Dodgers Hope to Avoid the Breaks of the Game

Newness permeates the Dodgers from the front office to the coaching staff to the roster. No wonder there is little reluctance to pile on the not-so-dearly departed, especially Paul DePodesta, the general manager fired in October.

Anyone wearing blue seems to have an open invitation to dissect and disparage everything about him -- the obsession with arcane statistics, the weakness for overpaying players represented by Scott Boras, the infatuation with Hee-Seop Choi.

Yet the primary reason the Dodgers were 71-91 and finished in fourth place last season had less to do with the GM than two other letters: DL.

Not design limitations, but dumb luck of the sort that caused Dodger players to spend a staggering 1,366 days on the disabled list, second most in the National League.

There were the aching elbows of Eric Gagne and Cesar Izturis. The wrecked wrists of Jayson Werth and J.D. Drew. The tender shoulders of Odalis Perez and Wilson Alvarez.

There was the balky biceps of Brad Penny. The wounded ankle of Kelly Wunsch. The busted knee of Jose Valentin. The fickle finger of Milton Bradley -- and of fate.

No one is more aware of how front-office plans -- best-laid or otherwise -- can dissolve somewhere in the pungent reaches of the training room than Ned Colletti, the new general manager who feverishly fashioned a competitive roster in his first two months on the job.

Last season he worked in the front office of the San Francisco Giants, another team ravaged by injuries. So every time he talks about Dodger chances this year, the discussion begins with, “If we stay healthy.�

He knows the medical history of the players he acquired and the players he inherited. And he knows the likelihood of keeping all of them on the field is as tenuous as one of those overused elbow ligaments Dr. Frank Jobe has made a career of replacing.

“Injuries happen, it’s the nature of the game,� Colletti said. “We’ve tried to be proactive in addressing the medical histories of these guys. But you can’t prevent all injuries in baseball.

“The best way to prepare is to have options and roster flexibility if and when injuries occur. And I feel good about our options and our ability to react as the season unfolds.�

The Dodgers are in a better position to withstand injuries because their team at triple-A Las Vegas will be overflowing with prospects impatiently waiting for an opportunity to play at Chavez Ravine.

Last season the top prospects were mostly in double A and Class A, and they weren’t ready when the avalanche of injuries hit. Instead, the Dodgers were forced to promote fringe players who had little business being in the big leagues.

This time around, if Drew goes down, Joel Guzman or Andre Ethier will come up. If Perez falters, Chad Billingsley will step in. If catcher Dioner Navarro is hurt, Russell Martin will help. And so on.

“If injuries happen in certain areas, we will be able to withstand them,� Manager Grady Little said. “We feel we have some depth down below if something happens.�

Ideally, the veterans Colletti assembled and DePodesta left behind mesh into a winning team, enabling the prospects to spend the entire year developing.

As opening day approaches, the youngsters have receded into the bright lights of Las Vegas, leaving the high-priced veterans in the spotlight here. For the Dodgers to win, several pieces must fall in place -- instead of falling apart.

First baseman Nomar Garciaparra can’t have a recurrence of the Achilles’ tendinitis that caused him to miss 57 games in 2004 or the groin injury that caused him to miss 100 games in 2005.

Third baseman Bill Mueller can’t experience the problems that led to surgeries on his left knee in 2002 and on his right knee in 2004.

Gagne must rebound from the elbow problems that limited him to 13 1/3 innings last season and regain his stature as the best closer in baseball.

Drew must end a career-long history of injuries that have kept him from playing more than 145 games in any season and become a dependable No. 3 hitter, supplying power and driving in runs.

Key 38-year-old veterans Kenny Lofton and Jeff Kent must defy the natural aging process for one more season and continue their remarkable records of durability.

Shortstop and leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal must stay in the lineup despite playing the game with reckless abandon and Izturis must avoid complications in his ahead-of-schedule recovery from elbow surgery.

That’s a lot of contingencies.

“It will tell the story of the season,� said outfielder Jason Repko, who witnessed last year’s debacle from the intimacy of the dugout and clubhouse as a rookie.

Little plans to rest the veterans on occasion and has held private meetings with several players to discuss how often they need a breather.

“We can control the quantity of work,� he said. “If we can keep a player from playing tired, we will do that because that’s when a lot injuries seem to occur.�

Owner Frank McCourt was so alarmed at the often one-way shuttle service to the disabled list that he hired Athletes Performance Institute, a Tempe, Ariz., company that provides personalized training to each player, focusing on strength, conditioning, flexibility and nutrition.

Trainer Stan Johnston is trying to be as proactive as possible, for example taking Garciaparra aside twice a week for specialized exercises to loosen and strengthen the groin and hamstring areas that have given him problems.

But most baseball injuries can’t be prevented -- or predicted. Luck plays a large role, and a team that has a string of bad luck is likely to lose, as DePodesta discovered.

Colletti and Little know it as well. That’s why fall-back plans are in place and optimism is guarded.

“Somebody could blow out a hamstring or a knee on opening day,� Little said. “It can happen in a split second.�

Furcal suffered back spasms Tuesday. Although it doesn’t appear serious, any injury causes every Dodger -- from old hand to newbie -- to recall the disaster that ultimately led to DePodesta’s departure.

“I’m holding my breath all the time now,� Little said.