The Dodgers hope to have Furcal back by next Tuesday in Philly. (Photo: Courtesy of Yardbarker.com)

With yet another crucial game against the Padres on Thursday, the Dodgers need to play their best baseball if they wish to close the seven game gap that separates them from first-place. Despite winning two in row, the Dodgers still have a lot of ground to make up. Entering Thursday, the Dodgers are in fourth place in the NL West, and find themselves in quite a hole. San Francisco, and Colorado have been playing well lately, and both are chasing San Diego.

Adding Ted Lilly was a great move for the pitching staff, however, the team’s overall depth and health remains in question. Rafael Furcal, who leads the team in batting average (.316), received an MRI on his back on Tuesday. And while it came back negative, the team does not expect to have Furcal back until Tuesday in Philadelphia. The season has been an improvement for Furcal, who hit .269/.335/.375 with 9 homers and 47 RBIs last season. Furcal is currently hitting .316/.380/.492 with 8 homers and 39 RBIs.

Also dealing with health issues is Russell Martin, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday. Martin, who had been hitting just .248/.347/.332 with 5 homers and 26 RBIs, is out with a hip injury. The Dodgers have not seen a lot of production out of Martin this season, as they have in the past. Russell’s best season came back in 2007, when he belted 19 homers and drove in 87 runs. Since then, he’s failed to live up to that type of success.

Manny Ramirez, who is currently on the 15-day disabled list, is still at least a week away from playing in any minor-league rehab games. Ramirez had been mentioned in several trade rumors last week, but is still with LA. At 38, the slugger has said that playing as a DH would be ideal for his body, but right now he’s a Dodger. There’s always a chance, though, Ramirez could slip through waivers…

Oswalt has a partial no-trade clause and he has been vocal about staying close to his home in the Midwest.  He is owed 15 million in 2011 and has expressed a desire to have his 2012 club option for 16 million picked up immediately by his new employer.  Furthermore, the Astros have requested an exorbitant package for the 32 year old: an elite young player from the major league roster, two top prospects, and another minor league player with upside.  The young major league player requested from the Dodgers is rumored to be James Loney.  Suffice to say, the Blue Crew will not consider something along those lines.  Loney is a .300 hitter and LA does not have the luxury of sparing offensive talent.

Which leads me to my main point.  Why exactly are the Dodgers so eager to upgrade their pitching?  They managed to take 3 out of 4 from the Mets, despite scoring a whopping total of 7 runs in the series.  They’ve watched their starting pitching dominate since the All Star break, while the offense has mustered an average of 2.2 runs a game since.  Heck, even temporary 5th starter Carlos Monasterios threw 5 shutout innings in his last start before succumbing to injury.

I’ve written before about the limited positions free to upgrade amongst the starting position players.  It’s difficult to find catching, so upgrading from Martin is not really a plausible option.  Casey Blake is a veteran and clubhouse leader signed until 2011 at third base.  Given the youth on the team, his presence is deemed necessary to maintain clubhouse chemistry.  And of course, there’s the 20 million dollar albatross in left field who hasn’t actually been on the field much.  So it’s not like I don’t understand the difficulties in finding the right fit offensively.  Yet, that is truly the only area in need of upgrades.  The rotation has been lights out.  The bullpen is as good as it gets and the recent call up of flame-throwing reliever Kenley Jansen solidifies it further.

One guy seems to fit the profile offensively: Toronto’s resident Major League home run leader Jose Bautista.  He is able to play third base and the outfield.  He could step in for Manny in left or play third base, moving Casey Blake to second (or can he play second base himself?).  Obviously, having Bautista or Blake at 2B is not an ideal situation but the Dodgers don’t have a ton of options at this point.