Where Are the Los Angeles Dodgers Going?

The Los Angeles Dodgers have had the busiest pen at the Winter Meetings. Amidst all the rumors they've signed two infielders already... Casey Blake and Mark Loretta.

The problem in LA is that the names going out of town are significantly more impressive than those that are coming in.

CC Sabathia, who Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti claimed had told him wanted to be a Dodger, is now a Yankee.

Derrek Lowe is gone, so is Brad Penny. Nomar Garciaparra and Rafael Furcal cleaned out their lockers as well.

Greg Maddux retired, and Jeff Kent probably should.

And the one uber free agent they offered a contract to, Manny Ramirez, turned them down. He has since come back begging, only to have the retracted offer not put back on the table.

But Casey Blake and Mark Loretta are in the mix for 2009. So they've got that going for them...which is nice.

Who will be on the Dodgers' payroll on Opening Day with Blake and Loretta when the Dodgers try to defend their NL West division crown? Let's look at the list of All Stars who are currently under contract in Southern California.

Andruw Jones, CF. Jones will make $15 million in 2009, a season after he blew away his critics with a .158 batting average in 75 games. Two short years after hitting 41 home runs, Jones had 33 hits.

Juan Pierre, OF. Pierre stole 40 bases in 119 games in 2008. Late in the season, his throwing ability (or lack thereof) was replaced in the lineup by defensive stalwart Manny Ramirez in left. As the team stands right now, Pierre would be in a platoon situation in left. He'll make $10 million in 2009.

Jason Schmidt, SP. We can at least still call Schmidt a starting pitcher; we just can't say he finishes a season. Schmidt started six games last year, and that was five too many. His ERA ended above 6 and WHIP was approaching 2. Schmidt made $2 million for every run per nine innings last year, and stands to make another $12 million in 2009.

And you thought the Red Hot Chili Peppers were the only people giving it away in Southern California.

So far this offseason, Sabathia has spurned the Dodgers, and Furcal is fielding offers from annual powerhouse teams like Kansas City and Oakland. The only free agent remotely linked to the Dodgers has been Manny. Good luck.

Have I mentioned that Chad Billingsley, the newly crowned ace in LA, broke his leg this winter and is furiously rehabbing to be ready for Spring Training?

Not everything is blue is Dodger Nation (sorry for the pun). A stellar young crop of prospects carried the dead weight of a roster that looked like a 1997 fantasy team into the playoffs last year and swept past a dismal Chicago Cubs roster that didn't know what hit them.

James Loney, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Russell Martin have all been linked to trade rumors for major players in the past 18 months, all of which have been shot down by Colletti. And for good reason. These four, with emerging middle infielder Blake DeWitt, played incredibly well last year.

But will these kids look like All-Stars without Manny Ramirez?

And on the mound, who's going to take the ball after Billingsley? Hiroki Kuroda threw well...when Torre let him throw more than five innings in a start.

Youngster Clayton Kershaw has legitimate top of the rotation stuff, but might need seasoning before ascending to the thrown waiting for him in Hollywood.

Joe Biemel is gone out of the bullpen, leaving Hong-Chih Kuo as the top left hander in their pen. Jonathan Broxton will close games this coming season, with Corey Wade pitching his way into the mix at the end of last season.

So this isn't your father's Dodgers. The stars that are on the roster, with their fat paychecks, might be watching a lot more baseball than they play this year.

How Colletti replaces the veteran leadership of Lowe, Maddux and Penny as well as the bats of Garciaparra, Kent, and potentially Manny is yet to be seen. And in a wide open NL West, it might not take much to compete for the division again.