Fielder reports should serve as motivation for Loney

If anyone has reason to be extra motivated going into his offseason workout today, it’s Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman James Loney.

The definition of an enigma the past couple seasons, the sweet-swinging Loney’s slow start in 2011 had him mired among the worst-producing first basemen in the game. By May there was already talk the Dodgers wouldn’t bring him back in 2012, or even that he would be included in a deadline trade last July.

Then magically in the second half of the season, Loney rediscovered the smooth lefty swing that had formerly made him a rising star. He flashed his famously missing power, banging seven homers in his last 37 games, and showed enough that the Dodgers brass decided he was worth bringing back for another season.

The Dodgers appeared confident Loney was their first bagger for 2012 after all. … But not so fast.

Now, word leaks that the Dodgers were indeed deep in the Prince Fielder sweepstakes. In fact, reports are the team offered Fielder $160 million over seven years, with an opt-out after four years.

Since his arrest on suspicion of DUI in November, Loney’s tweets have focused on his hard work at the batting cage, his MMA-style workouts, and motivational catch phrases. He’s appeared, at least publicly, to be the model of drive and desire to excel. He even basically guaranteed a World Series appearance on Twitter recently.

And why shouldn’t he be motivated? Even with the strong second half of 2011, Loney will be on a short leash as 2012 opens. If he gets off to another slow start, he’s bound to lose at-bats to guys such as Juan Rivera like he did last season, or possibly even Jerry Sands, whom the Dodgers would love to get regular time to judge his true potential against MLB pitching. Loney faces the possibility of becoming a platoon-type player — again.

He’s also playing for his free-agent life. Loney can thank the stars for MLB’s arbitration process, because there’s no way he could have commanded $6.5 million on the open market this offseason. He will be a free agent after 2012, and he needs to put up big numbers to show he merits a significant long-term contract offer.

Now, with confirmation of the offer to Fielder, Loney must feel as if the Dodgers considered him to be nothing better than a backup plan for Fielder — or since that fell through, a placeholder for Joey Votto. Their commitment level to Loney equals that of a fat guy to eating vegetables.

So Loney goes into today’s workout swinging a little harder, knowing that the rumors are true — the Dodgers really ARE looking elsewhere for a first baseman; and sprinting a little faster, feeling as if there’s little chance for a long-term future in Los Angeles.

And hopefully motivated to have a career year in 2012.