Published: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Scanning the Majors

National League West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (71-91, 4th in the NL West, 11 GB in 2005) Key additions: Rafael Furcal, ss; Nomar Garciaparra, 1b(?); Bill Mueller 3b; Kenny Lofton, cf; Danys Baez, rhp; Brett Tomko, rhp; Jae Seo, rhp; Grady Little, manager. Key losses: Jim Tracy, manager; Milton Bradley, of; Jeff Weaver, rhp; Duaner Sanchez, rhp. Having lost 1357 player-days to the disabled list in 2005, GM Paul Depodesta was fired for not having the foresight to know that everyone would be injured, allowing Tracy to play Jason Phillips at first instead of Hee Seop Choi and not hanging out with Tommy Lasorda. To restore Dodger tradition and pride, owner Frank McCourt hired former Giant Asst. GM Ned Colletti as general manager and Red Sox exile Grady Little as manager. What Can Go Right: No one gets injured. What Can Go Wrong: Everyone gets injured. Outlook: Should this team be ravaged by injury again, at least the loaded minor league system is a year closer to being ready to sep in. Colletti did a good job in the limited time he had of assembling a roster that can be competitive in the very weak NL West. 86 wins gets it done and LA should be able to get there. (Note: An expanded preview of the Dodgers will appear next week) 2. San Diego Padres (82-80, 1st in NL West, Lost in NLDS) Key additions: Mike Cameron, cf; Vinny Castilla, 3b; Mike Piazza, c; Chris Young, rhp; Doug Mirabelli, c; Adrian Gonzalez, 1b Key losses: Mark Loretta, 2b; Ramon Hernandez, c; Adam Eaton, rhp; Brian Lawrence, rhp; Akinoro Otsuka, rhp; Chris Hammond, lhp; Joe Randa, 3b The Padres won by default in 2005 as they barely squeaked over .500 to take the NL West crown. This year’s team provides an interesting mix of younger players and veterans as GM Kevin Towers wasn’t fooled by last year’s “success” and re-tooled the team. What Can Go Right: Young steps in for Eaton and provides a similar performance and ace Jake Peavy stays healthy for an entire season. What Can Go Wrong: Brian Giles has no one else in the lineup who can get on base around him. No one steps up to replace Otsuka’s valuable set-up work and age finally catches up to closer Trevor Hoffman. Outlook: San Diego will be an intriguing team to watch this year, as they could settle anywhere between 75 and 85 wins. The more likely bet is 82, which would be enough to keep them nipping on the Dodgers’ heels until late September. 3. Colorado Rockies (67-95, 5th place in NL West, 15 GB) Key additions: Jose Mesa, rhp; Ray King, lhp; Yorvit Torrealba, c; Keiichi Yabu, rhp Key losses: Dustan Mohr, of; Jamey Wright, rhp; The Rockies spent 2005 looking relatively lost, but showed some life near the end of the season, compiling the best record in the NL West (30-28) after August 1st. What Can Go Right: They build on the momentum of finishing 2005 decently and the newly found confidence springs them toward a more respectable 2006. What Can Go Wrong: The young players they are relying on (Matt Holliday, Brad Hawpe, Ryan Shealy, Jeff Francis, Clint Barmes) don’t remain healthy or are otherwise devoured by the laborious task of playing 81 games at Coors Field. Outlook: The Rockies will be an interesting team to follow in 2006 and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them put up an 81 win season, which would be enough to have them thinking about a division crown in September for the first time in a long while in Denver. Trading Todd Helton while he has max value would certainly help this franchise move forward. 4. San Francisco Giants (75-87, 3rd in NL West, 7 GB) Key additions: Matt Morris, rhp; Steve Finley, of; Steve Kline, lhp; Tim Worrell, rhp; Mark Sweeney, inf-of; Key losses: Edgardo Alfonso, 3b; Brett Tomko, rhp; J.T. Snow, 1b; LaTroy Hawkins, rhp; Scott Eyre, lhp. Barry Bonds wasn’t healthy and the Giants showed they cannot win without him. The Padres’ ineptitude had the Bay Area dreaming of a triumphant return by Barry to lead them to a division crown. What they failed to see was 63-year old Jeff Fassero making starts down the stretch as well and predictably, SF fell short. What Can Go Right: Noah Lowry continues to develop into the next Tom Glavine. What Can Go Wrong: Omar Vizquel, Moises Alou, Mike Matheny and Armando Benitez continue their precipitous downturn as they age. Bonds, dogged by knee problems and the steroid scandal that he can’t shake, decides enough is enough and limps away from baseball. Outlook: No Bonds, no wins. This is a team looking down the barrel at a 68-70 win season. 5. Arizona Diamondbacks (77-85, 2nd in NL West, 5 GB) Key additions: Orlando Hernandez, rhp; Orlando Hudson, 2b; Johnny Estrada, c; Eric Byrnes, cf; Miguel Batista, rhp; Luis Vizcaino, rhp; Key losses: Troy Glaus, 3b; Javier Vazquez, rhp; Tim Worrell, rhp; Shawn Estes, lhp Arizona transitioned from 111 losses in 2004 to a 26 game improvement in 2005. They spent a ton of money to do it, though, and in the grand scheme of things, they still finished eight games under .500. New GM Josh Byrnes (no relation to new OF Eric) comes over from Boston where he served under the tutelage of Red Sox icon Theo Epstein. What Can Go Right: Russ Ortiz does his Moses impression and wanders the Arizona desert, never finding the mound at Bank One Ballpark. What Can Go Wrong: The pitching staff (aside from Brandon Webb) is as bad as it looks on paper, Luis Gonzalez and Shawn Green continue the steep decline in performance in conjunction with their age and rookie Conor Jackson can’t handle 1B every day. Outlook: This team doesn’t look any better than last year’s 77-85 team and could actually be worse. It will be a long haul for GM Byrnes, but he seems to be a sure bet to get this franchise back on track. However, a last place finish with 65 wins isn’t out of the realm of possibility for 2006.