Joe Sheehan dissects the NL West

Long time Baseball Prospectus writer Joe Sheehan has moved onto Rotowire which I found odd because was more of a real baseball writer then a roto writer. I expect he took the gig because it pays not because he wants this as his future. Nonetheless here is Joe's take on the NL West.

http://www.rotowire.com/baseball/features/joe_sheehan.htm

Here is the link but it is behind a pay wall so I'm going to throw out some of his nuggets.

The Dodgers seem like a great young team with lots of homegrown talent, thanks to the work of Logan White in procuring and developing baseball players. At the same time, their roster is weirdly old, with half the lineup in its decline phase and as many as three starting pitchers over 30. The contrast between White's development work and the veteran fetish of Ned Colletti has never been more stark. The combined rosters have worked the last two seasons, but it's not clear whether the Matt Kemp half can keep carrying the Vicente Padilla group.

Have to say that is as good as it gets. Joe just doesn't follow the Dodgers well enough to give good analysis and never has. Jay Jaffe should be writing about the Dodgers not Joe Sheehan. He wrote this today and still has DeWitt as a back up 2nd baseman.

Other than perhaps at second base, the Dodgers cannot afford to lose a regular for any length of time, and they're well exposed to the decline phase of aging players in far too man spots. They survived the Manny Ramirez suspension a year ago, but if any of their core four youngsters, or Ramirez, were to miss significant time in '10, the Dodgers would be lost. It is as if the Dodgers are replaying the Yankee dynasty under Torre, but without all those pesky championships.

We lost Manny for 50 games last year and if anyone thinks the full 50 games Juan Pierre spelled him were the difference I have a bridge in Arizona you might be interested in buying.  I'd say the only two players we cannot afford to lose are Kemp and Andre and that would be no different then Colorado losing Tulo or Arizona losing Upton.