Dodgers (89 wins): The Dodgers, who were very average offensively last year with a .333 OBP, will benefit from a full year (presumably, anyway) of Manny Ramirez. The’re solid, if not spectacular, up and down the lineup, and any unsteadiness in their rotation is offset by a strong bullpen.
Diamondbacks (88 wins): Webb-Haren is as good as it gets in 1-2 punches in the rotation. After that, it’s a bit dodgy, but their young team is a year more experienced. Losing Adam Dunn probably meant losing the division. Out on a limb: Curt Schilling pulls a Roger Clemens and returns to the team after the All-Star break and leads them to the playoffs.
Rockies (74 wins): If Todd Helton regains his old form for a career coda, the Rockies’ offense, projected by BPro to score the second-most runs in the league, will keep them in some games. And catcher Chris Iannetta is underrated. But as a Cardinal fan, we’re required to be skeptical of any team that pencils in Jason Marquis as their third starter.
Giants (74 wins): Can a team with Randy Johnson and Barry Zito in their rotation finish below .500? Yes, if it’s 2009 and the lineup projects maybe one player to hit above .350 OBP. The good news is that, as the Giants fade farther out of contention, Zito’s Tweets-per-day will increase.
Padres (67 wins): This regrouping club has become the Pirates of the West. They at least nullified some of their dislikable index brought on by Brian Giles’s off-field idiocy by bringing in David Eckstein. But all bets are off after Jake Peavy starts, given that the once-dependable Chris Young has yet to recover from his Albert Pujols devastation.

This entry was posted by Pip on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 8:43 pm and is filed under analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.