NL West

Gregor Blanco—the San Francisco Giants projected starting left fielder—hit just .244/.333/.344 with five home runs last year.

Andres Torres—the free agent the Giants brought in to compete with Blanco—hit just .230/.327/.337 with three home runs last year.

The Hot Stove was active this offseason with big free-agent signings and a handful of blockbuster trades. The purpose of such action, of course, is to improve a team's chances of competing for a world championship.

One team that didn't make waves this winter was San Francisco. Instead, the Giants focused on keeping their roster intact, and so they will be heading into 2013 with just about the same group that won it all in 2012.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have extended the contract for newly acquired infielder Cliff Pennington, keeping him in Phoenix on a two-year, $5 million deal. The signing was reported by Buster Olney of ESPN via his Twitter feed.

When the Giants non-tendered reliever Brian Wilson earlier this offseason, the chance remained that he could return to the team on a more reasonable contract.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are primed to make a run at the defending MLB champion San Francisco Giants and the free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. 2012 was a letdown, but 2013 is going to be a major rebound year.

No player has been mentioned in more trade rumors this offseason than Justin Upton—and with good reason.

The plan for the Los Angeles Dodgers going into the 2013 season was to play Hanley Ramirez at shortstop. 

Despite that commitment, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti wanted to see Ramirez improve his defense at shortstop.

The struggle between players and management has gone on since the beginning of the sports world. Each side wants to have leverage when the inevitable split occurs. The "no-trade clause" is one of the biggest assets a baseball player can have, and Justin Upton just used his to really affect the Arizona Diamondbacks.

San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean has made sure his 2012 World Series championship team will stay together for the upcoming season and beyond.