NL West

Tim Lincecum is 5'11", 170 lbs. There were nine teams that passed on this 2008 Cy Young Award winner in the 2006 draft. Six selected bigger pitchers.

Lincecum has been called everything from “The Freak” to “The Franchise”. I like to call him “The Video Game” because his statistics are just so unreal (not to mention he’s the cover boy of MLB 2K9).

On April 4, 2009 the San Diego Padres will kick off their 40th season in Major League Baseball. In contrast, FOX's popular animated sitcom "The Simpsons" is in the midst of its 20th season on television.

They've had a more successful run than the Padres, too.

In those four decades, San Diego has yet to obtain a World Series championship and boast a grand total of one win in the Fall Classic.

After moving into Petco Park at the start of the 2004 season, the Padres' fortunes seemed to change somewhat, with four consecutive winning seasons and two NL West crowns.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have resigned Manny Ramirez and are looking to get to the next step and go to the World Series. Last year they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. The Dodgers do have what it takes. They did lose Brad Penny to Boston but have Clayton Kershaw becoming a shining star.

The Dodgers need Jason Schmidt to be totally healthy as he will be a key in the Dodgers' playoff run. James Loney brings a 13 home run, 90 RBI season back with him, and Russell Martin had 13 homers and 63 RBIs in an All-Star season.

Keep an eye on: Clayton Kershaw, sp

The Arizona Diamondbacks fell short in making the playoffs last year with only 82 wins but with a low budget and aces like Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, the might be pretty competitive in the west. You can also look at rookie Max Scherzer who is coming up in the ranks.

The Diamondbacks signed Felipe Lopez to replace Orlando Hudson at second base and the Diamondbacks would love to have Mark Reynolds continue his power surge that he had last year except they do not want him to cool off. Chris Young and Stephen Drew also return looking for a playoff run.

The San Francisco Giants ended last year with a 72-90 record, a tiny improvement from 2007. This year they'll finish third in the West because the hitting will not be there this year. Edgar Renteria will be a bright spot along with Aaron Rowand and Fred Lewis. They will be expecting to call up catcher Buster Posey who was drafted last year along with Madison Bumgarner a left handed pitcher.

The San Diego Padres has a disappointing season last year only managing 63 wins last year after an 89 win year the season before. This year could be the year things start to change for San Diego and it starts with the pitching rotation.

Jake Peavy will lead the Padres on the staff that includes Chris Young (7-6, 3.96 ERA) and Korean Cha Seung Baek (6-9, 4.62 ERA). A couple of new comers Josh Greer and Wade LeBlanc. Young needs to stay healthy for this team to do well.

The Colorado Rockies are two years removed from their World Series run in 2007 and things couldn't be more different. Last year, they finished with a 74-88 record. They finished fourth in the NL West.

This offseason, the Rockies made some big trades. They traded power hitter Matt Holliday to Oakland and in return got prospect Carlos Gonzalez, pitcher Greg Smith, and closer Huston Street. With the Street deal, the Rockies released Brian Fuentes.

For years, the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have had the biggest rivalry in baseball that doesn’t include the term “Red Sox vs. Yankees,”  with every game just as heated as the one on the east coast.

However, as both teams have struggled and as players have gone from team to team in the National League West, the rivalry has cooled in recent years.

The thing that had the battle going when both teams moved west was that almost all the players on each roster were homegrown and were taught to hate each other.

While the majority of my fellow hardball junkies are busy overdosing on the latest, most obscure stat that quantifies the number of sunflower seeds consumed by Ross Gload per at-bat (adjusting for park factors), I’m staring at a map.