Tracy Says the System Will Be the Solution

Manager Jim Tracy said he believes the impressive debut of rookie right-hander Edwin Jackson marked a turning point for the Dodger farm system.

The organization’s 2002 pitcher of the year worked six strong innings last week in a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark, prompting Tracy to draw comparisons between Jackson and Dwight Gooden, the 1985 National League Cy Young Award winner for the New York Mets.

Jackson is the first of the Dodgers’ current crop of highly touted pitching prospects to arrive in the major leagues, and Tracy said more are on the way.

“The word of mouth that you hear from within your own organization is something that at times is taken for granted,” Tracy said. “But when you have people on the outside raving about a guy like [Jackson], and several others in our minor league system, that’s when you say that there’s definitely something to this.

“When people from other organizations start talking about it, then you start taking serious note of the fact that the Dodgers have some people in their minor league system. We have some people that are going to turn some heads.”

The current regime has lamented the lack of prospects it inherited, and the previous state of disrepair of the farm system.

The Dodgers did not have viable in-house options to replace injured starters in recent seasons, but times are changing, Tracy said.

“Coming in, I knew there was going to be a time frame involved where you had to give the farm system some time to rejuvenate itself, so I didn’t get really frustrated with it,” Tracy said. “When you see the last couple of drafts we’ve had, and when you hear about what some of these young people are doing ... it’s going to be a lot of fun around here real soon.”

ON DECK

Opponent -- Arizona Diamondbacks, three games.

Site -- Dodger Stadium.

TV -- All games on Fox Sports Net 2.

Radio -- KFWB (980), KWKW (1330).

Records -- Dodgers 80-68, Diamondbacks 77-73.

Record vs. Diamondbacks -- 8-8.

Wednesday, 7 p.m. -- Odalis Perez (12-11, 4.35) vs. Brandon Webb (9-7, 2.62).

Thursday, 7 p.m. -- Wilson Alvarez (5-1, 2.16) vs. Miguel Batista (10-8, 3.53).