How the dominating Dodgers can get even better

The Dodgers are good. Also, Albert Pujols is overpaid, the moon is in space, and whatever you’re about to eat is bad for you. But today we’re talking about the Dodgers, who are, again, good. Exceptionally good, even. They have the second-best record in baseball, and there’s a chance they’ve been a touch unlucky, considering how many runs they’ve scored and allowed. Look at these stupid Dodgers and how good they are.

You might not be impressed, considering the Dodgers have a higher payroll than the Braves, Mets and Marlins, combined, but money doesn’t explain away Justin Turner and Scott Van Slyke hitting like All-Stars whenever the team needs them. Money doesn’t explain away the solid farm system, ready to contribute now and in the future. Just because the Dodgers are spending more than the Giants and Padres combined, doesn’t mean that ... OK, that one is ridiculous. Cut it out, Dodgers.

Our job today is to figure out how the Dodgers can get even better. They have three noticeable holes -- oh, they must totally be freaking out -- so let’s see if there’s a way they can fix those holes on the fly and make a super-team.

Problem
Jimmy Rollins misses Chase Utley, and Chase Utley misses Jimmy Rollins

CUT TO: Rollins, head down, riding a tandem bike alone

CUT TO: Utley pushing an empty swing as raindrops begin to fall

Or maybe Rollins is just old and crumbly. Whatever the reason, he’s not hitting at all, and the defense-with-a-side-of-offense they were expecting has been nothing but defense. He’s 36 -- hardly an age when decline is a given, but certainly old enough to worry after 33 games.

Likely solution
Wait. Rollins is hitting into some bad luck, and not just with batting average on balls in play. Baseball Info Solutions keeps track of the batted balls that are “classified as hit with hard speed,“ and Rollins has his highest percentage since 2010. When he’s hitting it, he’s hitting it as hard as ever.

Of course, that “when he’s hitting it” caveat isn’t that easy to ignore. This is the sixth consecutive season that Rollins’ strikeout rate has increased, and it’s almost twice as high as it was just four seasons ago.

Alternative solution
Oh, nothing much, just one of the very best shortstop prospects in baseball. Corey Seager was kicked out of Double-A for being too good, and while he’s started Triple-A slowly, he’s still a good bet to make the 25-man roster at some point. The Dodgers will wait for Rollins to come around because that’s the smart thing to do, but Seager isn’t a fire extinguisher in a glass case in the event of an emergency -- he’s a replacement house. His defense isn’t stellar for a shortstop, but we’re talking about the organization that kept Hanley Ramirez at short for years. Anything above atrocious will be welcomed warmly.

The Dodgers can buy the players they want, and they can take on any contract in trade, but they also have a cost-effective backup plan that teams like the A’s and Rays would kill for. Seems like something Bud Selig should have fixed before he left office, in my opinion.

Problem
Juan Uribe isn’t hitting

Uribe is also 36, and when you whisper the word “slider,” he swings at the displaced air in front of your face. He was excellent for the last two seasons, surprisingly so, but there has to be an expiration date on his see-ball-SWING approach. Hitters with his profile don’t usually sail through their late-30s gracefully.

Likely solution
The Dodgers are already working on it. Justin Turner is starting more, and Alex Guerrero is getting more starts, even if his defense is raw, to put it charitably.

There’s also a chance that Hector Olivera gets his visa snafu fixed, and he’s supposed to be a majors-ready bat who won’t need a lot of time to acclimate. The Dodgers have committed more to Guerrero and Olivera over the next few seasons than six organizations will pay their entire roster this year, and there’s no guarantee that either of them will start more than a handful of games. The stockpile of resources on this team is like a big piece of performance art.

Alternative solution
Wait for Uribe. I don’t see the merits of this one, other than the comfortable and predictable contributions from his glove. But it’s there if the Dodgers want to keep plugging away.

Problem
Brandon McCarthy is out for the season and the news about Hyun-jin Ryu keeps getting worse.

The Dodgers have done well enough, seamlessly inserting Carlos Frias into the rotation, but they’re still giving 20 percent of their starts to a cavalcade of emergency options that a $270 million team shouldn’t have to depend on. Also, if you’re expecting Clayton Kershaw-related panic here, you’ll have to move on. He’s fine.

Likely solution
Wait for teams to give up and deal away their competent pitchers. This has been the strategy for the last couple years, with Paul Maholm, Kevin Correia, Ricky Nolasco, Roberto Hernandez and Edinson Volquez serving as the makeshift cavalry when the need arose.

Alternative solution
Really, this is the whole point of the article, buried at the bottom. If the Dodgers enter another postseason with a top-loaded rotation, they’re goofy. They’ve made it through the prospect gauntlet, and now there’s a spot where they can say, “No, seriously, we aren’t trading Joc Pederson or Seager,” and people know to back off. It’s not like teams are going to ask for Kris Bryant from the Cubs in a trade this summer. There’s a tipping point from prospect to cornerstone, and the Dodgers are on the other side with Pederson and Seager. That means deals are likelier to happen, now.

How does the old poem go?:

Kershaw and Greinke, pray it ain’t stanky.I thought it was Spahn and ... whatever, you get the point. Brett Anderson is a fine pitcher. Frias looks promising. But for the last two postseasons, the Dodgers have been forced to start Kershaw on short rest because they didn’t have that third ace. It’s cost them. Considering the state of their farm and bank account, it makes no sense to do it again this year.

Cole Hamels? Hey, sure. Let’s just see what his nickname is on Baseball-Reference:

Exactly. And ... wait, Colbert? Well, I’ll be.

But the Dodgers have the prospects to make teams give up pitchers they really, really weren’t expecting to discuss, like Julio Teheran or Sonny Gray. If the Indians and Mariners keep falling further out of their respective races, there could be all sorts of enticing options that would trump the Kevin Correias and Roberto Hernandezes of years past.

The Dodgers have shortstop handled. They’re not worried about third base. They’ll probably have to bench an outfielder with a .900 OPS or better when Yasiel Puig comes back. They have aces at the top of the rotation and a bullpen that has done just fine without Kenley Jansen, who should come back soon. Everything is working for the Dodgers, and what isn’t working will soon be fixed.

Except for that third pitcher. It’s pretty greedy to be talking about a third ace as the missing piece of the puzzle, but, well, we’re talking about the Dodgers. They should be greedy. This is almost a perfect Death Star of a roster, but they keep screwing around and doing anything other than fixing the thermal exhaust port.

They’ve probably learned their lesson after the last two postseasons. We’ll see if they’ll change it up this year, now that they’ve had their prospect cake and are eating it, too.