peak as well as a few young superstars ready to dominate. In my opinion their success will entirely depend upon how the pitching performs - are they deep enough, will their key performers avoid injury. There is no doubt that they will be very competently led by one of the best managers in MLB - Mike Scioscia. In fact, should they stumble & panic into a leadership change I would lobby for him to succeed Don Mattingly with my beloved Dodgers.

Lastly & most importantly are the Dodgers - some observers talk about a team in transition others say they are in disarray. In my opinion they are re-loading, re-configuring, mixing in a new formula for chemistry and, yes, gambling on controversial moves to get to the next level. This is a team that is the defending NL West Champs & for the past few years a definite contending team for the World Series title therefore any change would be risky much less moving MVP talent like Matt Kemp to a West Division rival like the Padres. I guess you have to admire the courage to change a solid roster that has  been recently successful - let's hope that the moves weren't foolish.

Gone, in addition to MVP Kemp are the new rising All Star Dee Gordon, reliable starter Dan Haren, expensive Brian Wilson, bullpen lefty Scott Elbert, solid backstops Drew Butera & Tim Federowicz, and reliable pro Miguel Rojas.

Added are: a number of no name arms for the bullpen & back end of the starting rotation, Howie Kendrick from the Angels (a very positive upgrade in my opinion), Yasmani Grandal from the Padres (a lateral move that doesn't seem to add anything significant), Jimmy Rollins (a stop gap until Corey Seager is ready?) and the clearing of a space for Joc Pederson.

I am pulling for some more moves without which the Dodgers do not seem to be much improved at all if at all. On the bubble are players like Andre Ethier, Scott Van Slyke and the Cuban infielders Alex Guerrero & Erisbel Arruebarrena.

The Dodgers are making a heavy bet on the strength of their core starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke & Hyun-Jin Ryu and closer Kenley Jansen. Can veterans added like Rollins & Kendrick plus the returning ones in Adrian Gonzalez, Juan Uribe, and Carl Crawford perform well enough to get them to October?

In my opinion the key to it all is whether Yasiel Puig actually has Willie Mays type talent or is merely a brilliant flash in the pan.

It will be an interesting 2015.