As I sit here, watching a show on the Phillies World Series Championship, I sit here and think about next year. Now granted, I understand that there is still a long way to go before the new season starts, but it's never too early for predictions so here goes nothing. Maybe I will come back and look at this in October 2009.
National League West
After starting out last year with a quick lead, the Arizona Diamondbacks fell into a slump and never fully recovered. Even though they pushed hard towards the end of the season they never really did what they were supposed too and finished in second place in the west.
They won 80 and lost 82, finishing two games back from the surging Dodgers.
The Diamondbacks will be pushing hard this off-season to rebuild the team after last years hard campaign.
They have already signed catcher Chris Snyder, and they have good pitchers, even though they have lost Randy Johnson to the San Francisco Giants. I look to see this team finish third in the west.
The Colorado Rockies, after going to the World Series less than a year before, Colorado finished in third place with a 74-88 record. The Rockies during this off-season have lost Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday among some others, and I think that they will be looking to rebuild this year as well.
They have made several acquisitions and the offseason is still young. The Rockies have signed Alan Embree and Greg Smith.
The Rockies will make a push this season and I think will be tough. All in all, I think they will get another pitcher and possibly another outfielder, due to the fact that Scott Podsednik is a free agent. I see the Rockies as finishing in fourth place.
The Los Angeles Dodgers remain my dark horse of the NL West; they will either be really good or really bad. Last year, they stormed back and won the NL West by two games.
They manhandled the Cubs in the first round of the playoffs only to get silenced by the Phillies in the NLCS. So what about this year?
The Dodgers have lost Greg Maddux, Brad Penny, and Chan Ho Park. Rumor has it they will be losing Jeff Kent, and Manny Ramirez is still up for debate on whether he is going to be signed or not.
The Dodgers have already resigned Rafael Furcal and Mark Loretta, but what is this team going to do now? They obviously need pitching, and how much of a distraction is the Manny Ramirez issue. Are they going to sign Bobby Abreu? Wait and see with this team; I see them finishing in second.
The San Francisco Giants, made moves last offseason picking up Barry Zito and a few key others. Zito did poorly winning only 10 games and losing 17.
The Giants failed to capitalize and finished the season at 72-90. Twelve games out of the lead, the Giants struggled through the second half of the season.
The Giants have already made a lot of moves this off-season and have made heavy acquisitions. It's almost as if it's playoffs or bust. They have signed Bob Howry, Randy Johnson, Edgar Renteria, and Jeremy Affeldt.
They have also been rumored to be after Ramirez and Abreu along with the Dodgers. I think this team is on to something this year. I see the Giants surprising people this year and winning the division.
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