Sorry folks i promised the AL Central as my next breakdown but at the request of my "boss" i'm going to be changing it up and instead today's breakdown will be about the NL West. So let's get started...
National League West
2010 Final Standings: 1) San Francisco Giants: 92-70
2) San Diego Padres: 90-72
3) Colorado Rockies: 83-79
4) Los Angeles Dodgers: 80-82
5) Arizona Diamondbacks: 65-97
2011 Division Rundown:
> San Francisco Giants- the giants had a remarkable season last year, one they capped of by winning the world series over the texas rangers. this team is built on pitching and boy do they have some great arms. a lot of the attention this offseason has gone to the staff in philadelphia (which was expected after coming out of nowhere to sign cliff lee, but back to the giants). these young guns are out to prove that they are still the most formidable staff in the bigs. led by 2-time cy young winner tim lincecum, the rest of the staff of the rotation is comprised of fireballers matt cain, madison bumgarner, and jonathan sanchez. add veteran barry zito to the backend to provide some leadership and these guys look great, on paper. lets turn to offense for a second now, the team returns NL rookie of the year buster posey, and other catalysts aubrey huff, andres torres, and postseason hero cody ross. they also look for big years from pablo sandoval and miguel tejada. i've talked about the offense and the starting rotation but i cant my analysis without talking about the guys brings it all together, the closer brian wilson. this guy is a character, he has that closer's mentality and every night he pitches he channels his inner ricky "wild thing" vaughn (hard throwing rookie pitcher played by charlie sheen in the movie Major League) except with a whole lot better control. he has one of the the hardest fastballs out there and not to mention a devastating slider.
>>>Prediction: 91-71. 1st in the division. i see this pitching staff leading this team back to the playoffs and a possible 2nd consecutive world series. the offense isn't great but they should be well above average as long as the hitters do what they're expected to do. the only concern i have is the 4 young guys in the rotation threw a lot of innings last year and that includes the postseason, and it'll be interesting to see if it took a toll on their arms. as long as they can hold a lead into the late innings they should be fine, because the previously mentioned brian wilson WILL come in and lock it down.
>San Diego Padres- san diego surprised almost everyone last year by winning 90 games. the pitching staff is young but they proved last year that they can win at the big league level. they also return all they key contributors from that staff, mat latos, clayton richard, and heath bell. last year offensively they were so-so. at first glance you would say they would be terrible this year because they lost their punch in adrian gonzalez in a trade with the red sox. But if you take another look you'll see that they improved even with sending gonzalez away. they traded for shortstop jason bartlett and signed 2nd baseman orlando hudson (one of my personal favorites) to help sure up their defense up the middle and both guys are solid hitters. they also signed veterans brad hawpe and jorge cantu to add a little more offense.
>>>prediction: 83-79. 4th in division. i just don't see them repeating the sam success they had last year. i like the moves they made but it wont be enough to get a division crown this year. the pitching staff needs maybe one more piece, perhaps a starter, and the offense needs to add some more production in the outfield before they can win this division.
>Colorado Rockies- the rockies are a great team... offensively. they have a lineup thats boasts superstars carlos gonzalez and troy tulowitzki in the middle of it. not to mention todd helton playing first base and ian stewart over at third. like i said theres no questions with this team offensively. pitching wise its a whole different story. sure ubaldo jimenez is there and he had a insane first half last year plus he is a cy young candidate, but after that you're looking at guys like jhoulys chacin, jorge de la rosa, and jason hammel. i say there slightly below average but they do have potential to be solid starters. they're going to need them to be if they want any chance at the playoffs. another thing to be weary of is the rockies typical slow start, which seems to happen every year. even though they start slow the rockies are also known for their later surge the past few seasons. over the past few years they are among the best second half teams in the whole league.
>>>prediction: 90-72. 2nd in division. i knew i called the pitching suspect but that's only because they are unproven for the most part. and as long as they can overcome a slow start and finish the season on strong push then i have them fighting for both the division crown and the wild card spot. this team has all the makings of a dangerous ballclub and they are poised and ready to make run at the frontrunner giants.
>Los Angeles Dodgers- the dodgers enter this spring with a slightly new look, there's no manny (which means no more mannywood), former all-star catcher russell martin is gone, and joe torre retired and gave the managerial duties to his former bench coach don mattingly. with the talent on this team i feel as if last year was just an apparition. they are much too talented to go 80 and 82. clayton kershaw is a solid and legit number 1 starter. his best games last year were against top competition, he beat ubaldo jimenez twice including a 1-0 game in which he had the 1 RBI. chad billingsley is another sold arm in the rotation as is hiroki kuroda and the bullpen is deadly with some of the most live (meaning they throw really really hard) arms in the majors, guys like hung-chi kuo and big jonathan broxton. they also have guys that can swing the bat. andre ethier had a stellar year and james loney is very reliable. they added world champ juan uribe to play 2nd (and short and 3rd too) and brought in rod barajas and dioner navarro to do the catching. the one big question on everyone's mind though when they talk about the dodgers is whether or not matt kemp is finally going to reach his potential or have another dismal season like last year. the guy probably has the best tools on the team but after a great 2009 season, he gad a horrible year last year and looks to rebound. i see a big year from him, he's coming into camp more focused and understanding if the club wants to be successful then they need him to be successful as well.
>>>prediction: 85-77. 3rd in the division. they'll have a bounce back year but it still wont be enough to take the division, at least not yet that is. ethier is going to produce again and kemp will help stabilize this team and lead them to a few more wins. watch for kershaw to push for a cy young this year because he will great. they'll figure some things out this year with their new additions and i look for a possible return they playoffs... next year.
>Arizona Diamondbacks- last but not least i get to the one that i'm guessing you all were waiting for. out hometown d-backs. now don't get me wrong i'm a hometown guy and love our d-backs but it's just not going to happen this year. new GM kevin towers cam in and cleaned the organization up a little bit. he shipped fan favorite mark reynolds to baltimore for young bullpen help in david hernandez and kam mickolio. he also brought in a bunch of veterans, j.j putz to close, melvin mora and geoff blum to share time at 3rd base, juan miranda to battle for time at 1st base, xavier nady to come in and play left field, and KT signed catcher henry blanco and utility man willie bloomquist to also add some leadership to the clubhouse. oh he brought in a couple of starting pitchers, armando galarraga and zach duke to try and help sure up the rotation. there are some studs returning like: starting pitcher daniel hudson (great 2010 after he was acquired from the white sox), shortstop stephen drew (always solid both at the plate and in the field), 2nd baseman kelly johnson (looks to build on his 2010 success), center fielder chris young(all-star season last year, looking to continue that) and right fielder justin upton (after a bad year in 2010 he looks to regain his 2009 all-star form). oh and folks before we start to say we need to get rid of justin let me remind you he is only 23 and most guys aren't even in the bigs until they're 24-25 and most don't hit they're prime until they're 27-28 so give him some time because we're going to need him.
>>>prediction: 73-89. 5th in division. it pains me to admit it but lets be realistic. are the d-backs in a position to contend this year? sure but it's really unlikely. are they setting things up to contend in a a couple of years? absolutely. the reconstruction of the bullpen will pay off this which will lead to an increased win total, which is about all we have took forward to. well that and justing upton putting it together and having a good season. also look for mid to late season call-up for top prospect jarrod parker. this kid is a stud and his knocking on the door to the big leagues so he should be here sooner rather than later. in the midst of another down, but improving season, be sure to keep an eye on the draft in june. its a big one for the diamondbacks because this years draft is loaded with talent and potential superstars, and the d-backs will have the 3rd and 7th picks so they are going to have to make sure they take the best players to help the franchise out.
that's it today. hope you enjoyed it. look for next time where i'll go over the AL Central as i promised before. well unless my "editor" has another request :)
--Nick
you ever see when they have those fishing shows on t.v. and they catch the fish but then they throw it back. they don't want to eat the fish they just want to make really late for something..
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