Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Scanning the Majors

As the Dodgers broke camp this week, here are the top five questions the team faces heading into Spring Training:

1. Is closer/Cy Young award winner/fan favorite/filthy-capped Canadian Eric Gagne healthy? The last time Dodger fans saw Gagne on the mound June 12th, he was finishing off his fifth straight scoreless appearance on the way to his eighth save of the season. Next thing you know, Gagne went under the knife to fix a sprained ligament in his right elbow, the Dodgers lost 8 games in a row and the season rolled downhill from there. Thankfully, the injury didn’t require Tommy John surgery (as was first feared), allowing Gagne to come to Spring Training with a relative clean bill of health. The early returns are good, as he threw this past week and reported no pain. If Gagne were to have a recurrence of his injury, the Dodgers have newly acquired Danys Baez, who comes over from Tampa Bay with the “proven closer” label that puts people with concerns about Gagne at ease. Such a recurrence, though, would push everyone in the bullpen out of their roles, a problem that plagued L.A. last year. While it may be an overstatement to imply that as Gagne goes, so goes the Dodger season, his return is imperative to the Dodgers having a good season. 2. Can the Dodgers stay healthy? The team’s biggest downfall came last year when they lost more than a thousand combined games to the disabled list. An initial look at the newly acquired players is cause for concern. New first baseman Nomar Garciaparra has missed substantial parts of the last two seasons with wrist, groin and Achilles’ tendon issues. Third baseman Bill Mueller and center fielder Kenny Lofton are 34 and 38, respectively. Shortstop Rafael Furcal is coming off arthroscopic knee surgery. New backup catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. collects Medicare. The holdovers have issues as well. Second base Jeff Kent had minor wrist surgery and will be 38 come March. Right fielder J.D. Drew is still, well….J.D. Drew. Ricky Ledee is coming off hamstring problems, starting pitcher Brad Penny is still questionable after the bicep nerve issues that plagued him parts of the last two seasons and Odalis Perez missed time with shoulder soreness. Throw shortstop Cesar Izturis’s Tommy John surgery into the mix and team doctors could be logging as much overtime in ’06 as they did in ’05. 3. What will the team chemistry be like after all the changes this off-season? Sound familiar? It’s funny that this concern hasn’t dogged L.A. this year as it did last year. I guess that’s what not being Paul Depodesta will do for you. They have a new first baseman (Garciaparra, who’s really a SS), shortstop (Furcal), third baseman (Mueller), center fielder (Lofton) and set-up man (Baez), a semi-new left fielder (Jose Cruz Jr.), two new starting pitchers (Brett Tomko and Jae Seo), a new coaching staff and a new manager in Grady Little. Winning breeds chemistry, so if this team gets out to a good start, the issue of chemistry will be all but forgotten. If they falter, chemistry will suddenly become an issue. Isn’t it funny how that works? 4. Can Little shake the Pedro Martinez incident and guide the team to a division title? Little is as likeable a guy as you’ll come across in baseball and in spite of his Forrest Gump-like drawl, still sounds intelligent when compared to former Dodger manager Jim Tracy. Little is unfairly marked by one decision he made while managing the Boston Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS when he left Martinez in too long against the New York Yankees in Game Seven. Never mind the fact that there weren’t many quality options in the Boston bullpen at the time, “Grady” is still considered a cuss word in the Northeast because of this decision. The L.A. media and fans won’t be nearly as harsh on him and he should be given plenty of chances to redefine his managing career. 5. Will Hee Seop Choi ever be given a chance to play? OK, this is more of a self-indulgent question, but what does he have to do to get 500 plate appearances? Pretend he spent ten years in the minors, get a “prettier” swing and change his name to Lo Duca?

By John Scanlan John Scanlan can be reached at scanman_33@sbcglobal.ne