2nd Base, Bench Biggest Spring Issues For Dodgers

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers return a lineup virtually intact from their NL West championship run.

The only real uncertainty is at second base, where Mark Ellis left via free agency to the St. Louis Cardinals.

While the Dodgers would love for Cuban defector Alex Guerrero to win the job, manager Don Mattingly knows it might be a shared assignment when the team opens its season with a pair of games against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney on March 22-23.

There's a long list of candidates for the job, among them ex-shortstop Dee Gordon, Justin Turner and Justin Fellers.

Position players reported to the Dodgers' spring training facility on Thursday, with the first full-squad workout set for Friday.