1st Place - Los Angeles Dodgers
(2008 - 1st Place, 84-78)
I don't like to make these kind of statements, but the Dodgers are the only team with a shot in this division, and even they are not that good. James Loney, Andre Either, and Matt Kemp are the solid young nucleus, and Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez always seem to find their way into the playoffs...because they are very good at what they do. The rotation is not the best, but they have a solid bullpen behind Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan "Big Boy" Broxton.
2nd Place - San Francisco Giants
(2008 - 4th Place, 72-90)
The Gmen of baseball are anchored by their pitching; no secrets there. The addition of Randy Johnson could help them, but their position players are too young and anonymous for the team to do anything special this year. In fact, they are so anonymous that they danced in their underwear last night in Fisherman's Wharf and nobody knew it was them. With a couple of free agent additions, this team might eventually be great, and can achieve something that everybody outside of San Francisco mistakenly believes they have already achieved; win a World Series in San Francisco.
3rd Place - Arizona Diamondbacks
(2008 - 2nd Place, 82-80)
Theirs was a more gradual choke job than the Mets, having started out at 24-8 and letting the season slip away from there. But it probably should have never happened; this team probably has the best young talent in the division. Augie Ojeda was a backup for Orlando Hudson! Then again, I happen to believe that Brandon Webb, though he's won a Cy Young, is best suited to be a No. 2 pitcher in a rotation, and the problem with the D-Backs is that they believe he's a true ace.
4th Place - Colorado Rockies
(2008 - 3rd Place, 74-88)
I'm only keeping them out of the cellar because the Padres didn't make any moves this offseason. But has there ever been a bigger fluke that people were reluctant to admit was a fluke than the 2007 Rockies? Mind you, what they did at the end of 2007 to get into the playoffs and World Series was nothing short of brilliant, but it was the definition of lightning in a bottle. In fact, they were selling lightning in a bottle at Coors Field for $12 a bottle (only they removed the bottlecaps before selling them, so all of the lightning escaped, rendering the bottles unusable). No Matt Holliday, no chance.
5th Place - San Diego Padres
(2008 - 5th Place, 63-99)
Adrian Gonzalez is the lone bright spot here. They jettisoned Khalil Greene and Trevor Hoffman (finally). The purgatory that this team finds itself in right now is retribution for their division titles during seasons in which the NL West was very weak. And also for losing to the Cardinals in 2006, which allowed them to beat the Mets. What do San Diego fans have to be optimistic about? The beach.
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