2K8 MLB Preview: The NL West (Part 1 of 6)

We at SUS know that you, dear reader come to the site for two reasons: 1. good old fashioned Hillary Clinton bashing and 2. to find the you tubes that you were too lazy to find yourself. Well, indulge us as we preview the Major League baseball season which effectively begins next Monday. White Boy and myself are going to be moonwalking through the divisions, starting out West and ending in the East by week's end. Without further ado, here's White Boy's take on the NL West:
National League West Preview

Arizona Diamondbacks= 1^st place 92 wins

The D-backs had a very solid regular season last year and looked impressive in sweeping the Cubs out of the playoffs before getting unceremoniously dumped in 4 games by the Rockies in the NLCS. The D-backs are returning ace Brandon Webb and made a huge splash this off-season acquiring one of the biggest prizes of the off season, Dan Haren, even if they mortgaged a lot of their future to acquire him. Still, Haren gives the defending N.L West Champs formidable 1-2 starters in their rotation heading into the 2008 campaign. But don’t expect old man Randy to suddenly find the fountain of youth that has eluded him since the beginning of the 2005 season. They did get rid of overachieving closer Jose Valverde filling his spot with the talented but injury prone Brandon Lyon. The D-backs also will bring back a plethora of young talents like Stephen Drew, Justin Upton and Connor Jackson as well as veterans Eric Byrnes and Orlando “O-dog” Hudson. The D-backs should be the best team in this division and compile at least 90 wins en route to a 2^nd straight division title.

Colorado Rockies= 2^nd place 87 wins

The Rock Show was the best story in major league baseball last season. They went on to record one of the greatest runs in baseball history winning 22 straight games including the post-season. During this impressive stretch, they won all 7 games they played in the National league playoffs before being destroyed by the new evil empire in the fall classic. The Rockies lost 2B Kaz Matsui to free agency in the offseason which leaves them with a fairly big offensive hole to fill. (Though Mets fans will tell you it’s addition by subtraction.) They added former Yankee Louis Vizciano to bolster their pen. They boast a strong lineup as far as NL lineups go, with sluggers such as Todd Helton and Matt Holliday to go along with Derek Jeter wannabe and rising star SS Troy Tulowitzki. Throw in speedy CF and leadoff man/bunter extraordinaire Willy Taveras and you have a strong top of the lineup. Expect Jeff Francis to continue to grow as a starter and for Manny Corpas to do relatively well in the closer role. The problem is that the rest of their starting rotation and bullpen is very mediocre. With Coors Field already being a hitter’s friendly ball park, expect the Rockies to give up a ton of runs and for their offense to be inconsistent enough to cost them several games. Overall, expect a slightly above 500 season with no playoffs at its end for the defending NL champs.

Los Angeles Dodgers= 3^rd place 84 wins

This is going to be a 100 plus win team 6 years ago. With aged super stars like Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra and Andruw Jones, this team has some of the league’s best players of yesteryear. Too bad this is 2008. Seriously though, the Dodgers have two great young players in 1b James Loney and Catcher Russell Martin. They also have a stellar bullpen which features closer Takashi Saito, Jonathan Broxton and yes, Joe Torre gets to further destroy the once strong right arm of Scott Proctor. Proctor is really going to hate Torre by the end of this season. They have a solid ace in Brad Penny but again are trying to live in the past with former Sox closer and 2004 World Champion starter Derek Lowe. This team has enough veteran savvy and talent to win some games, but doesn’t have the dominant starting pitching or lineup to realistically make the post season.

San Diego Padres= 4^th place 78 wins

“Like a Rolling Thunder, Pouring rain, I’m coming on like a Hurricane” as AC/DC serenades the Padre’s faithful upon closer Trevor Hoffman’s ascension onto the mound, the crowd must be thinking, “good thing this is a game in April-august, he might not blow this one.” Okay, so maybe that’s overstating it a bit, but Hoffman choked as badly as a closer could choke at the close of the 2007 regular season. He blew saves in consecutive appearances in which closing out either game could have clinched the wildcard for his club. Instead, he coughs up the playoffs and let the Rockies continue their magic carpet ride. The good news for Pad’s fans is that his services might not be needed in most games that front-line starters Jake Peavy and Chris Young start; that is if San Diego’s paltry offense provides them enough support. With the likes of Tony Clark, Tadihito Iguchi and Khalil Greene leading the offense, this team promises to contend for the fewest run total in the league. The top of the rotation will help them win their share of games but they have little else that inspires this prognosticator.

San Francisco= 5^th place 71 wins

Yikes. That’s about all I can say about the 2008 Giants. They got rid of Barry Bonds and the giant headache and cloud over him that he brings wherever he goes. And quicker than you can say “perjury,” you have a gaping hole in the middle of a horrendous lineup. Barry Zito is the most overrated pitcher in baseball and his signing will go down as one of the biggest wastes of money this side of Carl Pavano’s signing with my beloved Yanks. They boast a strong future in the rotation with rising stars Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum by the bay for years to come, but these two are probably a year away from being ace quality. With lineup front liners such as Dave Roberts, Rich Aurilia and ahem... Randy Winn, this team is going nowhere fast. They will struggle to win 70 games.