The NL West is one of the toughest divisions in the league. If is also one of the most difficult to predict. This season, similar to past seasons, there are at least 3 teams with not only the talent to get to the playoffs, but with the talent to win it all. The San Francisco Dedringers, managed by brettm1220 have finished first in the NL West every since he took over the team in season 2. Salt Lake has the most second place finishes with 3, and just missed taking the division last season, losing 2 out of 3 to the Dedringers in the final series of the regular season to give up the division lead. Two seasons ago, all 4 teams finished with 90 plus wins and 3 playoff teams. The teams are better this year than any other year without question.
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First Place - San Francisco Dedringers
At risk of being hunted down and possibly needing to enter protective custody or the FBI witness protection program, I have to go with San Francisco as the favorite to take the NL West. The current champion Dedringers have won the division for four consecutive years and are coming off their second World Series win in the last three years. Also, don't forget the playoff series against Salt Lake in the NLCS where San Francisco dominated, sweeping the Golden Crew in four games. Until another team dethrones the champs, they belong at the top of this division. There are a few new faces in the clubhouse for the Dedringers. Long time pitcher Deacon Tracy, who was a key part of success in San Francisco chose not to resign and opted for free agency, and fifth starter C.J. Caldwell was traded to the Philidelphia Phillies. Taking over the two spots in the rotation are Bill Barfield who was acquired in a deal with Washington D.C and Jumbo Suarez who was signed as a free agent. Beleive it or not, but they appear to be better than the guys they replaced, making the Dedringers even stronger. The Dedringers don't hit a lot of home runs, but they hit for contact, steal bases, and have dominant pitching and play top notch defense. Last season, San Franciso was first in fielding percentage, 3rd in team ERA (behind only Scranton and Dover), second in total runs and runs batted in, and first in stolen bases. Speed, pitching and defense is the forumula for success in San Francisco.
Second Place - Salt Lake City Golden Crew
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Finishing a close second, and likely within just a few games is the Golden Crew from Salt Lake City. Salt Lake also has great pitching and defense, finishing just behind SF in both categories with a team ERA of 3.82 and a .985 fielding percentage. However, Salt Lake relies more on the Home Run and rarely steals bases. One of Salt Lake's weaknesses over the last few seasons is the lack of a big time RBI guy and a weak bullpen. The Golden Crew hit .280 as a team, which was second in the NL, but drove in only 753 runs, which was 9th in the NL and just below the league average. Russell Damon could be the answer to the RBI problem and has been moved to the cleanup role. To help in the pen, manager palet99 acquired stud closer, Mike Bay from Las Vegas, who had a 0.99 whip with 37 strikeouts and only 7 walks in 43.1 innings of work last season. One significant change was the loss of SS Esteban Diaz to free agency. Jason Beckwith will assume that role, however the team defense may suffer a bit. The pitching staff is nearly the same and just as strong led by Ace Steven Griffin and Season 5 Rookie of the year George Wyatt who went 20-5 in his first season in the Majors.
Third Place - Los Angeles Stars
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By far the most active team in the offseason, at least in the NL West, was the Los Angeles Stars. Manager ajf00529 said in a recent press conference that he embraces the challenge of playing in this tough division, and regarding the upcoming season, he stated "this season we feel that with the talent we have added, failing to earn a playoff birth would be considered a failure." The race for the division lead between SF, SLC, and LA should be exciting to watch and will likely be decided by just a few games. Last season, Los Angeles finished last in the division with a record of 72-90. Its offense was last in runs scored and had a league low, .246 batting average. To make sure that doesn't happen again in season 6, the Stars signed top free Lee Collins, who hit 39 homeruns and batted .297 last season as well as 10 other free agents including power hitting SS Enrique Ozuna. The Stars then went to the trade market and added Clyde Bush, a guy who hit 25 homers and 91 rbi's a year ago. Probably the most significant move was the huge trade for 4 time all star and former Cy Young Geronimo Julio who has three 20 win seasons including last years 20-5 record and helped the New Orleans Bayou Bengals (Now Austin Kangaroos) win the World Series in season 4. With all the moves, the Stars are now shining as bright as ever, with arguably the best pitching staff in the league and a drastically improved offense. Even with a third place finish in the NL West, this team could make the playoffs and win the World Series.
Fourth Place - Scottsdale Snowstorm
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Once again, it is difficult to project a team like Scottsdale to finish fourth, but in this tough division, somebody will have to finish in 4th place, and it likely is going to be the Snowstorm. Last season while managed by indy_indians, the former Oakland Breakers won 84 games for a win pct of .519. Two major losses that will be difficult to replace are leading RBI man, Bill Flores and team ace and season 5 Cy Young winner, Sammy Flores. Taking over at First for Flores will be Gil Burke who just doesn't have the pop of Flores. Burke showed some power in the minors, but hasn't done much since being called up in season 3. Free agent Lyle Field could help the offense, but lacks power and doesn't drive in many runs, however he is a decent contact hitter, and still has good speed. As far as pitching goes, guys like Flores are hard to find and just can't be replaced. The pitching staff will suffer without him. Currently, Lenny Helton has been asked to fill in and so far he is doing an admirable job. Because of the strength of this division where San Francisco seems to always get better and better, Salt Lake is looking to overcome its poor showing in the NLCS, and Los Angeles has made significant improvements, Scottsdale may not have the endurance and the talent to keep up this year.
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