The 2009 National League's Western Division shapes up to be one of the tougher divisions in baseball.
Last year, the division was sub-par at best. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the division with a 84-78 record, and the Arizona Diamondbacks, with a 82-80 record, as the only two teams that finished above .500.
This season could be a different story.
The Los Angeles Dodgers look to repeat as division champions with the acquisition of former Diamondback Orlando Hudson, Randy Wolf and the re-signings of Casey Blake and Manny Ramirez.
However, the Dodgers lost some valuable assets as well.
They lost pitcher Derek Lowe to the Atlanta Braves, and pitcher Brad Penny to the Boston Red Sox. They also lost their starting second baseman to retirement in Jeff Kent.
The Dodgers line up is projected to shape up like this.
C Russell Martin
1B James Loney
2B Orlando Hudson
3B Casey Blake
SS Rafael Furcal
LF Manny Ramirez
CF Matt Kemp
RF Andre Ethier
With their Pitching staff to look like this.
SP Chad Billingsley
SP Hiroki Kuroda
SP Clayton Kershaw
SP Randy Wolf
SP Jason Schmidt
Jason Schmidt is one of the biggest question marks on the Dodgers roster because he has not been healthy for many years now.
The Arizona Diamondbacks look to start strong once again, but unlike last year, finish it out.
The Diamondbacks had a 20-8 record through the month of April, but that is when the season started to take a tail spin.
The Diamondbacks lost future hall of fame pitcher Randy Johnson to the San Francisco Giants, but replaced him with Jon Garland. They also brought in Felipe Lopez to take the place of Orlando Hudson at second base.
The Diamondbacks have a inter squad battle on their hands in the outfield, with four outfielders battling for three spots; Eric Byrnes, Conor Jackson, Chris Young and Justin Upton.
They also have a battle in the infield with Tony Clark, Chad Tracy, Mark Reynolds and Conor Jackson all battling for the two corner infield spots.
Although it is not set in stone, this is the projected starting lineup for the Diamondbacks on opening day.
C Chris Snyder
1b Chad Tracy
2b Felipe Lopez
3b Mark Reynolds
SS Stephen Drew
LF Conor Jackson
CF Chris Young
RF Justin Upton
The Diamondbacks pitching rotation looks to shape up as one of the best rotations in baseball.
Brandon Webb
Dan Haren
Jon Garland
Doug Davis
Max Scherzer
Scherzer is coming off offseason arm troubles, but he said he had no problems when pitching during the spring.
The one team that may surprise the whole division is the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants may not have a high powered offense, but their pitching staff shapes up to be fantastic. The Giants added future hall of famer Randy Johnson to their already good rotation.
The Giants line up may not be great, but they may have just enough to get by while their rotation leads them to the promise land.
Their line-up shapes of like this.
C Bengie Molina
1b Travis Ishikawa
2b Kevin Frandsen
3b Pablo Sandoval
SS Edgar Renteria
LF Fred Lewis
CF Aaron Rowand
RF Randy Winn
And their rotation sets up like this.
Tim Lincecum
Matt Cain
Randy Johnson
Barry Zito
Jonathan Sanchez
The Rockies and Padres have not showed much to be considered contenders for the Division crown.
- Login to post comments