Spring training is well underway, and Opening Day approacheth! That means we're deep in the heart of "team preview" territory. This year, we're running these in reverse order of 2015 finish, and now the Los Angeles Dodgers have been asked to assume the position.

Previous: ATL | BAL | BOS | CIN | CLE | CHW | COL | DET | LAA | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | PHI | SD | SEA | SF | TB | WAS | PIT | HOU | TEX

Last year, the Dodgers won 92 games and notched their third straight NL West title. However, they once again endured an early exit from the postseason. As a consequence (and because he wasn't entirely simpatico with the new front office, manager Don Mattingly was allowed to walk. Replacing him is first-timer Dave Roberts, who will surely be judged on his ability not only to return the Dodgers to the top of the division, but also to take them deeper into the playoffs than Mattingly did.

Over the winter, Andrew Freidman and Farhan Zaidi largely eschewed big-money free agents, including the outgoing Zack Greinke, and instead assembled a "high-floor" roster of impressive depth. That depth has been challenged already with spring injuries, but it still shakes out as potentially one of the NL's best. Now let's take a closer look at the 2016 Dodgers …

The lineup

1. Carl Crawford, LF
2. Howie Kendrick, 2B
3. Justin Turner, 3B
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
5. Yasiel Puig, RF
6. Corey Seager, SS
7. Yasmani Grandal, C
8. Joc Pederson, CF

Andre Ethier is out with a fractured tibia and won't return until June or July, most likely. That pushes Crawford into the breach. Anyhow, last season the Dodgers ranked eighth in the NL in runs scored but second in OPS (and first in OBP). Why the disconnect? It's mostly because the Dodgers didn't sequence their hits properly. According to ThePowerRank.com, the Dodgers cost themselves more than 50 runs on offense last season thanks to the way they clustered their offensive events (only the Tigers were worse in this regard). The good news is there's very little relationship from year-to-year when it comes to sequencing/clustering, and the Dodgers are almost certainly in for a positive correction on this front. Potentially, this is a very good offense.

On a positive note, there is a likely upgrade at shortstop. Last season, Jimmy Rollins made 132 starts at shortstop and along the way batted a measly .228/.290/.365. This year, the job belongs to Corey Seager, who's generally regarded as the top prospect in baseball. He had a highly impressive 113 plate appearances with L.A. last season, and this year the SportsLine Projection System forecasts him for a line of .275/.346/.442 with 15 homers in 509 at-bats. By comparison, the average MLB shortstop last season batted .260/.308/.380, so here's an opportunity for the Dodgers to make some gains relative to last season.

Elsewhere, another key factor will be Yasiel Puig's health. There's no assailing his abilities at the plate (the 25-year-old boasts an impressive career OPS+ of 141 across parts of three big-league seasons). However, injuries have sapped his overall value. Last season, a strain in each hamstring limited him to just 79 games played and likely played a role in his putting up the worst offensive numbers of young career. A healthy and effective Puig -- and a more contented Puig under new manager Dave Roberts -- will surely help the cause.

If there's an overarching concern when it comes to the Dodgers' trotting out one of the NL's best offenses, it's their age at certain spots. Last season, the Dodgers had an average position player age of 29.6, and only the Yankees were older. Sure, swapping out Rollins for Seager moves the needle in the proper direction, but that doesn't address all their concerns. Adrian Gonzalez is going into his age-34 season. Justin Turner is on the wrong side of 30. How Kendrick is 32 and has a lot of defensive innings at a high-attrition position. Crawford and Ethier are each 34. Depth pieces A.J. Ellis (who may see significant time if Grandal can't stay healthy) and Chase Utley are 35 and 37, respectively. No, age-related collapse on all these fronts isn't likely, but significant decline at a number of spots is a distinct possibility. That's why you might need to fade expectations a bit when it comes to a sequencing correction taking this offense to the top of the loop.

To be sure, there's impressive depth on the roster. When Ethier gets healthy, you're talking about an impressive reserve corps of Crawford, Scott Van Slyke, Enrique Hernandez, Utley, and Ellis. That may be one of the best benches in baseball, but the thing about depth is it's valuable as depth, not as regular core pieces. If some of these older contributors give way to injury (or the younger Grandal, who has never cracked 900 innings caught or played more than 128 games in a season), then much of this depth moves to the first line. So, yes, this will be a good offense, but bake in some decline and perhaps a loss of durability thanks to age issues up and down the lineup.

The rotation

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Scott Kazmir
3. Kenta Maeda
4. Alex Wood
5. Zach Lee

For the Dodgers in the early months of the season, it'll be a case of treading water when Kershaw isn't on the mound until some guys get healthy. Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball, and he's still just 28 years of age. Expect more of the same from the lefty.

As for the remainder -- and as noted above -- it's going to be a challenging state of affairs for a while. The Dodgers are poised to open the season with Hyun-Jin Ryu (shoulder), Brett Anderson (back), Brandon McCarthy (Tommy John surgery), and Mike Bolsinger (oblique) all on the DL. Yes, the Dodgers at one point had impressive rotation depth, but no roster can withstand that level of carnage. So the objective is to get by until Ryu gets back in early June (barring setback). McCarthy should be back around the break, while Anderson may miss the first half, or he could potentially be sidelined for the entire season. Bolsinger's malady is less serious, but he's still not likely to be ready for Opening Day.

Elsewhere, Brandon Beachy has dealt with recent elbow soreness, and Kazmir has seen velocity decline this spring. As well, will Maeda in his first stateside season be able to stand up to the increased workloads? To say the least, questions abound. The rotation is potentially a second-half strength, but the challenge is to get there by mixing and matching behind Kershaw. That may require an accelerated timetable for top prospects Julio Urias and Jose De Leon. Either way, the Dodgers might wind up badly missing a known quantity like Greinke.

The bullpen

In 2015, the Dodgers' bullpen ranked just 11th in the NL in relief ERA but a much stronger third in relief FIP. It's the latter measure -- FIP -- that's more relevant when discussing future expectations. There's a lot of swing-and-miss potential among the setup guys, and of course Kenley Jansen remains one of the top lockdown closers in all of baseball. As a unit, the L.A. pen easily topped the NL last season in strikeouts as a percentage of batters faced, and just three teams had a better rate of walks as a percentage of batters faced. They'll need better luck when it comes to keeping fly balls in the park (that's prone to random variation), but otherwise this looks like a solid unit.

The outlook

The SportsLine Projection System is high on the Dodgers, as it pegs them for an MLB-best 95-67 record in 2016. There's no doubt that the Dodgers have a strong roster and will be a contending team this season, but that's too bullish, in this scribe's opinion. The spring injuries, the likely lack of an impact arm in the rotation after Kershaw, and those aging bats make 95 wins an unlikely threshold. I'd put the Dodgers as presently assembled in the 88-92 win range. They'll be competitive, probably bound for the postseason, and fighting with the Giants for the NL West title.

Dave Roberts and the Dodgers have high expectations for 2016.
Dave Roberts and the Dodgers have high expectations for 2016. (USATSI)