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NL West baseball was spectacular in '09. Joe Torre's LA Dodgers managed to hang on and win the division in the final week. Colorado pulled off another fantastic finish by getting hot at just the right time. San Francisco's younth movement surprisingly kept pressure on all foes thanks to Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. Arizona was busy shoring up their roster. San Diego has seen better days.
Here's my final brief installment of 2010 previews... NL West.
Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67):
Key additions: 22 players signed to minor league contracts including Eric Gagne & Brian Giles trying to rejuvenate careers.
Key losses: John Garland, Orlando Hudson, Guillermo Mota, Juan Pierre, Jim Thome, Randy Wolf.
Dodger baseball is alive and well with Joe Torre at the helm. Back to back NL West titles for the first time since the days of Tommy Lasorda (1994-95). Great nucleus of young pitching & hitting assures this team will remain in West race for years to come.
Projected rotation: Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, Vincente Padilla, ???
Bullpen: Fireballer Jonathan Broxton returns. Eric Gagne making another comeback attempt. Very deep, talented bullpen. Perhaps they have too many arms? Ideal for end of spring trading bait.
Forecast: Starting pitching might not go deep enough into games. Torre will have his hands full trying to keep relievers arms sound when the clock turns to September. Lineup comes through with clutch hit after clutch hit... until NLCS rolls around. Torre will try getting his team past recent playoff failures... assuming they can hold off rising Rockies.
Colorado Rockies (92-70):
Key additions: Melvin Mora, Miguel Olivo
Key losses: Garrett Atkins, Jose Contreras, Josh Fogg, Matt Herges, Jason Marquis, Yorvit Torrealba.
Once again, Colorado put together a strong late season push to make the playoffs. Strong performances by young rotation surprised everyone outside of Denver. All starters had winning records. Cutting down on strikeouts will go a long way towards winning the West. Rocks hope young talent matures enough to win it all. Dangerous club when all cylinder's are firing.
Projected rotation: Ubaldo Jiminez, Aaron Cook, Jorge De La Rosa, Jeff Francis, Jason Hamel, Franklin Morales.
Bullpen: Hudson Street is loving life away from Oakland. Plenty of arms competing for roles on the big league club. Minors will be filled with pitching talent when camp breaks.
Forecast: Is this the year Colorado goes wire to wire? There's plenty of talent here to make a legit World Series run if starting pitchers continue improving.
San Francisco Giants (88-74):
Key additions: Mark DeRosa, Aubrey Huff, Guillermo Mota.
Key losses: Ryan Garko, Bob Howry, Randy Johnson, Brad Penny, Randy Winn.
Heading into '09 everyone knew SF wasn't going to win. In fact, most thought this club might not advance from the cellar. By the end of August, the Giants grabbed hold of 2nd place. Offense was their weak point most of the year outside of Sandoval (only regular to hit over .270). Giants front office has brought in DeRosa and Huff to add offensive potency in 2010. SF is a team on the rise but might still be a year or two away from passing LA/Colorado. But, don't be surprised if they're sitting alone in 1st when this season ends.
Projected rotation: Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez, ???
Bullpen: Brian Wilson returns to close. I'm not sold on his ability to shut down opponents in big games. Bullpen choirs will be spring time decisions.
Forecast: SF is putting together a fine club. I don't see them winning the West (yet). They'll be very competitive behind solid 1-2 punch of Lincecum & Cain.
San Diego Padres (75-87):
Key additions: John Garland, Jerry Hairston Jr., Yorvit Torrealba, Matt Stairs.
Key losses: Jake Peavy, Brian Giles, Josh Banks, Henry Blanco, Cliff Floyd, Kevin Kouzmanoff.
Padres have yet to recover since blowing their wild card lead to Colorado back in '07. As a matter of fact, they've gone backwards. 2010 will be a very long season and remaining talent could be jettisoned by MLB trading deadline. There isn't anything positive to say about the Padres. Lack of attention towards attempting to build a winning ballclub should have all San Diego fans miffed.
Projected rotation: John Garland, Chris Young, Kevin Correia, ???
Bullpen: Heath Bell returns as closer. Bullpen has talent. Unfortunately, they could easily be burnt out by the All Star break.
Forecast: Doom and gloom with no help on the horizon. Reproducing 75 wins seems like a longshot in tough NL West.
Arizona Diamondbacks (70-92):
Key additions: Edwin Jackson, Adam LaRoche, Aaron Heilman, Ian Kennedy, Bob Howry, Kelly Johnson.
Key losses: Eric Byrnes, Doug Davis, Yusmeiro Petit, Max Scherzer, Chad Tracy, Daniel Schlereth.
Arizona deserves credit for attempting to quickly return to winning ways. Injuries hurt them in recent years. They're now ready to compete. Only question is if new players can produce and if younger home grown talent matures.
Projected rotation: Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Edwin Jackson, ???
Bullpen: Chad Quails appears to be the closer. Deep bullpen, assignments to be won or lost this spring.
Forecast: Arizona is dangerous for one reason... everyone's eyes are on LA, Colorado & SF. Many pieces need to fall into place beginning with keeping players healthy. Don't be surprised if D-Backs challenge for division honors.
Showing posts with label Arizona Diamondbacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arizona Diamondbacks. Show all posts
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday, March 14, 2009
2009 National League West Forecast
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-Digger's Daily-
Los Angeles trailed Arizona for most of ’08. In late August, LA had lost 10 of 11 games falling below .500 (68-70). Then came the much publicized trade for Boston star Manny Ramirez. When all was said and done, Joe Torre’s Dodgers were NL West Champs and swept the heavily favored Cubs in the NLDS. 2009 figures to be another dogfight between the division’s top two teams.
Los Angeles Dodgers (Mgr. Joe Torre)
Torre had sweet revenge in 2009. One of the greatest Yankees managers ever was shown disrespect and ultimately dismissed from NY after managing them to 12 consecutive Playoff appearances including 4 World Series Championships. Guess what happened next? Yankees floundered and failed to make the post season. Dodgers won NL West. Sweet revenge! Yes, baseball is a funny game.
Rotation: Billingsley, Kershaw, Kuroda, Wolf, ?? Setup: Kuo. Closer: Broxton. LA lost a couple of starters from last year and seem set to go with younger guns. Jason Schmidt has spent most of his short Dodger career injured after signing a $47M contract. He should finally be ready to join LA’s rotation. Bullpen strength is a must in ’09 to bail out starters. So far so good as this crew has live arms. Catcher Russell Martin has a keen understanding of pitch selection in addition to his timely hitting.
Around the Horn: Looney, Hudson, Furcal, Blake. Solid infield combination of speed, defense and clutch hitting. Ramirez superb LA stats over-shadowed one of LA’s unsung heroes…. 3B Casey Blake. Blake was another vital late season acquisition who helped LA win NL West. Furcal needs to remain healthy in ’09. New 2B Hudson is a gamer. Torre hopes experience takes 1B Looney to the next level.
Outfielders: Ethier, Kemp, Ramirez. Ethier & Kemp continue progressing quickly. Both are very good hitters. Manny was re-signed last week after months of on again off again negotiations. He’s a vital ingredient to this squad’s success. I’m expecting another mind boggling stat year from one of baseball’s top sluggers. Juan Pierre is the odd man out but Torre will find a way to get him into games.
Forecast: Starting pitching is LA’s only potential weakness. Solid defensive group. Steady and improving young hitters coupled with Manny’s power stroke will help Dodgers pass 90 wins. LA has been one of the games best organizations for finding and developing talent. Now it’s time for them to shine.
Arizona Diamondbacks (Mgr. Bob Melvin)
Melvin’s team has the potential to become a force in NL baseball. Maturity must take hold this year or another late season collapse may break up the D-Backs. This is a group without discipline on and off the field. A quick study of the following stats is self explanatory as to why Arizona failed down the stretch in ’08. Rally killing hitters...batter wiff totals: 204 – Reynolds, 165- Young, 121 – Upton (356 AB’s), 101 – Snyder (334 AB’s). Shockingly terrible. Time for another batting instructor! Until this team learns the strike zone… they’ll have a hard time winning games when it counts.
Rotation: Webb, Haren, Garland, Davis, ?? Setup: undecided. Closer: Quails. A bit shaky right now with injuries to #4 starter Davis and #5 unproven Scherzer. These guys might get hit hard. Bullpen is extremely thin. Quails will have problems as a first year closer. Inconsistent catcher Snyder needs to play better heads up baseball.
Around the Horn: Tracy, Lopez, Drew, Reynolds. Not great. Tracy has not turned into the player Arizona hoped he’d become. Lopez is the newcomer at 2B. Drew, another one time highly rated player, has terrible range at SS but can swing the bat (.295, 21 HR). Highly publicized 3B Reynolds was abysmal in the 2nd half. He finished with 204 strikeouts and 34 errors. This crew had better improve quickly if they want to win games.
Outfield: Upton, Young, Byrnes. A bunch of free swinging OF’s will make their share of errors too. Upton had 11 errors and 121 strikeouts in 108 games… absolutely pathetic. CF Young was swinging for the fences all season long after 32 dingers in ’08. He fouled up his swing to the tune of 165 strikeouts. Byrnes tries to return from leg injuries which derailed any chance of an effective ’08. These guys need to focus. A repeat of rally killing strikeouts will be duplicated again this season.
Forecast: I find it amazing Arizona was even in the hunt last year. This happens to be an extremely talented group which needs to learn how to play a “team” game. Until then, selfishness will kill their chances.
Colorado Rockies (Mgr. Clint Hurdle)
Hurdle’s team is two season’s removed from their spectacular ’07 which landed them in the World Series after an incredible victory streak in late September. They took their lumps last year and will be without one of baseball’s best pure hitter in ’09, Matt Holliday.
Rotation: Cook, Jiminez, Marquis, De La Rosa, ?? Setup: undecided. Closer: Street. Rockies starters always face potential trouble when pitching at home. Jiminez has the stuff to be a great pitcher for years to come. The others will probably get hit hard in ’09. Bullpen is pretty solid. Hudson Street will close games out if he can stay healthy. Chris Iannetta is on the path to becoming one of NL’s best catchers of this generation.
Around the Horn: Helton, Barmes, Tulowitzki, Atkins. A pretty solid infield if Barmes plays as expected. Helton’s stats have been deteriorating the past few years. Colorado needs him to bounce back in a big way. Tulowitzki had a tremendous rookie year in ’07 but the wheels fell off in ’08. Atkins is another one of baseball’s rising stars. These guys need to be on everyday if the Rockies want to contend.
Outfield: Hawpe, Spillborghs, Carlos Gonzalez. Hawpe is this groups natural hitter. Spillborghs & Gonzo get their first career cracks as starters. Their defense in spacious Coors Field must be near perfect or the starting staff is in deep trouble.
Forecast: Declining power totals + questionable fielding + not so hot starting pitching = trouble. Rockies know what it takes to reach the promised land. The foundation is set for future success.
San Francisco Giants (Mgr. Bruce Bochy)
Bochy has led SF to back to back 90+ losses after a great tenure with division rival Padres. Giants have a couple of great young arms. Biggest concern, can anyone hit a baseball out of the park? This team will be at the bottom of team homeruns.
Rotation: Lincecum, Cain, Johnson, Zito, Sanchez. Setup: Howry. Closer: Wilson. Lincecum (18-5, 2.62) was outstanding in only his 2nd MLB season. Cain could easily have won 14 instead of losing 14 but fell victim to shoddy defense and no run support. Randy Johnson was signed as a tutor to these young pitchers… and to show what’s left in his tank. Zito has been one of baseball’s biggest free agent busts after signing with SF in ’07. It might not matter how well these guys pitch if teammates can’t score runs.
Around the Horn: Ishikawa, Frandsen, Renteria, Sandoval. Opening day lineup could be quite different as position battles are still in progress everywhere except SS. Minimal big league experience and not much production from the other three pose big problems. Vets Uribe and Aurilia are fighting for starting infield jobs too.
Outfield: Winn, Rowand, Lewis. OF trio covers plenty of ground and will hit for respectable batting average. No hope in the power department. Not much to speak of as of now for backups unless a rookie or walk on player survives camp.
Forecast: Dire. SF is one of the games weakest hitting bunch with no true power hitter. Starting pitchers have great upside potential. Giants will need to win a bunch of 3-2 games…. Don’t bet on it! SF on pace to lose 90+ for years to come until they can rebuilt an offense.
San Diego Padres (Mgr. Bud Black)
Padres never fully recovered from 2007’s late September debacle. Last year was ugly. 2009 might be worse. SD tried unsuccessfully to trade star pitcher Jake Peavy during the winter. He’ll be gone by the trading deadline. SD has shed payroll at every opportunity. This club is spiraling downwards.
Rotation: Peavy, Young, Baek, Correia, Prior. Setup: Meredith. Closer: Bell. Peavy will be gone well before MLB’s July trading deadline. Prior is always one pitch away from injury. He’s still rehabbing and hasn’t pitched in one spring game yet. 2007’s strong first half bullpen threw away playoff hopes. In ’08, they just threw junk. It’ll be a mixed bag of platoon’s behind home plate this season which can’t be promising for the pitching staff.
Around the Horn: Gonzalez, Eckstein, Rodriguez, Kouzmanoff. Solid on the corners with slugging Gonzalez and slugger to be Kouz. Very weak up the middle with Eckstein moving to 2B and Luis Rodriguez manning SS. Don’t be surprised to see Eck return to SS with Edgar Gonzalez taking over at 2B. Middle infield needs help. They won’t get it.
Outfield: Giles, Gerut, Headley/Hairston. Giles is on the downturn of his career but still maintains a terrific batting eye. Gerut & Headley showed brief flashes of promise last year. Hairston will get plenty of AB’s as a reserve unless he wins the starting job this spring.
Forecast: Frigid. SD is facing an identity crisis. Clearly looking to slash payroll but with very few suitors to take on what’s left of high priced players. Padres haven’t won more than 90 games in ten years. At this rate, they’ll be losing 90 for the next ten.
Stay tuned for Awards predictions…..
(www.allworldallsports.com)
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Los Angeles trailed Arizona for most of ’08. In late August, LA had lost 10 of 11 games falling below .500 (68-70). Then came the much publicized trade for Boston star Manny Ramirez. When all was said and done, Joe Torre’s Dodgers were NL West Champs and swept the heavily favored Cubs in the NLDS. 2009 figures to be another dogfight between the division’s top two teams.
Los Angeles Dodgers (Mgr. Joe Torre)
Torre had sweet revenge in 2009. One of the greatest Yankees managers ever was shown disrespect and ultimately dismissed from NY after managing them to 12 consecutive Playoff appearances including 4 World Series Championships. Guess what happened next? Yankees floundered and failed to make the post season. Dodgers won NL West. Sweet revenge! Yes, baseball is a funny game.
Rotation: Billingsley, Kershaw, Kuroda, Wolf, ?? Setup: Kuo. Closer: Broxton. LA lost a couple of starters from last year and seem set to go with younger guns. Jason Schmidt has spent most of his short Dodger career injured after signing a $47M contract. He should finally be ready to join LA’s rotation. Bullpen strength is a must in ’09 to bail out starters. So far so good as this crew has live arms. Catcher Russell Martin has a keen understanding of pitch selection in addition to his timely hitting.
Around the Horn: Looney, Hudson, Furcal, Blake. Solid infield combination of speed, defense and clutch hitting. Ramirez superb LA stats over-shadowed one of LA’s unsung heroes…. 3B Casey Blake. Blake was another vital late season acquisition who helped LA win NL West. Furcal needs to remain healthy in ’09. New 2B Hudson is a gamer. Torre hopes experience takes 1B Looney to the next level.
Outfielders: Ethier, Kemp, Ramirez. Ethier & Kemp continue progressing quickly. Both are very good hitters. Manny was re-signed last week after months of on again off again negotiations. He’s a vital ingredient to this squad’s success. I’m expecting another mind boggling stat year from one of baseball’s top sluggers. Juan Pierre is the odd man out but Torre will find a way to get him into games.
Forecast: Starting pitching is LA’s only potential weakness. Solid defensive group. Steady and improving young hitters coupled with Manny’s power stroke will help Dodgers pass 90 wins. LA has been one of the games best organizations for finding and developing talent. Now it’s time for them to shine.
Arizona Diamondbacks (Mgr. Bob Melvin)
Melvin’s team has the potential to become a force in NL baseball. Maturity must take hold this year or another late season collapse may break up the D-Backs. This is a group without discipline on and off the field. A quick study of the following stats is self explanatory as to why Arizona failed down the stretch in ’08. Rally killing hitters...batter wiff totals: 204 – Reynolds, 165- Young, 121 – Upton (356 AB’s), 101 – Snyder (334 AB’s). Shockingly terrible. Time for another batting instructor! Until this team learns the strike zone… they’ll have a hard time winning games when it counts.
Rotation: Webb, Haren, Garland, Davis, ?? Setup: undecided. Closer: Quails. A bit shaky right now with injuries to #4 starter Davis and #5 unproven Scherzer. These guys might get hit hard. Bullpen is extremely thin. Quails will have problems as a first year closer. Inconsistent catcher Snyder needs to play better heads up baseball.
Around the Horn: Tracy, Lopez, Drew, Reynolds. Not great. Tracy has not turned into the player Arizona hoped he’d become. Lopez is the newcomer at 2B. Drew, another one time highly rated player, has terrible range at SS but can swing the bat (.295, 21 HR). Highly publicized 3B Reynolds was abysmal in the 2nd half. He finished with 204 strikeouts and 34 errors. This crew had better improve quickly if they want to win games.
Outfield: Upton, Young, Byrnes. A bunch of free swinging OF’s will make their share of errors too. Upton had 11 errors and 121 strikeouts in 108 games… absolutely pathetic. CF Young was swinging for the fences all season long after 32 dingers in ’08. He fouled up his swing to the tune of 165 strikeouts. Byrnes tries to return from leg injuries which derailed any chance of an effective ’08. These guys need to focus. A repeat of rally killing strikeouts will be duplicated again this season.
Forecast: I find it amazing Arizona was even in the hunt last year. This happens to be an extremely talented group which needs to learn how to play a “team” game. Until then, selfishness will kill their chances.
Colorado Rockies (Mgr. Clint Hurdle)
Hurdle’s team is two season’s removed from their spectacular ’07 which landed them in the World Series after an incredible victory streak in late September. They took their lumps last year and will be without one of baseball’s best pure hitter in ’09, Matt Holliday.
Rotation: Cook, Jiminez, Marquis, De La Rosa, ?? Setup: undecided. Closer: Street. Rockies starters always face potential trouble when pitching at home. Jiminez has the stuff to be a great pitcher for years to come. The others will probably get hit hard in ’09. Bullpen is pretty solid. Hudson Street will close games out if he can stay healthy. Chris Iannetta is on the path to becoming one of NL’s best catchers of this generation.
Around the Horn: Helton, Barmes, Tulowitzki, Atkins. A pretty solid infield if Barmes plays as expected. Helton’s stats have been deteriorating the past few years. Colorado needs him to bounce back in a big way. Tulowitzki had a tremendous rookie year in ’07 but the wheels fell off in ’08. Atkins is another one of baseball’s rising stars. These guys need to be on everyday if the Rockies want to contend.
Outfield: Hawpe, Spillborghs, Carlos Gonzalez. Hawpe is this groups natural hitter. Spillborghs & Gonzo get their first career cracks as starters. Their defense in spacious Coors Field must be near perfect or the starting staff is in deep trouble.
Forecast: Declining power totals + questionable fielding + not so hot starting pitching = trouble. Rockies know what it takes to reach the promised land. The foundation is set for future success.
San Francisco Giants (Mgr. Bruce Bochy)
Bochy has led SF to back to back 90+ losses after a great tenure with division rival Padres. Giants have a couple of great young arms. Biggest concern, can anyone hit a baseball out of the park? This team will be at the bottom of team homeruns.
Rotation: Lincecum, Cain, Johnson, Zito, Sanchez. Setup: Howry. Closer: Wilson. Lincecum (18-5, 2.62) was outstanding in only his 2nd MLB season. Cain could easily have won 14 instead of losing 14 but fell victim to shoddy defense and no run support. Randy Johnson was signed as a tutor to these young pitchers… and to show what’s left in his tank. Zito has been one of baseball’s biggest free agent busts after signing with SF in ’07. It might not matter how well these guys pitch if teammates can’t score runs.
Around the Horn: Ishikawa, Frandsen, Renteria, Sandoval. Opening day lineup could be quite different as position battles are still in progress everywhere except SS. Minimal big league experience and not much production from the other three pose big problems. Vets Uribe and Aurilia are fighting for starting infield jobs too.
Outfield: Winn, Rowand, Lewis. OF trio covers plenty of ground and will hit for respectable batting average. No hope in the power department. Not much to speak of as of now for backups unless a rookie or walk on player survives camp.
Forecast: Dire. SF is one of the games weakest hitting bunch with no true power hitter. Starting pitchers have great upside potential. Giants will need to win a bunch of 3-2 games…. Don’t bet on it! SF on pace to lose 90+ for years to come until they can rebuilt an offense.
San Diego Padres (Mgr. Bud Black)
Padres never fully recovered from 2007’s late September debacle. Last year was ugly. 2009 might be worse. SD tried unsuccessfully to trade star pitcher Jake Peavy during the winter. He’ll be gone by the trading deadline. SD has shed payroll at every opportunity. This club is spiraling downwards.
Rotation: Peavy, Young, Baek, Correia, Prior. Setup: Meredith. Closer: Bell. Peavy will be gone well before MLB’s July trading deadline. Prior is always one pitch away from injury. He’s still rehabbing and hasn’t pitched in one spring game yet. 2007’s strong first half bullpen threw away playoff hopes. In ’08, they just threw junk. It’ll be a mixed bag of platoon’s behind home plate this season which can’t be promising for the pitching staff.
Around the Horn: Gonzalez, Eckstein, Rodriguez, Kouzmanoff. Solid on the corners with slugging Gonzalez and slugger to be Kouz. Very weak up the middle with Eckstein moving to 2B and Luis Rodriguez manning SS. Don’t be surprised to see Eck return to SS with Edgar Gonzalez taking over at 2B. Middle infield needs help. They won’t get it.
Outfield: Giles, Gerut, Headley/Hairston. Giles is on the downturn of his career but still maintains a terrific batting eye. Gerut & Headley showed brief flashes of promise last year. Hairston will get plenty of AB’s as a reserve unless he wins the starting job this spring.
Forecast: Frigid. SD is facing an identity crisis. Clearly looking to slash payroll but with very few suitors to take on what’s left of high priced players. Padres haven’t won more than 90 games in ten years. At this rate, they’ll be losing 90 for the next ten.
Stay tuned for Awards predictions…..
(www.allworldallsports.com)
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