This is LA’s last spring training at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, and the club is hoping to send the historic site out in style by ending this season with a World Series title.

The Dodgers had an up-and-down offseason. Centerfielder J.D. Drew opted out of his Dodger contract to sign with the Red Sox, and while his 20 home runs and 100 RBI won’t be impossible to replicate, it’s never easy for a club to replace its top run producer. With Drew gone, the Dodgers acted quickly, signing four major free agents.

Juan Pierre was brought in to play centerfield, and with him hitting first or second the Dodgers will be a team on the move. He can also run the ball down in center, haing not made a single error while palying all 162 games in center for the Cubs last season. The problem with the Pierre acquisition isn’t what he can’t do, it’s how much money the Dodgers shelled out to get him. A punch-and-judy hitting centerfielder is not worth $40 million, no matter how ridiculous the market is.

Fortunately for the Dodgers and GM Ned Colletti, the other three free agent signings make a lot more sense financially in addition to being sound baseball decisions. Luis Gonzalez was brought in on a one-year $7.35 million deal to play left field. Randy Wolf, coming off elbow surgery was signed to a low-risk one-year deal, and Jason Schmidt was brought in on a market rate three-year pact for $48 million.

The Schmidt and Wolf signings deepen what was already one of baseball’s best pitching staffs. All five starters (in addition to the two new acquisitions, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, and youngster Chad Billingsley return) have the potential to win at least 10 games and it wouldn’t be a stretch for the Dodgers to have at least four 15-game winners.

Lowe has lived up to what many felt was an overpriced free agent contract, having won at least 12 games and made at least 34 starts in each of his two seasons since leaving Boston after the 2004 World Series. Lowe had a superb 2006, going 16-8 with a 3.63 ERA while throwing at least 200 innings for the second consecutive year and posting an impressive 3.48 groundout to flyout ratio, always an excellent measure of a sinkerball pitcher.

Schmidt, after a two-year run in 2003-04 when he was among the best pitchers in baseball, has battled injury and inconsistency over the past two seasons; it is a testament to his determination that he made 29 and 32 starts in 2005-06. Joining a deep rotation in LA, Schmidt no longer will be looked upon to carry a staff, as he was in San Francisco. LA’s defense isn’t quite as good as San Fran’s was, but Schmidt is a flyball pitcher who will use spacious Dodger Stadium to his advantage; approaching 18 wins would not be a stretch.

Brad Penny, penciled in as the third starter, was absolutely on fire before the All-Star break, posting a 10-2 record and a 2.91 ERA  in the first half. Unfortunately for the Dodgers he crashed hard down the stretch (6-7, 6.95) because of an arm injury, and was limited to only two innings in the Division Series against the Mets. There were rumors that Penny would be moved in the offseason, but he’s still with the Dodger and if he can approach last season’s numbers he should have a field day matching up with the rest of the third starters in the NL. Wolf missed most of last season after arm surgery, and the numbers he put up in his 12 starts are confusing. A 4-0 record isn’t so bad, but a 5.56 ERA is not what you’re looking for. Wolf pitched well in three of his four wins, but very badly in the fourth and struggled in most of his eight no-decisions. Wolf is a potential bargain for the Dodgers on a one-year $8 million deal; if he flames out he doesn’t choke up the payroll for several years, and if he delivers the goods he could be one of the best fourth starters in the game and win 15+. Obviously the Dodgers hope it’s the latter, but either way they’re covered.

Fifth starter Chad Billingsley won’t be 23 until the end of July, and by then he might be coming off his first All-Star appearance. Billingsley went 7-4 with a 3.80 in 16 starts last season, and there’s no reason to think he can’t double that win total in a full season.

With five starters capable of winning 15 games, the Dodgers are in an enviable position; their deep and hard-throwing bullpen makes it even more enviable. Should any of the Dodgers starters falter or get hurt, the club has several middle relievers with significant starting experience. Righties Bret Tomko and Elmer Dessens and 6’9” lefty Mark Hendrickson have all been full-time starters, and second-year man Hong Chih-Kuo made five starts at the end of last season after 28 appearances out of the pen. At the back end, Japanese import Takashit Saito became the latest to prove that a blazing fastball isn’t a prerequisite for a closer, as he saved 24 games with a 2.07 ERA in 2006. In front of Saito, hard-throwers Yhency Brazoban and Jonathan Broxton should lock down the 7th and 8th innings. Brazoban is trying to come back from Tommy John surgery and fulfill the promise he showed in 2004 when he excelled setting up for Eric Gagne late in the season. Joe Beimel will be the left-handed specialist in the Dodger pen, where he pitched well last season, giving up only 1 run in 15 appearances in ‘close and late’ situations.

For about half the money that the Red Sox will pay J.D. Drew this season, the Dodgers were able to sign Luis Gonzalez, who has one big advantage over Drew: he stays on the field. The most games Drew has ever played in a season is 146, and he has only appeared in more than 135 games twice. Gonzalez, on the other hand, has played in fewer than 140 games only once in the past 10 seasons, and that was a year in which he suffered a serious shoulder injury. In fact, Gonzalez and fellow new Dodger Juan Pierre are both renowned for being among the most durable players in the game (Pierre has played in all 162 games four years running), which will be a welcome change of pace from Drew, who played in 146 games last year, but only 72 his first season with the Dodgers. Manager Grady Little will find it much easier making out his lineup this season, knowing that two-thirds of his outfield will be ready to go every day.

That being said, Gonzalez and Pierre will be hard-pressed to replace the offense Drew provided. This year’s Dodger lineup is not going to hit a lot of home runs and must hit well with runners in scoring position in order to top last season’s 88 wins. Joining Gonzalez and Pierre in the starting outfield is Andre Ethier, who was impressive after his callup last season. Ethier, who will be 25 in April, handled himself very well as a rookie, batting an impressive .308 and posting decent power numbers (11 HR in 396 AB) that should grow as he matures. Fourth outfielder Jason Repko is a grinder who will see time as a late-inning defensive replacement and pinch-runner in addition to occasionally spelling Gonzalez against tough lefties. Waiting in the wings is Matt Kemp, a prospect that got his first taste of the big league last year and popped a Shane Spencer-esque 7 home runs in his first 18 games. The Dodgers hope his career doesn’t take the same route as Spencer’s and though he will may start the season in the minors you can be assured he will have a major impact on the 2007 Dodgers. Whether that’s in Grady Little’s lineup or as the centerpiece of a trade remains to be seen.

The other top prospect the Dodgers will need big things from is James Loney. Loney is presently stuck behind Nomar Garciaparra at first, but that’s temporary. Nomar had his best season since 2003 last season (.303/20/93),, and is back on a two-year $18.5 million deal, but let’s not forget this is a player that played 122 games last year in what was considered a ‘healthy’ season. Even if he matches last year’s performance, Loney will get plenty of at-bats in ’07, and 15-20 homers might not be a stretch even in a limited role.

Rafael Furcal and Wilson Betemit make  it an all ex-Brave left side of the infield, and both will be instrumental to the Dodgers offensive success. Furcal had an excellent first season in LA, batting an even .300, stealing .307 and generally causing havoc for opposing pitchers. He has a rare mix of power and speed that, along with Pierre, will make the top of the lineup a challenge to get through every night. Betemit, once considered untouchable by the Braves, is just keeping third base warm for super-prospect Andy LaRoche. And if he matches last season’s .263 average, LaRoche won’t be waiting for long.

Along the same lines, if Jeff Kent can’t stay healthy (115 games, only 14 HR in 2006) he may find himself replaced by Betemit in an infield shuffle. Catcher Russell Martin played very well as a rookie last season. He didn’t put up gigantic numbers, but along with his fast-developing reputation as a terrific game-caller, the stats he posted (.282/10/65) were more than sufficient. Mike Lieberthal was signed as a free agent to back up Martin and just might thrive in a backup role if his injury problems don’t resurface.

If the closer wasn’t a fluke last season and the starters stay at least mostly healthy, the Dodger offense should be able to produce enough to win the NL West. A lot has to go right for this team to make a deep postseason run, but championships are rarely won by unlucky teams so that’s to be unexpected. A solid pitching staff, a decent offense, and two or three guys having career years is the recipe the 1996-2000 Yankees used to win 4 titles in five years. It’s possible the Dodgers might have something similar in the works in 2007.

2006: 88-74 (2nd in NL West, lost to Mets in NLDS)