2009 NL West dvision preview

by Steve

LA Dodgers

Manram is back which means this team will be play postseason baseball. Dude is a flat out rake. He is arguebly the greatest postseason baseball player of all time. There is no denying he is the best righty of the last twenty five years at least.

This team is basically a perfect combination of youth and veteran leadership all they need is for Torre to put it all together. Kemp and Either round out a sick outfield with Pierre riding the pine. Kemp is only twenty four and will only get better while the same thing can be said for Ethier. Scary to think Man-ram could make these two potential studs better hitters too.

Adding Hudson at second may stunt the growth of a player like Blake Dewitt but he is a better player and makes their lineup that much scarier. 1b James Loney is the third stoog to Kemp and Ethier and will be entering his third full season at first and he is yet to turn 25. The left side might be the only weakness because Blake isn't up to the high standard much of the rest of the team has and Furcal may be in decline but a healthy '09 could change that perception.

Russell Martin is another young stud behind the dish and again maybe still be getting better. The staff is also a mixer of youth, Kershaw and Billingsley (both strike out machines) and older players in Kuroda and Wolf. None of the four are a true ace but three #2's is better than an ace and three 4's. The wild card is new kid on the block James McDonald. He has yet to start a game in the bigs but appears to have the tools to have a long career.


Arizona Diamondbacks

Again another ridiculously young team bursting with potential. Felipe Lopez is potential garbage at 2b and Chad Tracy hasn't shown a lot in 3+ seasons. The rest of the infield includes pure bred SS Stephen Drew who had a solid '08 but is staring at a prove it year, Mark Reynolds at third who has some major power but his average sunk last season and a middle of the road catcher in Chris Snyder.

Jackson Young and Upton formulate a potent young outfield with the potential to have the word stud in front of any one of the three. Chris Young is the farthest from superstardom but has the tools. Lil brother and former #1 overall Justin Upton is only 21 and entering his second full season, the sky is the limit.

Webb is the uncontested ace of the staff and will give up 18+ wins every season. Dan Haren didn't disappoint in his first season with a new club and is starting to churn out 200+ innings 15+ wins and sub 3.50 ERAs like its nothing. Jon Garland may be the quietest free agent signing with the most impact this year he signed a one year deal on the cheap. Doug Davis kinda sucks and the fifth start for now is Max Scherzer. He is young (24) but can deal and is a strike out pitcher. He'll start the season on the DL so look for him on the waiver wire in May.


SF Giants

Thank god for Lincecum pitching every fifth day or Giant fan but me jumping into the bay. The Big Unit was for some reason resurrected from the dead to play another season and will have limited impact at best. I'm real high on Matt Cain, but he can't have another season where he has double the losses as he has wins (last two seasons with a sub 4 ERA) Barry Zito will never ever live up to that ridiculous contract but he has to at least try. If he is in the 'pen again this year I might cry. Jonathan Sanchez is a nobody.

And thats pretty much the team There is a Molina thrown in there, you probably know Edgar Renteria and Rowland maybe Winn and thats about it. I'm serious, they have players named Pablo, Travis, Emmanuel and Fred on the starting roster. Only Fred Lewis has played a full season in the bigs but at least they're all young so the word potential can be used. Possible next decade (which actually isn't that far off)


San Diego Padres

Its a shame the owner got divorced it appeared this team was starting to build towards something possibly. Chase Headley could be a balla in left, Kouzmanoff can stroke the ball and Adrian Gonzalez is mostly lost in the shuffle on a bad team. Eckstein Giles and Gerut have all come hear to be dead buried. Hundley and L-rod are lucky they're in fuckin baseball to quote the great Earl Weaver.

Jake Peavy is a legit ace who has been the talk of trade rumors for the entire offseason. That chatter will continue right up until July 31 when he will be packing his bags. The other Chris Young thrives in a pitchers ball park which skews his stats but he still has good stats. I can't find much on Walter Silva who has never pitched in the bigs but he must have had a good spring training cause he is late to the party and he isn't even a cuban import. Correia and Hill also might be complete garbage as well.


Colorado Rockies

This team is only two years removed from the World Series? Talk about lightning in a bottle. The weird thing is nearly the entire team is the same. They're gonna have to win 75% of their home games to have any chance. Tulowitzki took a step back last year although much of it had to do with injury, so he should bounce back. Atkins and Helton can still rake in the thin air and Torrealba will platoon with Iannetta behind the plate.

Seth Smith is new to the outfield and hasn't been overly impressive. Brad Hawpe can also rake and has deceptive stats. Ryan Spilborghs appears to be the starting Centerfielder and if he continues at his '08 pace could be a solid contributer every day.

The pitching staff is mostly question marks. Is Aaron Cooke gonna be able to go up against players like Webb, Juroda, Lincecum and Peavy 15+ times this year and win any of those games? Yikes. Ubaldo H could have a break out year (t wreck is high on him). Marquis and De La Rosa are nothing special and young Franklin Morales is going to have to prove he belongs in a big league rotation.

Dodgers 96-66
D-backs 88-74
Rockies 77-85
Giants 73-89
Padres 66-96