NL West

The winter meetings are usually a pretty dull period of time for the Colorado Rockies. They are not the type of team that is going to throw around huge money to big-name free agents.

The San Francisco Giants struck out in developing major league talent for most of the 2000s, but that trend has turned around recently.

Born and bred within the Giants organization, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Buster Posey are emerging as perennial superstars in the major leagues. They have demonstrated leadership and poise during baseball's biggest stage, the World Series.

Many formidable predecessors donned the orange and black on day one of their professional careers. Will "The Thrill" Clark was one of them, along with many others.

The Colorado Rockies have had a very productive offseason.  While most of the focus has rightly been on the retention of players like Tulowitzki, Gonzalez, and De La Rosa, the Rockies also brought in players like Ty Wigginton, Jose Lopez and Matt Lindstrom. 

The Rockies will be a dark horse to not only win the West, but also the World Series in 2011.

The question is, what will their everyday lineup look like?

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With Spring Training rapidly approaching, the 2011 Los Angeles Dodgers' roster is nearly finalized. First-year manager, Don Mattingly, hopes to improve the team from the 2010 edition that was two games under .500.

As February dawns here in 2011, that can only mean one thing for baseball fans, here comes spring training. And with the breath of fresh air and the feeling that only a beginning can supply comes a time when all the questions are going to be tackled. For three months us Giants fans have been basking in the glow of a World Series victory, the first for the city. And now, the Giants must begin their first title defense in the history of San Francisco.

For a team with 70 or fewer wins in the last two seasons, the Arizona Diamondbacks actually have several useful fantasy players.  

The first of those players to come to mind for most people would be position players.  Guys like Justin Upton, Chris Young (still cannot believe he is useful again), Stephen Drew and Miguel Montero are all useful fantasy hitters.  

It appears as though a subtle paradigm shift has occurred. Teams are starting to become more defensive oriented-the balance of power in the league has shifted back over to the pitchers. The generation of this league full of pitchers, some already star and some knocking on the door to stardom.

Here is a look at the top 10 pitchers and the ballparks they may be most comfortable pitching in.

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Over the past year, the nation has gotten a chance to see the hilarious actions of Brian Wilson over and over again. His appearances on the Jim Rome Show and the Letterman Show seemed to be his best material. Looks like we were wrong.

Wilson has made mention of his altered ego, a sex crazed maniac bent on domination. He calls this alternate personality "The Machine." It looks as if the Machine has struck again, and this time on the George Lopez Show.

The 2010 season abruptly ended for the San Diego Padres, who were hungry for a postseason berth. The Pads fell one game short of forcing a tie in the NL West, and needed to sweep the Giants or have the Braves be swept instead. Sadly, the Padres finished second in the West, and could not qualify for the wild card position. 

Fantasy owners have long waited for Ian Stewart to develop into one of the elite third basemen in the league.  We have heard all about his power potential ever since the 2003 first round pick hit 30 HR at Single-A  back in 2004.  However, in parts of four seasons with the Rockies, Stewart has yet to fully live up to the expectations.  His 2010 campaign was no different: