NL West Projection

1st. Dodgers (100-62). Since day 1 of the season, nothing has changed at all. This is the best team in the division. They have the best bullpen in baseball perhaps. They have very good starting pitching, and they have a top 3 NL offense. Their defense is also top 3 in the NL. One problem that is beginning to rear it's head is the lack of rotation depth. Chad Billingsley has really fallen off in the last month, his arm seems tired, he has yet to log a victory since June 14th (vs Texas), and his ERA has risen each month. Hiroki Kuroda has been average, at best, over his last several starts.
If I am the Dodgers, I go get Roy Halladay right now, because even though they will win the west, they wont get past round 1 of the playoffs because their arms will be toast by then. This team lost ZERO games in the standings with Manny Ramirez out, which shows me all I need to know about who will win the division. It really seems to be no contest.

2nd. Colorado (88-74). Boy was I wrong about this one. I know they have talent, but I had no idea the pitching would be this good. They have won 30 of their last 40 games (and gained only 5 or 6 games on the Dodgers), but the Wild Card is well within reach. This team has a great offense, arguably as good as the Dodgers. Their starters have been pretty good also, with a breakout year from Ubaldo Jimenez and possibly Jorge De La Rosa as well. Jason Marquis has been a great FA pickup, nothing 12 wins before August. Huston Street has been a great pickup, and the loss of Matt Holliday has turned out to be no loss at all. I expect Colorado to win the wild card, unless the Giants pick up a bat or two.

3rd. Giants (86-76). Another one I missed. This one boggles my brain. I see how I was wrong about Colorado, they have good hitters and their pitchers have improved. But the Giants have one above average hitter, Pablo Sandoval, and I find it hard to believe he is capable of carrying a team. The Giants do have the best pitcher in baseball, 08 Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. They also have Matt Cain, who is argualby a top 10 mlb starter, and certainly a top 10 NL pithcer. But Barry Zito has been horrid, Randy Johnson has been up and down, and the 5th spot has given them very little. The bullpen has been a strength, closer Brian Wilson, generic gangster Irishman, has given them 21 saves and blown but 5. Lefty set-up man Jeremy Affeldt has been fantastic. So I suppose the pen has been a strength. But this team struggles to score, ranking in the bottom 5 in the majors in runs per game. I think this team will fall off, unless they get at least 1 bat (either a corner IF or a corner OF), maybe both. I simply see no way they can keep this up with the hitters they have.

4. Arizona (70-92). what a dissappointment. Perhaps no team in the league has underachieved like the D-Backs. From Brandon Webb getting hurt in week 1, to the total crap that CF Chris Young and LF Eric Byrnes have been. From the bullpen to the defense, from the manager to the front office, everything has gone wrong. Even the most ardent D-Backs fan would not say otherwise. The bright spots have been few, three to be exact: starter Daniel "Danny" Haren has been as good as any pitcher in baseball (1.96 ERA thru mid July). RF Justin Upton has become a major offensive force (on pace for to hit over 290, with 25+ Hr's and SB's, along with over 90 runs and RBI's. 3b Mark Reynolds has become quite an offensive force himself, on pace for over 35 HR's and 25+ SB's, along with over 100 RBI's. He may strike out 190 times, but his power production (and sudden ability to steal bases), has turned a lot of heads. This team will be better next year, they can't be any worse, but they division is passing them by.

5. Padres (62-100). Well, this one I nailed spot on. They have one major league hitter on their roster in Adrian Gonzalez, but even he can't carry a roster of 5th starters (Kevin Correia, Tim Stauffer, Chad Gaudin), castoffs (Tony Gwynn Jr, David Eckstein) and worthless garbage (Kevin Kouzmanoff, Luis Rodriguez, Chase Headley, and everyone else). The sole bright spot is the closer, Heath Bell. Bell has replaced HOF'er Trevor Hoffman very ably. He has dominated opposing batters and been near perfect. In short, he has been as good as just about any closer in the game. Honestly though, anything more than 1 paragraph about the Padres is wasted space.