Notes From the Clubhouse: Are the Dodgers Slumping or Just Not That Good?

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

Say what you want about GM Ned Colletti, and we've said it all here at FanHouse, but he's done just about everything possible to put the Dodgers in a position to win the NL West this year. When one Hall of Famer -- Manny Ramirez -- wasn't enough, he went out and got another one -- Greg Maddux.

Yet here the Dodgers sit, losers of six straight and eight of their last nine on the eve of a stretch where they will play the Diamondbacks in six of their next nine games

It'd be an understatement to say Los Angeles is at a crossroads.

Just as it was before the Ramirez trade, the offense is at the heart of the Dodgers' problems. Manager Joe Torre insists the now daily struggle to put runs on the board is a result of his team pressing, particularly with runners in scoring position.

"Right now, the only thing we're not doing enough of is breathing," says Torre. "We're putting ourselves in a position to succeed and we just can't get over this hump."

"It's been a strange streak because these are games where I have no problem with the way players are getting ready and getting after it."

Still, after dropping a series against the lowly Nationals this week, it's hard not to wonder if Los Angeles just isn't good enough. Torre was asked just that question after a 5-4 loss Wednesday night.

"We're going through a bad time," he said. "I don't buy the fact that we aren't any good."

Ever the optimist, the Dodgers manager believes his team is about to turn a corner, citing the 2006 Tigers and Cardinals, who both finished the regular season horribly, then wound up in the World Series.

"Teams can look so bad and start turning things around," said Torre.

Of course, there's a major problem with that comparison. Detroit and St. Louis both set themselves up nicely for September by jumping out to big leads in their respective divisions, and the Tigers ended up setting for the wild card anyway. The Dodgers have no chance at the wild card and are chasing the Diamondbacks in the NL West.

Arizona has lost four of its last five games to stay within striking distance of Los Angeles. It'd be tempting to look at that as a positive, but Torre was quick to call his team out for missing opportunities.

As much as Ramirez was a spark to the lineup when he first arrived, the Dodgers have settled into another offensive funk. They have scored only 19 runs in their last nine games, and appear to be relying almost entirely on the bat of their prized acquisition to generate offense.

Consider that in his first 12 games with the team, Ramirez had a .467 average and five home runs and Los Angeles went 7-5. In the 13 games since, Manny is hitting .298, but has just one home run and L.A. is 4-9.

Ramirez is still a great hitter, but if the Dodgers need him to hit close to .500 with power over the next month to catch the Diamondbacks, they're going to be in big trouble.

Torre presses on, though, the ringleader of many great comebacks with the Yankees.

"I don't try to color over facts or anything, but I try to be a positive person," he says.

Unfortunately for his club, the facts seem to fly in the face of what Torre says these days. It's looking more and more like they won't be good enough to catch the Diamondbacks.