Last year, the Dodgers notched a respectable 82 wins, and this winter they coughed up $13 million to land manager Joe Torre, $36.2 million for center fielder Andruw Jones, and $35.3 million for import right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, among other outlays.

All of it adds up to the seventh-highest payroll in all of baseball. As well, GM Ned Colletti, showing rare flickers of competence, pulled off in-season trades for Casey Blake, Greg Maddux, and, of course, Manny Ramirez.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, all the money and all the maneuvers have added up to a losing record and, according to Baseball Prospectus, just a 16.7 percent chance of making the postseason. That's particularly disappointing in a division like the National League West, which has turned out to be eminently winnable. But despite toiling in baseball's weakest division, the Dodgers find themselves almost as close to the hapless Giants in the standings as they are to the first-place Diamondbacks.

That's not how things were supposed to be.

What must be particularly troubling for Dodger fans is what's befallen the team in recent days. As recently as Aug. 15, the Dodgers were tied atop the division, but since that point they've gone a miserable 2-11. Included within that stretch is a humiliating sweep at the frail hands of the Washington Nationals. (Suffice it to say, it's not advisable for serious contenders to get swept by a team like the Nationals.) As a consequence of the Dodgers' collapse, they're now longshots to make the playoffs.

So what happened? Since the Dodgers peaked on Aug. 15, it's been a systemic failure. Over that span, the Dodger offense ranks 10th in the NL in OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage), and the Dodger pitching staff ranks 14th in the NL with a 5.27 ERA.

Mostly it's been the pitching, but of late the Dodgers haven't been doing anything well. In terms of main offenders, Greg Maddux, Clayton Kershaw, Chan Ho Park and Jason Johnson have combined for an 11.84 ERA over the last fortnight, and during that same time frame Nomar Garciparra, Jeff Kent and Matt Kemp have each batted comfortably less than .200.

More generally, this team simply can't win away from Dodger Stadium. At this writing, the Dodgers are saddled with a road winning percentage of .394. On that front, just the Reds, Pirates, Braves, Nationals, Padres and Mariners have been worse in 2008.

Once again, the blame falls mostly on the pitching staff: The Dodgers' home ERA is an excellent 2.96, but on the road that figure rises to 4.77. These days, Dodger Stadium isn't the pitcher's haven it once was, but you wouldn't know it by looking at those home-road splits.

Of course, if the Dodgers want to get back in this race, then their road fortunes need to improve in a hurry. Even after the current 10-game swing is off the books, they still must play the majority of their remaining games away from home. Unless they can keep runs off the board away from Chavez Ravine and take advantage of a soft remaining docket (just four more games against teams with winning records), the Dodgers are going to be home in October.

Injuries? Certainly, the Dodgers can point to those 21 trips to the disabled list, but they've haven't been as banged up as, say, the Braves and Yankees. It's been the inability to score runs (at least before the Ramirez acquisition), and it's been the failures of the pitching staff during this recent, critical stretch of schedule.

To be sure, the Dodgers are still alive, but the way things are trending in Los Angeles and in Arizona, it's hard to imagine the Dodgers' mounting a comeback.

As mentioned, once you consider all the angles, the Dodgers stand as the most disappointing team of 2008. The reality is that this team — despite having a high payroll, playing an easy schedule, and toiling in a division that's been there for the taking--has fallen woefully short of expectations. Nothing has crystalized those failures quite like the way they've performed over the last two weeks — the two weeks that probably killed the Dodgers' hopes.