Season Preview: For What It's Worth: Part I

National League West Division

Best in the West: The Arizona Diamondbacks held off the surging Colorado Rockies to close out their western division pennant in 2007, finishing 90-72 on the season. This year, their staff ace, sinker-baller Brandon Webb, will be complemented by Danny Haren, who was acquired from the Oakland A's in the off-season. Webb and Haren give the D-Backs the best top-of-the-rotation combination in the division, and perhaps in the entire National League. Any team that faces the Diamondbacks in a three-game series and draws these two right-handers will have a difficult time winning two out of three. And just imagine if Randy Johnson is anywhere close to being the Big Unit he was prior to injury trouble. Combine the pitching staff with young offensive talent on this squad, including Mark Reynolds, Eric Byrnes, Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, and Eric Young, and this team looks tough to top in the West.

Cellar Dweller: Are you looking for a punch-less line-up? I can save you the time and tell you that the San Francisco Giants are about as weak offensively as any team in the league. Barry Bonds (bless his heart) is gone. Pedro Feliz left and signed with the Phillies. Although they acquired Aaron Rowand in the off-season, I don't buy the idea that he can carry a team offensively. His numbers last year (309 BA, .374 OBP, .515 SLG, 27 HR, 89 RBI) came on a team with Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard in the batting order. Opposing teams pitched around Bonds for years, and held the Giants at bay. If Rowand is their only offensive punch, look for him to rack up the walks this year, as the Giants fail to rise from the bottom of the National League West. Their lone bright spot, and perhaps saving grace, could be their young, talented rotation. Barry Zito simply wasn't Barry Zito last season, and the Giants paid a good sum of money for Barry Zito last year. I'm sure they have had a talk with whoever it was that was pitching all of those games for him in route to 11-13, with a 4.53 ERA, and demanded that he get out of Dodge, so to speak, and to tell Barry to come back and pitch. Noah Lowry, Matt Cain, and Tim Linecum are other young pitchers that could be the key to a better finish for the Giants than they had in 2007.

Story of 2008: Although I stick with my prediction that Arizona will claim the Division Pennant in the end, there looks to be three serious contenders, and the winning this division may prove to big a dog-fight (but not one where any animals are actually injured, and sports superstars end up in the slammer). The biggest story of 2008 for the National League West will be the fierce competition between the D-Backs, the Rockies, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies seem to have all of the key pieces from last season's amazing run back on the board, and the Dodgers made some interesting moves this off-season. Namely, the future hall of fame manager Joe Torre is now calling the shots in LA, and Andruw Jones will be patrolling center field at Dodger stadium. If these two in particular make the impact the Dodgers are hoping for, they might be able to pull of the upset and take the pennant.