L.A. Times: Young players asked to fill leadership void for Dodgers

Reporting from Phoenix—This morning’s first full workout of the spring will be preceded by the Dodgers’ first full-squad meeting, which raises a question about which players, if any, will talk.

Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Lowe and Brad Penny spoke regularly at these types of gatherings in recent years, but everyone from that group is retired, thinking of retiring or is with another club.

Will any of the younger stars fill the leadership vacuum in the clubhouse?

“They’re going to have to,” Manager Joe Torre said.

The transition started last August on the Dodgers’ final visit of the season to Arizona. Torre and his coaching staff called five players into the manager’s office—Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, James Loney, Matt Kemp and Jonathan Broxton. Chad Billingsley was excluded because he was the starting pitcher that day.

“I let them know, ‘You’re the future of this organization,’ basically,” Torre said.

“You guys take over that clubhouse,” third base coach Larry Bowa recalled hearing Torre tell the group.

There was more.

Torre told them that they reminded him of the nucleus of his World Series championship teams with the New York Yankees, a group that included Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams.

“That’s one of the best compliments you can get, to get compared to a dynasty,” Martin said.

I wonder if any of the current Dodgers remind Torre of his managing days with the Cardinals, Mets, or Braves…