NL West

A new rumor involving the Arizona Diamondbacks trading outfielder Justin Upton seems to surface daily. MLBTradeRumors.com is updating constantly with the latest potential landing spots for the sometimes brilliant and sometimes enigmatic right handed slugger.

Five years ago when I was still living in sunny San Diego, I once sat in a bar watching Josh Hamilton hit like 124 home runs in the All-Star Home Run Derby. It was a pretty awesome thing to see, and it ended up keeping me around well after I finished sipping my Vanilla Coke. 

It's hard to believe that, after winning their second World Series in two years, the Giants would have much room for improvement heading into 2013.

But it could be argued that they won last season despite some of their best players struggling through the regular season. And how could anyone have predicted that the team that finished dead last in the major leagues in home runs would win it all?

But that is exactly what the Giants did, and now they're entering the new season with just about the same roster as last season, and with the potential to improve in several areas.

In Kevin Towers' first season as the general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, he orchestrated a worst-to-first turnaround that brought the team from 65 wins to 94—a 29-win improvement good enough for the NL West crown in 2011.

Just how confident are the Los Angeles Dodgers and general manager Ned Colletti in their projected lineup for 2013?

As of now, the bulk of the MLB offseason activity is complete. The majority of the major free agents have signed. And if a blockbuster trade was going to take place, chances are it would have happened by now.

Five weeks remain between now and some of the most optimistic words in baseball:

"Pitchers and catchers report."

Before then, there are some things that still need to sort themselves out. While most of the MLB offseason is over, these storylines still need some sort of resolution.

Kyle Crick, Clayton Blackburn and Chris Stratton, the San Francisco Giants top three prospects according to FanGraphs, have yet to pitch above A-ball. Thus, they don't have the professional experience needed to make the opening day roster.

The Colorado Rockies' search for pitching entering the 2013 season continues. According to Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post, one of the low-risk free agents they are considering is former Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jeff Karstens.

The Colorado Rockies are trying to piece together a pitching staff. Freddy Garcia is a free agent pitcher looking for work. The Rockies and Garcia very well might be a match this off season.

According to the Twitter feed of Troy Renck, Denver Post Rockies writer, Colorado is looking at low risk free agents, including Garcia.

According to ESPN's Buster Olney and the Los Angeles Times' Dylan Hernandez, the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to sign left-handed free-agent pitcher J.P. Howell to a reported one-year deal.