MLB Previews: NL West

Today we finish up the NL with one of the most interesting divisions, the west. It looks like it'll be a two horse race the whole way but then again it's baseball, so who really knows?

1) San Francisco Giants: When you look at their roster you don't see much that you're afraid of outside of their pitching staff. But they're still the defending World Series champs, they still have one of the best pitching staffs in the league and they play fundamentally sound baseball and know how to win close games. Plus they're the defending World Series champs and I'm just not ready to tell you that the Dodgers are better than them. I'll believe it when I see it. Oh, and that Buster Posey guy is pretty good too.

2) Los Angeles Dodgers: Let's face it, on paper the Dodgers are the most talented team in this division. We all know that Zack Greinke isn't worth the money they're paying him but he doesn't have to be the ace since Clayton Kershaw is there. Adrien Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Andre Eithier is scary enough, and if Carl Crawford ever plays again they'll be even scarier. They should contend, but we've seen these big money teams be awful before. You just don't know how they're going to play together. And since everyone is picking them, the Giants have a chip on their shoulder. LA should make the playoffs, but I'm saying as a wild card.

3) Arizona Diamondbacks: They will hang around for a while with a lineup that has Miguel Montero, Cody Ross, Jason Kubel and Martin Prado, but I'm not too sure their pitching will be able to keep them around for the duration of the season. Sure, they can swing the bats but is their pitching staff going to be able to keep other teams off the scoreboard? That's a wait and see, only time will tell.

4) Colorado Rockies: There's no secret here that this team has absolutely zero pitching. But Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez are two of the most feared hitters in baseball. They'll score runs if their table setters can just get on base but they won't be keeping anyone off that scoreboard for very long. Expect a lot of 10-8 games in Colorado this season.

5) San Diego Padres: Their pitching staff is okay and their best player (Chase Headley) is going to miss some time with a broken finger. He won't make a real difference with this anemic hitting lineup though. This team is below average in every aspect of the game. It's going to be a long season out in San Diego, but at least the weather will be beautiful.