NL West

NL West

This division is tough. The teams are all pretty similar, solid pitching and
good defense which will produce a heck of a lot of 2-1, 3-2 games.
1 through 4 is a basically a toss up, with the Giants holding up the rear.

1. Arizona Diamondbacks
You have to like Arizona with its starting pitching. If Randy Johnson can put together a half of solid pitching, they’re even scarier. Their rotation is right up there with Atlanta. The only major negative for the Diamondbacks is the fact not many people could name a single position player. Conor Jackson, Stephen Drew and Eric Byrnes is your cleanup hitter, it’s like the movie Major League when the grounds crew is looking at the lineup, “Who are these guys?”
Did you know Arizona was 18 games over .500 and were outscored by 20 runs?

2. Los Angeles Dodgers
I almost like them to win the division. Joe Torre will fit right in with a National League. I can’t wait to see him finally go small ball. You know, Juan Pierre gets on base and then bunt with Rafael Furcal.

Andruw Jones is a nice addition who brings the long ball with him. Russell Martin had a nice rookie season. Brad Penny is a solid number 1 starter and the Dodgers expect big things from Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda.

3. Colorado Rockies
I mean what, Colorado had to win like 20 some games to push the Padres to a one game playoff! Troy Tulowitzki, Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday are nice. Todd Helton is getting older. The Rockies probably have the best lineup in the division, but Jeff Francis is your number one and pretty much only starter. And you play your home games at Coors Field.

4. San Diego Padres
I really like the Padres’ starting rotation with Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Greg Maddux. OK, so we know it will be hard to score runs on the Padres, but how are the Padres going to score runs for themselves? They’re star player is Adrian Gonzalez or Khalil Greene. Their pitching will allow them to compete.

5. San Francisco Giants
The Giants are rebuilding and don’t look to compete for a couple years. Barry Bonds and his leather chair are gone and the clubhouse will finally seem like a baseball clubhouse. The team should be loose, have no pressure and will have a lot more fun…Until the middle of Summer. Barry Zito is looking like an overpriced bust. But I like the addition of Aaron Rowand.