Sports: Dodgers in the hunt for October

It is the Wild Wild West with the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks fighting for the divisional title and staying in the wild card race.

Catcher - Will Martin continue to have the amazing year? Little will probably put in the back-up a bit more frequently to keep Martin from breaking down. We definitely will need a healthy and productive Martin in a successful final stretch.

First base - Will Loney be trade bait or will he be the Dodger's future? He is hitting well and fielding well. People complain about his lack of power but the Dodgers are playing small ball these days and having a good batting average is what the Dodgers need and Loney is delievering.

Second base - Kent is still going pretty good for being the gray beard of the group. Hope he can stay healthy!

Third base - Garciaparra is making some contact as shown by his .275 ave but the number of doubles and home-runs is lower than the Dodgers would like to have from him. Hope he can stay healthy and find a little more pop in his swing! If he goes down, I hope Betemit can pick it up. He hits for power but his ave is dreadful. Betemit will get his chances as Little makes sure Garciaparra gets regular breaks to keep him healthy.

Shortstop - Furcal is a solid contributor and hopefully he can get on a hot hitting streak or two in the 2nd half.

Left field - Gonzalez is another gray beard and he has done pretty good after a very slow start and will be key for hits and a club house presence for the youngsters.

Center field - Pierre is doing okay, fans were hoping his OBP would be higher by getting more singles and drawing more walks. He is the base steal leader on the team which is a dimension the Dodgers need since they don't have power.

Right field - Kemp and Ethier are platooning with Kemp giving them more hitting and Ethier usually in for defensive purposes. They also platoon with Gonzalez to give him a break and for defensive purposes late in games.

Pitching - Will Penny be strong in the 2nd half or will he go .500 like last year? Will Lowe keep eating up innings and finally get some run support from his team mates? Will Billingsley show he is ready for prime time and live up to all the expectations? Will the surprising Hendrickson keep it up? Will Tomko bear down and give them some good #5 starter starts. If Wolf makes it back, I'm not sure which guy goes back to the bullpen. Tomko has been the weakest of the three but he maybe more suited to the starter role than the bullpen so he might be tradebait.

Bullpen - Looks good with Saito, Broxton and Beimel. However, periodically the starting staff blows up and the bullpen gets overworked. Hope they have enough gas for the end.

Forecast - The key is the starting staff, if they live up to expectations it could go down to the final weekend and I'm saying the Dodgers edge the Padres for the NL West title!

Trade rumors - Haven't heard any on sportstalk radio! Certainly, Colletti is looking to get another starter like he did last year when he pulled the Maddux deal. But right now, the number of pitchers on the market is pretty thin and the market for hitters seems even thinner. The Dodgers might have to go with what they got.

Of the youngsters on the Dodgers, (Martin, Loney, Kemp, Ethier and Billingsley), I'm not sure who they would give up. My guess is Martin is definitely off the table. Of the outfielders, they would probably keep Kemp over Ethier because of Kemp's hitting power. Loney and Billingsley would only go if they are really getting someone big. I suppose La Roche (an AAA prospect) might be tradebait. The Dodger relief corp is solid and I'm sure some teams will be asking for someone from that group but at times they have needed everyone for marathon extra inning games and when a starter falls down. Critics have said that Gagne's arm get wrecked when they parted with set-up man Guillermo Mota in 2004 resulting in Gagne having a number of 1+ inning saves in the pennant race that season. I'm guessing Colletti won't make that mistake.