I have previewed the Rockies and different aspects of their decisions to be made for the 2009 season and this past week I touched on the Padres, Giants, Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
The Padres are going to be bad, really bad.
The Giants are some unforeseen good hitting away from being a contender.
The Dodgers are one Manny Ramirez away from being a threat in the NL West.
The Diamondbacks are probably the front runner to win the division.
The Rockies are a team that I really think can contend, much different than what a lot of people in Colorado think.
Here is what I expect the division to look like when the 2009 season ends:
Colorado Rockies – 84 – 78
Arizona Diamondbacks – 82 – 80 – 2.0 games back
Los Angeles Dodgers – 81 – 81 – 3.0
San Francisco Giants – 77 – 85 – 7.0
San Diego Padres – 61 – 101 – 23.0
The first four teams should all finish near .500 and the NL West will probably be the most consistent division in the NL. There are going to be some really bad teams in the Central (Pittsburgh and Houston) and the East will have two bad teams too (Washington and Atlanta). Other than the Padres the NL West has four teams that have a chance to play around .500 or a few games better on the season.
The Rockies will get good bounce back years from Tulowitzki and Atkins while the youngsters vying for playing time at second base and in the outfield will bring a lot of energy to the clubhouse and onto the field.
The Diamondbacks are very close to winning a lot more than 82 games. They could win close to 90 if guys like Chris Young, Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton stop striking out at horrid rates and if Chad Tracy and Conor Jackson give them consistent hitting the entire season.
The Dodgers will struggle unless they get Manny. I am going to assume that they do get Manny and even with him, they do not have the pitching to play much better than .500 ball. Manny will not hit for six months at the same out of this world level he sustained at the end of 2008.
The Giants are a few good bats away from being really good. That pitching staff that is coming together in AT&T Park is something special. Unfortunately the Padres had similar lineups and pitching staffs the past few years and it didn’t get them very far. The Giants might have similar pitching, but their lineup is even weaker than the Padres lineup of recent seasons.
Lastly we have the Padres who will fight to be the worst team in baseball. Who will be worse? Washington? Baltimore? Seattle? I will take the Padres to be the worst in baseball in 2009.
How far off am I? Let me know.
Comments
Good stuff Travis, although the Padres won't be as bad as you and the rest of the world expects. My one question is about the Braves being a "bad team." I see then as easily having the best pitching in the NL and perhaps the best team overall.
My quick thoughts on the Braves.
Pitching - Behind Lowe and Vazquez they have no one. Jurrjens looked good sporadically last year, but nothing special and we all know what happens to Vazquez when pitches in a big game.
Batting - McCann, Chipper (assuming Chipper plays close to a full season) and a young Escobar. That's it.
The worst part of the team is the bullpen which was awful last year and they didnt do anything to improve it. I am guessing they top the 90 losses they had last year.
This is the best part about this part of the season, everyones different views on how good, or bad, teams will be in the coming season.
I sure hope you're kidding. You're picking CO to win the West? I didn't seem to notice where you discussed the Rockies' rotation. It is horrendous! And you expect Helton to be productive for the entire season in the 2 slot? You're aware that he didn't play in half of the games last season, hasn't hit 20 HRs in 3 seasons (when he went off the juice...wake up folks, your God Todd was juicing...look at his stats, it's clear as day) and he's 36 years old, right? The Rockies finish 3rd, maybe 4th in the NL West.
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