The National League West has been the worst in baseball in two of the last four seasons, including 2008, based on the record of the division winner. Last year, the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres were the two lowest scoring teams in all of baseball. Perhaps it is that the division is full of pitcher’s ballparks, but more realistic is that the division lacks great baseball players.

At least it did. Then came Manny Ramirez and the division has a bona fide superstar. But outside of Manny, the NL West doesn’t have much for hitters. There are a few sluggers, like Adrian Gonzalez in San Diego, but the others are all gone. Matt Holliday is in Oakland, Adam Dunn is in Washington, and Barry Bonds has been out of the game for over a year now.

But the NL West has pitching. Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Jake Peavy, Tim Lincecum, Aaron Cook, Chad Billingsley, Ubaldo Jimenez and others, combined with the pitcher’s ballparks that make up the division, add up to another season of pitcher dominated baseball on the horizon out west. There is a good chance that this division once again produces the team that leads the league in least runs allowed, and the team that leads the league in least runs scored.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Manny Ramirez. Those are the only two words you need to know to make the Dodgers the favorites to repeat as NL West champs. In a league dry of hitters, Manny is an ocean. What he did in blue and white last year was nothing short of amazing. Give him a full season of playing ball in a carefree environment and marvel at his production this year. It’s not often that one man can change a baseball team, but Manny can. Like Barry Bonds before him, watch the NL West pitchers cower in fear, walking Manny at ridiculous clips in 2009.

And it’s not like he’s alone out west. The Dodgers lineup also includes Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Orlando Hudson and James Loney. There are very few, if any, weaknesses in the Dodger lineup.

Chad Billingsley is the ace of the staff that was second in all of baseball in runs allowed last year, while Hiroki Kuroda is no slouch himself and Clayton Kershaw showed great promise last year. They have to make up for the loss of Derek Lowe in the offseason, which is never easy.

The bullpen also took a hit, losing Takashi Saito to the Red Sox. Johnathon Broxton will get his shot as the full-time closer this year.

The Dodgers have the best lineup in the division, and while their pitching probably will not be as good as it was in 2008, they still have a solid team.

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Baby Backs are all grows up. It’s time to produce for this roster full of potential stars. Of course, they were all potential stars in 2006, so it is time to become stars.

The Diamondbacks have five players in their starting lineup that are 26-years old or younger, none of whom have played more than three full seasons in the big leagues. It’s time for Mark Reynolds, Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson, Justin Upton and Chris Young to step up to the next level if they want to be on a playoff team this year. Each of those players, along with the old man, 28-year old Chad Tracy, have shown the ability to be great, but they have all struggled at points to put it all together. Drew and Jackson are the closest to being elite players, but they now need to show they can do it consistently.

The strength of the D’Backs franchise over the years has been its starting pitching, and this year is no different. They won their first World Series title in 2001 on the backs of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, and now they have another duo at the top of the rotation hoping to achieve the same results. Brandon Webb has solidified himself as one of the truly elite pitchers in the sport, and Dan Haren is coming off of his fourth straight season with at least 14 wins. They are followed by some question marks in the rotation, but having two workhorses at the top of the staff can take you very far in the big leagues.

One question mark the Diamondbacks have (as they seem to every year) is their bullpen. Chad Qualls will try his hand as the closer this year. The D’Backs added Tom Gordon and Scott Schoeneweiss to the bullpen in the offseason in a pair of moves that can only help them.

Arizona is consistently in the hunt for the NL West title, and this year should be no different. The Dodgers are the team to beat, but in that matchup, Arizona has retaken the pitching edge in 2009, which could be the difference.

San Francisco Giants

The Giants have struggled with their identity since Barry Bonds departed following the 2007 season. They finally have another potential star in Tim Lincecum, it is now just a matter of whether or not he can carry a team like Bonds did.

Let’s face it — the Giants can’t hit. They scored a pathetic 640 runs last year, just three shy of worst in baseball to their division pals in San Diego. As a team, they hit just 94 home runs last year. To compare, that’s just 21 more than Bonds hit for them in 2001. They don’t have a single player in their lineup that hit more than 16 home runs last year. There’s no nice way to say it, so I’ll just say it: the Giants offense sucks.

Luckily for them, they have pitchers. Good ones. Lincecum is on the short list for best in baseball, but he is a prime candidate to fall victim to the Verducci Effect, a well known condition that strikes young pitchers down with injury in the year following a large rise in innings pitched. Considering everything else about the kid is freakish, we’ll just assume his ability to stay healthy is as well. Following Lincecum in the rotation are Matt Cain, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez. Johnson may not have 35 starts in him anymore, but in this division, he can be effective. Zito can’t really be as bad as he was last year and Cain and Sanchez have shown flashes of greatness. All-in-all, this is a solid rotation.

But a good rotation can’t make up for an anemic offense and below average bullpen. The Giants might improve on last years measly 72 wins, but they’re no threat for the playoffs.

Colorado Rockies

The Rockies are the definition of below average. In the past eight seasons, just once have they fallen outside of the 67-76 range of wins. They are a model of consistency. Other than that miracle run to make the playoffs in 2007, this team is pretty simple to handicap. They’ll play well at home, put up some gaudy offensive numbers, not pitch well, and be playing golf by October. This year shouldn’t be any different.

The Rockies lost Matt Holliday to Oakland, effectively ending any chances they had of sneaking back into the playoffs. They still have Todd Helton, but after having back surgery in September, who knows if he’ll be back to his old form. Without Helton circa 2004 production, this team is going nowhere fast. There are some solid guys on this team, like Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe, Ryan Spilborghs and possibly Clint Barmes, but offense is never the problem.

Pitching for the Rockies always seems to be the same. Aaron Cook and Ubaldo Jimenez are solid pitchers, but there is no depth whatsoever. Jorge De La Rosa and Jason Marquis are in the rotation, but both of them could only be described as average. The addition of Huston Street to the closer spot is a solid move.

Overall, this team reeks of averageness again. They should fall into the 67-76 range once again.

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres were the third worst team in baseball in 2008 record wise, and the worst in the game at scoring runs. So the question is, have they gotten better?

Well, it would be hard to get worse, but the short answer is, no, not really. The Padres still have one great hitter in Adrian Gonzalez and one great pitcher in Jake Peavy. Other than that, they have a bunch of guys that are just okay in the lineup, and a few solid, but not great pitchers.

Offensively, anything that could qualify as decent that doesn’t come from Gonzalez should be considered a win for this team. Only Cincinnati and Oakland hit for a lower team average than San Diego last year, and that doesn’t look to change a whole lot.

Pitching is the strong point of this team, without question. After Peavy, the Padres will put Chris Young and Cha Seung Baek on the hill. That’s not a bad top half of the rotation. Unfortunately for Padres fans, Trevor Hoffman is no longer the closer after the Padres retracted their last offer to him.

This is once again a bad team. They can throw the ball, but they just can’t score runs. It’s just too much pressure to put on your starting rotation and bullpen every night to have to try to win 1-0 and 2-1 games. In the end, the arms get worn out and the team struggles. It’ll happen again in 2009.

Predictions

With no offenses in the division outside of Los Angeles, it’s hard to not give them the edge. The D’Backs have the best starting rotation, but until they prove it on the field, you can’t have faith in their young players maturing overnight. The Giants might be better, but they still can’t compete with the top of the division, while Colorado and San Diego will struggle to just win 70-75 games. It’s close for a while, but the Dodgers repeat.

2009 NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers, 90-72
Arizona Diamondbacks, 88-74
San Francisco Giants, 77-85
Colorado Rockies, 74-88
San Diego Padres, 69-93

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