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Now that the Lakers’ season is officially over, SportsHubLA’s Ted Green turns his attention to the Los Angeles Dodgers, wondering why one of the most extraordinary franchises in the history of Major League Baseball is, well, so ordinary.

1. Rafael Furcal Is Their Rafael Nadal. This could be the year Rafa breaks through on the grass at Wimbledon, but the Dodgers aren’t going to break through on the grass at Chavez Ravine. In fact, they won’t be anything more than a fourth-round type punching-bag opponent even in their dreadful division, unless their Raffy can beat the bulging disk in his back and come back at somewhere close to 100%. He is the engine of their offense. Without him, they have no motor. Without him, they cannot win enough games to remain truly relevant.

2. Their Dreadful Division. While we’re on the subject, playing in the NL Worst — actually taking solace in being only a couple of games behind Arizona — may be a useful device to keep fan interest alive and Frank McCourt’s turnstiles clicking into September. In truth, though, the division is a crutch. They might be just 2 ½ games back in the “GB” column as this is being written, but the better, truer perspective is, that in, say, the AL West where their I-5 neighbors, the Angels, reign, the Dodgers would be about 10 back and out of the race before the All-Star break. So being “in the race” in the NL West is really just another way of saying: Everyone else sucks as much as we do. And if we make the playoffs, we’re goin’ out fast in the first round, anyway. In a real division, the Dodgers would be history already.

3. The Kids Are Alright. And that’s the problem. They’re JUST alright. Not great. Not even real good. Just OK. James Loney (.292, 6 HR, 40 RBI), Matt Kemp (.284, 7 HR, 43 RBI) and Andre Ethier (.272, 7 HR, 32 RBI) are putting up OK numbers while they learn on the job. But those are not power numbers. Fact is, the system hasn’t developed a Jay Bruce, or pulled a rabbit like Josh Hamilton out of the hat, so there is no young stud right now who can carry a ballclub. So the offense struggles for runs on many nights while Russ Martin, their real-deal catcher, soldiers on as their only under-25 kidlet who is a legit All-Star.

4. Bad Penny. Subtitled: From Brad to Worse. Most years, you are not going to beat anybody when the so-called “ace” of your staff is 5-9 with an ERA (5.88) approaching 6. If Penny is an ace, I recommend he stay away from the poker and blackjack tables. A strikeout to walk ratio barely better than 1-1 (46 Ks, 37 BOBs) indicates that the big Okie has either lost his electric stuff, or there is something wrong with his arm or shoulder, or both. He needs to turn himself around if the Dodgers are going to win even their Mickey Mouse division.

5. Bad Investments. Subtitled: Ned Is Dead. Jason Schmidt ($47 mil for one win and the Shoulder From Hell), Nomar ($27M, thanks for coming) and Andruw Jones ($36 M for one HR a .165 average and quite the prominent potbelly) represent better than $113 million in wasted spending by GM Ned Colletti. Free agency is no science; I think it’s 75% luck. But Colletti’s science has blown up the lab and given Old Blue Eyes, the new Frank, plenty of reason to blow Colletti out of his job. Even Juan Pierre ($8 M this year, $40-plus overall) was a large waste of Benjamins. A singles hitting outfielder with speed is not a luxury the Dodgers can presently afford, given their desperate need for power, the one quality Punch and Judy Pierre will never possess.

6. The Torre Factor. The former Yankee icon is a virtual untouchable with the press. I’m sure he’s great at what he does. Those four World Series with the Pinstripes has given him immunity rarely enjoyed this side of the Witness Protection Program. But if McCourt was expecting some kind of magic touch, if the idea was that Torre’s calm wisdom and championship pedigree would somehow turn the Kids into winners themselves, that has not happened yet. But in fairness, it still could. Torre himself admits he hasn’t quite connected to this young bunch. He probably has two more years from now to get it right.

7. The Identity Problem. Subtitled: Torre, Part Deux. If I ask you a simple question in various ways: How do the Dodgers play, what is their playing STYLE, how do they approach winning games, what would you say? Would you say they are a speed team that plays small ball and manufactures runs? Would you say they’re mashers like the Red Sox who crush teams with the 3-run home run? No, you wouldn’t say anything, because you don’t know what style the Dodgers play, and I don’t either. In other words, the Dodgers don’t HAVE a style. They just plod along and play. In fact, they’re kinda boring, and in this town, there is no bigger sin. In Hollywood, even the dopiest celebs have style, even if it’s getting high and crashing into parked cars or stationary pedestrians. The Dodgers need a style. Because the $7 Dodger Dogs and Vinny and the 3.5 million lemmings coming into the park each year, and 20 years between World Series wins, well, honestly, it isn’t cutting it anymore.

Ted Green is Senior Sports Producer for KTLA Prime News and a former sportswriter for the L.A. Times and National Sports Daily.

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