No discussion of this division can only begin with two points. One, this is the worst division in all of baseball and it is possible that the division winner could be at or under .500 for the season. Two, is Baroid Bonds and the decisions of the managers to pitch to him, pitch around him, or throw everything including the kitchen sink at his steroid infested battered and broken down body, with the hope that this forces him to retire before he can hit 715 or 756.
Los Angeles Dodgers – The Dodgers had the strongest off-season and should be rewarded with 82 wins and a divisional championship. Grady Little is back managing after being exiled from Boston in 2003, and should be an excellent fit for this club. He is sound manager, with good instincts, who has been betrayed and trashed in northern New England for years and now has the chance to redeem himself. With Rafael Furcal, Kenny Lofton, Nomar Garciaparra, and Bill Mueller joining the team this year, along with returning Jeff Kent, a healthy (for the moment) JD Drew, and Jose Cruz Jr, this should be a well balanced offense. The catching will be split between former Yankee prospect Dionar Navarro and up and coming Russell Martin, someone projected to be the NL All-star catcher through 2015.
The pitching staff is led by Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Odalis Perez and Brett Tomko. Closing out the rotation, is a pitcher who might possibly lead the team in wins, and innings pitched, former Met Jae Seo. Eric Gagne is back in the closers role, and the off-season acquisition of Lance Carter and Danys Baez from Tampa Bay should help solidify both the setup role, and either can step in if Gagne elbow needs a day off here or there. The rest of the pen is solid, and Yancy Brazobahn can continue to develop into the closer of the future, with support of the veterans around him.
San Diego Padres – The Padres continue to have strong pitching with Jake Peavy blossoming into the ace of the staff. Following him in the rotation will be Chris Young, Shawn Estes, the overrated Chan Ho Park, and the veteran Woody Williams. The bullpen will be anchored again, as it has been since 1933, by Trevor Hoffman. The Padres have always been able to find very effective middle relief and this year should be no exception with Scott Linebrink, Alan Embree, Doug Brocail and Dewon Brazelton. This pitching staff will keep the club in many games, which is good, because the offense is going to be sporadic at best.
The offense is anchored with Ryan Klesko and Vinny Castilla at the corners, both players are far past their prime. Adrian Gonzalez is a big time player, but does not play the field which is a huge problem in the NL, which begs the question of why SD traded for him, Mike Piazza will be playing 100 or more games behind the dish, which has to be the biggest mistake defensively, since I foresee a lot of stolen bases against Piazza, which begs the question of why they signed him. Khalil Greene has the makings of an excellent short stop, but he has a tendency to break his fingers, and needs to stay off the DL. Josh Barfield, son of Jesse, is the starting second bagger, and the reason they felt justified getting ripped off by the Red Sox when they traded Mark Loretta for Doug Mirabelli, who might still be traded back to the Red Sox to catch Tim Wakefield. Barfield will be good, but he will also look like a rookie many times over the course of the season. The outfield is probably their biggest asset with an aging, but still agile Dave Roberts, Mike Cameron, and Brian Giles. This will be a growing year for the pitching staff, but going no where for the rest of the team.
San Francisco Giants – Lets face it, they will go as far as Barry Bonds goes. This team was built for one reason, and around one player. If Barry is healthy, then they will win some games. If Barry goes in the crapper (my hope) and finds the press, his knees, his elbow, his head, his mistress, his website, whatever too painful to play, then the Giants will stumble, bumble and tumble through the season, and start playing for 2007.
Arizona Diamondbacks – I still cannot believe this team won a World Series just five years ago. They have many up and coming players Chad Tracy, Conor Jackson, Johnny Estrada, and Orlando Hudson. They have solidified their defense up the middle, which should make ace Brandon Webb happy since he is a ground ball pitcher, and solid defense means more outs. They have brought in the ageless El Duque from the world champion White Sox, to bring some maturity and guile to the staff. The rest of the rotation is average to below average. The closer is Jose Valverde, but they are going to have trouble getting to him with a bunch of journeyman and no names in the pen.
Colorado Rockies – I think it was “The Onion” that had a headline that said, the Rockies have left the National League and no one even noticed. That pretty much sums it up
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