The first five parts of my predictions series can be found in these posts:
AL East
AL Central
AL West
NL East
NL Central
NL West
Los Angeles — 90
San Diego — 86
Arizona — 82
San Francisco — 72
Colorado — 68
Many will credit Ned Colletti as turning around the Dodgers, but most of the key players this year should be credited to Paul DePodesta. Brad Penny, Dioner Navarro, JD Drew, and Jeff Kent all arrived in the past two years. Repko, Cruz, Mueller, Nomar, and Furcal are pieces that need to pull through for the Dodger offense to win this division. I’m a little worried. Fortunately, the pitching staff has fewer question marks. I see a huge breakout year for Brad Penny, and the 2-3 punch of Lowe/Perez love Dodger Stadium. Jae Seo should surprise a lot of people, and Brett Tomko as a fifth starter won’t hurt too much. Gagne.
San Diego has been hyped as the sleeper pick for about four years. This year they’re not getting any love, and that’s as good a reason as any to predict an almost-title for the Pads. Having two light-hitting CFs on the team in Cameron and Roberts is great for depth, but pushing Roberts over to left makes me cringe almost as much as Eric Young playing there until Cameron’s healthy. The youngsters on the right side of the infield could end up joining with Brian Giles to form the heart of the batting order. Mike Piazza returning to 25 HRs is a decent bet, but Kevin Towers really needs to find a replacement for Vinny Castilla at 3B. On the pitching side, Peavy and Chris Young are a great 1-2 punch, but as of the now the rest of the starting rotation is crappy filler.
The best hope for the Diamondbacks is to start the season slowly. Why? Because some of their better players are stuck in the minors behind overrated piles of whiffitude. If Eric Byrnes and Craig Counsell can play themselves out a job, then spots will open up for Chris Young and Stephen Drew. With Luis Gonzalez, Shawn Green, and youngsters Conor Jackson and Chad Tracy also in the lineup, the D-Backs will score some runs. Pitching will be more of a challenge. Webb and Batista can hold their own, but the walk-tastic trio of Russ Ortiz, El Duque, and Claudio Vargas put the fielders to sleep.
The Giants deserve to be a last place team. As much as I’m rooting for Bonds to play a full season, it aint’ gonna happen. And let me know when I hit another player in this lineup that’s better than league average: Winn, Alou, Feliz, Vizquel, Durham, Niekro, Matheny. I’m done. You didn’t object anywhere, did you? And don’t look to the farm system for help. I like the pitching better, but there’s a lot riding on two guys returning to past form (Schmidt and Morris) and two young guys fulfilling potential (Cain and Lowry). Jamey Wright? Are you kidding me?
Ahh, Rockies fans, can you remember back when Coors Field was an exciting new ballpark to go watch an exciting new team that scored lots of exciting runs? Yeah, it was a long time ago. Forget the crazy park effects of playing in thin air, this pitching staff is awful and these hitters are pretty bad, too. Sure, Helton’s a star, and Matt Holliday and Garrett Atkins would probably be better than average away from Coors. But there’s not a single other player on that roster desired by other teams. Hello, long year.
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.