We Hit Dingers: NL West Preview

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Projected Standings

The reigning division champs were able to re-sign their most important free agents in Rich Hill, Justin Turner, and Kenley Jansen. They also added balance to their lineup by trading for Logan Forsythe. Couple that all together with the fact that they have the best pitcher in the game in Clayton Kershaw plus owners who are limitless in their spending and the Dodgers should win the division fairly easily. I would have predicted them to win more games except that the division as a whole has gotten better this offseason.

The Giants addressed their biggest need, a closer, this offseason by signing Mark Melancon to a four year deal. They were also able to sign him to a deal significantly cheaper than those of Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen. They should be an incredibly consistent team this season who could make a deep run in the playoffs once they are in.

The Rockies got a bit better this offseason by signing Ian Desmond and helping their bullpen out. They should be much better this season than they were in 2016 and have a solid core that may see them in the playoffs in a couple of seasons once their pitching prospects develop.

Arizona has a real problem in their pitching staff and that will probably keep them from being a .500 team this season despite having Paul Goldschmidt and a healthy A.J. Pollock. They are in too deep now to go into a rebuild and will have to wait it until some pitching help comes along.

They have the chance to be one of the worst teams in recent memory and there are probably AAA teams with better pitching rotations. They actually have a competitive lineup but that will only get them so far. They will probably be the worst team in baseball this season.