2012 NL West Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers' Kings, Crumbums and Codgers

The NL West is expected to be competitive this year. However, the teams in this division are not expected to win a lot of games.

I believe 90 wins will be enough to win the West, but there will be plenty of mediocrity between 70 and 90 wins. The Dodgers are an under .500 team with a reasonable expectation would be to win 78 games.

Bounceback Candidate

Chad Billingsley is a big fan of food as he is generously listed at 6'1" while pushing 250 pounds. His ground ball rate in 2011 was at 45 percent, among the top 75 of MLB starting pitchers. His walk and home run rates were unsustainably high. I would expect them to come down in 2012, with a projected 3.80 ERA in 32 starts.

Kings

Kings are the top players on the team. Clayton Kershaw is the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. At 23 years old, there's no reason why he cannot continue to be dominant with his phenomenal stuff.

Matt Kemp had 39 home runs and 40 stolen bases in 2011 as he carried the Dodgers' offense in 2011. He's definitely talented enough to repeat. Though, it would be hard to back him for a repeat season given his amazing stats with such little protection in the lineup.

I predict 35 homers, 85+ walks, .300 batting average and 40+ stolen bases in 2012.

Crumbums

There are plenty of crumbums to go around on this team. James Loney is one of the few 6'5, 250-pound guys in the league who has 12 home run power. Juan Rivera can barely move or hit at this stage in his career.

Codgers

These are the players who should retire because they are worthless. Second Baseman Mark Ellis is good for about 50 or 60 games before he gets hurt. His outstanding defense would probably help this team.

Juan Uribe, former star reserve turned starter of the 2010 San Francisco Giants, should not start for any good teams, which is why he plays for the Dodgers.

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