NL West Preview
Arizona Diamondbacks –
One of the younger teams in the league, they try to make a return to the playoffs after making an improbable run all the way to the World Series in 2023. They got rid of their power hitter, Christian Walker, but promptly replaced him with possibly an even better bat in Josh Naylor. The only thing about this move that I didn't like is that they separated the brothers out of Cleveland. They also added a Cy Young-level pitcher to their rotation in Corbin Burnes, which makes this one of the most dangerous rotations in all of baseball.
Healthy Projected Lineup:
Corbin Carroll
Ketel Marte
Josh Naylor
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Blaze Alexander
Gabriel Moreno
Alek Thomas
Geraldo Perdomo
Jake McCarthy
Rotation:
- Corbin Burnes
- Zac Gallen
- Merrill Kelly
- Brandon Pfaadt
- Eduardo Rodriguez
Closer: A.J. Puk/Kendall Graveman
Projected Win Total: 86.5
Los Angeles Dodgers –
As usual, the Dodgers won the offseason and were one of the biggest, if not the biggest, spenders. This offseason, they added two elite arms in Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki; either one of these guys would be the team's ace on 75% of teams in the league, and they signed both of them. On top of that, they signed two closers, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott. This might be the most stacked roster in the history of their franchise. That's before I got to Conforto, who will start over 100 games for them if he stays healthy. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that they have the #8 prospects in all of baseball, Dalton Rushing.
Healthy Projected Starting Lineup:
Shohei Ohtani
Mookie Betts
Freddie Freeman
Teoscar Hernandez
Max Muncy
Will Smith
Michael Conforto
Tommy Edman
Andy Pages
Rotation:
- Blake Snell
- Yoshi Yamamoto
- Roki Sasaki
- Tyler Glasnow
- Dustin May
And this rotation doesn't even have Shohei in it, which would make it ten times better. They are absolutely loaded. It should be championship or bust for this squad.
Closer: Tanner Scott
Projected Win Total: 104.5
They expect this team to win 104 games. No matter how good you are, you almost always chalk up 60 losses in a season; this is baseball. That should go to show you how good this team is projected to be this year. But everyone is picking them to win the World Series, so that means more than likely someone else will win it.
San Diego Padres –
They had a busy offseason but weren't as big of spenders as they have been recently. They added players to the team that will help their depth and win games late in the season. Signing players like Jason Heyward, Martín Maldonado, and Yuli Gurriel, who have been on championship teams and know what it takes to make it to the top of the hill. They also added something that they needed in left-handed power by signing Gavin Sheets from the White Sox, who has underrated power numbers.
Healthy Projected Lineup:
Luis Arraez
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Jackson Merrill
Manny Machado
Jake Cronenworth
Xander Bogaerts
Gavin Sheets
Jason Heyward
Elias Díaz
Rotation:
Dylan Cease
Yu Darvish
Michael King
Nick Pivetta
Matt Waldron
Closer: Jason Adam
This is how good of a team you need to compete with the Dodgers. The NL West will be a bloodbath for the next few years with the amount these teams are spending to win. I like the Tatis for MVP play because he has flown under the radar the last few seasons, and I believe that the media is going to have voters' fatigue giving it to Shohei again, especially because he will not be pitching as much as he used to.
Projected Win Total: 86.5
San Francisco Giants –
The Giants made two huge signings this offseason after not bringing back their top three free agents. They signed Willy Adames, one of the best shortstops in the game with a great glove, to sit next to one of the best third basemen, Matt Chapman. The other person they signed is future first-ballot Hall of Famer Justin Verlander to help replace Blake Snell, who left for the Dodgers.
Healthy Projected Lineup:
LaMonte Wade Jr.
Willy Adames
Jung Ho Lee
Matt Chapman
Mike Yastrzemski
Heliot Ramos
Tyler Fitzgerald
Wilmer Flores
Patrick Bailey
Rotation:
- Logan Webb
- Justin Verlander
- Robbie Ray
- Jordan Hicks
- Hayden Birdsong
Closer: Ryan Walker
On paper, this isn't one of the best teams, but the Giants are known to do more with less better than anyone else since the turn of the century. If Verlander shows any form, this will be one of the deeper rotations in baseball, but they are older, and Robbie Ray isn't far removed from injury, so we will see how this season plays out under Bob Melvin.
Projected Win Total: 79.5
Colorado Rockies –
A team that seems like it's okay with being bad. They don't make trades to better their roster, and they also cannot develop talent either. The only notable thing they did this offseason was a trade they made one week before the season, where they traded one of their better players, Nolan Jones, for Tyler Freeman, which doesn't really make sense, but that's about right for the Rockies. They have been in a rebuild for most of your life if you're under 30 years old, just like the Pirates and White Sox. It might be time to seek new ownership if they want to change the direction of this franchise. The only thing worth looking forward to is outfielder Zac Veen making his way to the show.
Healthy Projected Lineup:
Brandon Doyle
Ryan McMahon
Ezequiel Tovar
Kris Bryant
Jordan Beck
Michael Toglia
Tyler Freeman
Nick Martini
Jacob Stallings
Rotation:
- Kyle Freeland
- Germán Márquez
- Ryan Feltner
- Bradley Blalock
- Antonio Senzatela
Closer: Tyler Kinley
This will more than likely be the worst team in the National League this year because the Nationals finally turned their rebuild around. I don't see how this team wins more than 70 games, even if most of these guys end up having the best seasons of their careers.
NL West Predictions –
I think that the top four teams will all finish above .500 with the new scheduling format of playing every team in the league. The Dodgers will also win less than the 105 games they are projected to win. They didn't account for injuries in this number, and they do happen; you can't help that in professional sports. I also think the Diamondbacks are the most under the radar team coming into the season this year. The only 2 teams I would take over their win total are the Giants and Diamondbacks
1. Dodgers
2. Diamondbacks
3. Padres
4. Giants
5. Rockies
