For the fifth year in a row, I’m asking Dodger Thoughts readers to summarize the upcoming season before it happens.

The Dodgers went xx-xx in 2010 because ______________.

(And, yes, if you need an extra x, take it.)

Last year, we had a dead-on prediction from the second person offering one.  Here’s Dodger Thoughts reader KG16 on March 30: “Always the optimist when it comes to sports, I’ll say the Dodgers have a breakout season and finish 95-67, and good enough for home field through the NL playoffs.”

The rest of his comment was not quite as accurate – “I’ll also predict that the NL gets home field in the World Series because of All Star game home runs by Manny and Russ, along with three shutout innings to start the game by Billingsley and a perfect seventh by Kershaw.” – but forgivable under the circumstances.

Also picking a 95-67 record was commenter Unlazy4sports.

Several people picked a breakout season for Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, but no one had “50-game suspension for Manny Ramirez” in the pool. More than a few talked about midseason acquisition Roy Halladay …