That's Why They Play The Games: '08 NL West

The Good:

• The Giants have a great young pitching staff. If Noah Lowry can stop exerting his compartments and Barry Zito can actually find the strike zone, they'll have a formidable top four in the rotation with Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum.
• Their closer won't have many save opportunities which will leave him more time for songwriting.
• Pedro Gomez will no longer be loitering around the shower room.

The Bad:

• With Barry Bonds' departure, Aaron Rowand is now the best offensive player on the team.
• I repeat, Aaron Rowand is the best offensive player on the team.
• Senior citizens like Dave Roberts, Omar Vizquel, and Ray Durham sit atop the lineup preventing youngsters like Brian Bocock, Kevin Frandsen and Nate Schierholtz from blossoming.

Predictions:

68 wins, zero splash hits, and no more Bruce Bochy moustache rides

4. San Diego Padres

The Good:

• Jake Peavy is made of magic. Kid is 26 and coming off a season where he won the Cy Young and earned the rare pitching triple crown. Expect 20 wins and 250 strikeouts.
• The rest of the pitching staff is good, and if anyone says otherwise, Greg Maddux will tinkle on you. Mark Prior may be your Comeback Player of the Year, or he may fall into a million tiny pieces.
• They get 18 games against the Giants.

The Bad:

• Lineup is full of mediocrity. Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene, and Kevin Kouzmanoff are all quite serviceable infield bats, but no one on this team strikes fear in the heart of pitchers. I can't see anyone hitting 25+ home runs for this team.
• Jim Edmonds is getting paid to wear a Padres uniform.
• Trevor Hoffman is D-U-N done. He'll be cursing out CYO refs any day now.

Predictions: 72 wins, 800,000 fish tacos consumed, and zero meaningful coin tosses

3. Colorado Rockies

The Good:

• They have nearly the exact same team that produced a National League championship last year. All they needed to replace was Kaz Matsui at second base; Jayson Nix and Clint Barmes are fighting for his old position.
• Rookie lefthander Franklin Morales is good and might see action if Kip Wells gives up 2 home runs per inning. The rest of the rotation was above average last season and Jeff Francis is pretty damn good for a Canuck.
• Little Baby Jesus is their batboy.
• They get 18 games against the Giants.

The Bad:

• Kip Wells is being paid to wear a Rockies uniform.
• Pitching in that high elevation is hard, y'all! Even if Francis et al can keep the hits down, it's a very long season and I suspect the team will tire easily.
• There's only one wild card team and it ain't gonna be the Rox.

Predictions: 85 wins, a handful of discarded sunflower seeds, and a whole lotta bullshit

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Good:

• Quite a formidable starting rotation in quite a formidable pitchers' park. Newcomer Hiroki Kuroda joins Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Esteban Loaiza. They could all win 15 games.
• A handful of young studs anchor the lineup, including catcher Russell Martin, first basegentleman James Loney, and possible third basegentleman Andy La Roche. To get the starting job, La Roche might need Nomar to get hurt and...whoops! Nomar's already hurt.
• A bullpen that actually frightens me. Closer Takashi Saito, setup man Jonathan Broxton and yes, even noodle-armed Scott Proctor will go a long way to preserving leads.
• They get 18 games against the Giants.

The Bad:

• Andruw Jones really misses Turner Field.
• Whoops! Andy La Roche is hurt, too.
• Juan Pierre is being paid a SHITLOAD of money to hit a few singles.

Predictions: 90 wins, one delicious wildcard berth, and a very merry Christmas in Chavez Ravine.

1. Arizona Diamondbacks

The Good:

• Brandon Webb and Dan Haren make up the best one-two punch in the National League. The pitching staff and defense were quite good last year, so adding one of the AL's best arms should keep the rotation depth solid.
• All the kids from last year who struggled so much have that extra year under their belts; Conor Jackson, Justin Upton, and Chris Young have nowhere to go but up.
• Micah Owings goes both ways and he goes both ways well.
• They get 18 games against the Giants.

The Bad:

• Their star outfielder is a fruit.
• The bullpen is shaky. New closer Brandon Lyon doesn't have the stuff to blow people away so I expect to see someone like Chad Qualls step in at some point.
• There's a ton of good flicks coming out this summer to compete with the Arizona fans' interest.

Predictions: 91 wins, a division championship, and your eventual National League Champion.

Next week, CTC previews the AL East...ferreals this time!