DEPARTURES: RHP Brad Penny (free agent, signed with Red Sox), RHP Derek Lowe (free agent, signed with Braves), 2B Jeff Kent (retired), RHP Greg Maddux (retired), INF Angel Berroa (non-tendered, signed minor league deal with Yankees), RHP Jason Johnson (non-tendered, signed minor league deal with Yankees), INF Nomar Garciaparra (free agent, unsigned), CF Andruw Jones (released, signed minor league deal with Rangers), INF Pablo Ozuna (free agent, signed minor league deal with Phillies), RHP Chan Ho Park (free agent, signed with Phillies), RHP Scott Proctor (non-tendered, signed with Marlins), RHP Takashi Saito (non-tendered, signed with Red Sox), LHP Joe Beimel (free agent, unsigned), INF Mark Sweeney (free agent, retired).

PROJECTED ROTATION:

1. RHP Chad Billingsley

2. LHP Clayton Kershaw

3. RHP Hiroki Kuroda

4. LHP Randy Wolf

5. RHP Claudio Vargas

Vargas is the favorite for the fifth spot, but he is far from a lock. If RHP Jason Schmidt is healthy, he'll compete, as will LHPs Eric Stults and Shawn Estes. Billingsley took a major leap forward last year. He suffered a spiral fracture of his left fibula in an offseason accident at home, but he is expected to be recovered by the start of camp.

Kershaw is one of the league's top young pitchers, and he'll benefit from the addition of the veteran Wolf, who has more major league service time than Billingsley, Kershaw and Kuroda put together.

PROJECTED BULLPEN:

RHP Jonathan Broxton (closer)

LHP Hong-Chih Kuo

RHP Guillermo Mota

RHP James McDonald

LHP Eric Stults

RHP Ramon Troncoso

RHP Cory Wade

The club was still hoping to add a veteran reliever before the start of spring training, something that figured to happen quickly once the Wolf signing was complete. If it's another lefty -- say, Dennys Reyes -- that could push Stults to the minors.

Broxton will take over the closer's role full time this season, and while he has overpowering stuff, he is a bit of an adventure at times. If he falters, Kuo would be a candidate to take over the job at some point, but he also has issues, what with his history of elbow problems and two Tommy John surgeries while in the minors.

PROJECTED LINEUP:

1. SS Rafael Furcal

2. 2B Orlando Hudson

3. LF Manny Ramirez

4. C Russell Martin

5. CF Matt Kemp

6. 1B James Loney

7. RF Andre Ethier

8. 3B Casey Blake

The Dodgers weren't very good offensively before Ramirez arrived on July 31, but he injected life into the lineup. The club showed a dramatically different approach at the plate after the midseason arrival of new hitting coach Don Mattingly, who should be around for a full season this time.

PROJECTED RESERVES:

C Brad Ausmus

INF Mark Loretta

INF Juan Castro

OF Juan Pierre

OF Delwyn Young

Pierre was forced to the bench with Ramirez's return. Castro will have to beat out Chin-lung Hu, but the job is Castro's to lose.

Ausmus won't play much behind Martin, but he was brought in as much for mentoring purposes as anything else. He and Loretta are on the down sides of their careers, but they are key pieces in the front office's effort to create a more professional clubhouse environment.

TOP ROOKIES: OF Andrew Lambo is the organization's top prospect, and although he is probably at least a year away and isn't expected to be invited to big-league camp, GM Ned Colletti and manager Joe Torre undoubtedly will want to look at him in a couple of Cactus League games. He hit .389 in a brief, end-of-the-season promotion to Class AA, hitting three homers and driving in 12 runs in eight games.

OF Xavier Paul had a strong season at Class AAA Las Vegas (.316, 28 doubles, nine homers, 68 RBIs and 17 steals) and a decent one in the Mexican winter league. But with Delwyn Young out of options and Jason Repko making big-league money, Paul's best bet might be to get traded to another organization.

MEDICAL WATCH:

LF Manny Ramirez (right hamstring) was expected to be out for one week in mid-March.

RHP Chad Billingsley (left fibula fracture in November 2008) has been right on schedule in his recovery after slipping on ice at his home in Pennsylvania. He is expected to take his place at the front of the rotation.

RHP Jason Schmidt (right shoulder surgeries in June 2007 and September 2008) hasn't pitched in the majors in almost two years, and club officials are adamant about the fact they aren't counting on him. He appeared in his first Cactus League game on March 9.