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LAST YEARS RECORD:109-53
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Thank god I didn't have to break out my Fat chick Photos. My ex-wife would probably sue me over them. In fact the Arizona fans have laid down their pitchforks and Torches and have embraced Yoker and his staff. That sounded dirty. With Yokers....ahem... Staff..... safely put away, he picked a future stud in last years draft (Benjamin Griffiths).Yoker has a great eye for talent and he improved this team last season. I think the Padres will have some competition for the division.PREDICTION:90-72 no more Oprah Photos.
OUT: Alex Molina , Yamid Gonzalez , Antonio Martin , Arthur Roth
IN: Angel Duran , Luis Pineda , Parker Roberts
PREVIEW: Yokers Diamondbacks had the best record in McCabe last season. This team has become a force in the 2 short years since Yoker has been at the helm.Arizona finally won the Division again and went into the playoffs with a first round bye, but ran into the defending champion San Diego Padres in the DCS.Getting beaten in 4 games by a division foe put a damper on a great season.Perhaps its time for WIS to make the DCS a 7 game Series?? The Diamondbacks finished with the 3rd best hitting( .282 team BA), 3rd best pitching(3.54 Team ERA ), and 3rd best fielding( 72 Team Errors).In the offseason Yoker re-signed Jason Osik and let Molina and Gonzalez go to free agency.He then released Martin and traded away Roth to Minnesota.With a couple of roster spots to fill, Yoker completed a trade with the Red Sox that netted Duran,Pineda and Roberts.The addition of Roberts and his 18 million a year contract will add to the offense and cap.Duran and Pineda will be solid in the bullpen. Yoker has brought in more talent to a very good team. They are my pick to win this division and should do better in the playoffs. PREDICTION:102-60
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LAST YEARS RECORD:93-69
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Congrats to Jgarron and his Padres for finally winning it all. They have been knocking on the door for some time now and they deserved to win it. After winning their 10th consecutive division title they went into the playoffs as the #2 seed. They got by the Reds in 4 and beat the Upstart Pirates in the league championship. In the Series they faced the Athletics and won in 6 games.While the loss of some good players may hurt a little. The Addition of Pelaez and Blackmon last season should help them overcome. PREDICTION:92-70
OUT: Bronson Mann , Jose Solano , Woody Rando , Hipolito Beltre , Tony Bennett
IN: Francisco Gandarilla , Arthur Bradshaw , Juan Diaz , Pat Brantley
JGARRON'S PREVIEW: Facing the very real possibility that they may soon be the least talented team in the NL West,the Padres went out and uncharacteristically spent some money this year. Last season Arizona pulled away with the division early, stopping the Padres 10 year run as division champs.Along with the Mariners and the Rockies, San Diego was in a heated intra-divisional battle for the two wildcard spot until the last week of the season. The Padres have put a lot of faith into two old arms,Francisco Gandarilla and Arthur Bradshaw, these guys have both had success in the AL for years, but are both getting close to 40 years old. The San Diego climate (and the big ballpark) has proven beneficial to aging pitchers in the past.The lineup will be the strongest it has been in years. San Diego, usually built around speed and fielding, has went out and got some big bats. The addition of McNichols,Diaz, and Brantley make San Diego a very formidable lineup to face. No big call-ups this year, the veteran presence is evident on this team. Timothy Osik will look to capture his 4th straight Silver Slugger award in LF this year,and MVP candidate Jesus Merced will try to adapt to a position change at 2B. The time to win is now for the Padres. Though the rest of the division keeps improving, this franchise refuses to rest on their laurels.
PREVIEW: The Padres finished about where predicted but they came up way short in winning the division for the 11th consecutive year. Perhaps it was a little hangover from the World Series Title Run. But it still was an impressive run by Jgarron and his Padres. They went into the playoffs and breezed thru the first round and exacted revenge on the Diamondbacks in the DCS. They swept the #2 Marlins in the NLCS only to fall short in their repeat. Where they lost in 5 games to Cardinals and Tony Cortes . Last year the Padres were near the bottom in hitting(.246 Team BA), They were #1 in Pitching(3.51 ERA), and above average in fielding(95 Team Errors).In the offseason Jgarron re-signed Charlie Murray and Thomas Blake then he let Mann,Solano,Rando go to free agency.He released Beltre and traded away Bennett.Now with several players to replace Jgarron first signed free agents Gandarilla,Bradshaw and Diaz then traded for Brantley.The Padres play in a pitcher friendly ballpark so its no suprise they were tops in pitching and bad in hitting.Jgarron did bring in some power bats in Brantley and Diaz so they should improve the offense this season.The Padres will be tested by the up and comers in the division but they should at least win a W/C berth.PREDICTION:90-72
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LAST YEARS RECORD:91-71
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The Mariners did not make the post season as I predicted. It was probably due to their anemic hitting (.254 BA, 1441 hits). But I think the real culprit is the defense. Seattle had the 2nd worst defensive club last season with a .978 FPct and 130 Errors. On the bright side the pitching was very good (4.03 ERA , 1.31 WHIP).I still look at this team as an up and coming squad. They have the talent but their youth could make them erratic. This should be an up year.PREDICTION:88-74
OUT: Dave Webster , Herb Fingers , Curt Hall
IN: Pepper Fox
PREVIEW: Congrats to Toothdoc in getting the Mariners to the post seaon . My prediction for the playoffs was off by a year but better late than never. The young Mariners went into the post season and beat a tough Pittsburgh squad in 5 games and then lost to the Juggernaught Marlins in 5. It still was a respectable showing in the playoffs and the kids got some much needed playoff experience. The Mariners finished last year with near the bottom hitting(.252 team BA), The 4th best pitching(3.61 Team ERA), And a average fielding(104 Team Errors).In the offseason Toothdoc released Webster,Fingers and Hall. Then he signed Fox to fill the one open spot.This young team relies on its great pitching staff and they will lean on them again this season.By bringing in a veteran set-up guy, the Mariners will hold the scores down and try to eek out a win. They led the N L in 1 run wins last year with 30 of them.And I think they will not have as many this year, but they will be near the top in close games. This team could win the division or a wild card.PREDICTION:92-70
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LAST YEARS RECORD:87-75
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The team was not a Sleeper as predicted. They were comatose! Axtell pulled the plug on his struggling club last season by trading away M L Talent for younger players. He picked up some good ones like Andres Barrios , Bruce Broome , Rodrigo Ontiveros and Wayne Newhouser .The Rockies are built on power hitting and why not, Coors Field is a launching pad. But can this average pitching staff keep them in the park. I still think the Rockies have a good chance of a winning season but this is a tough division. PREDICTION:81-81
OUT: Octavio Torres , Juan Diaz , Trent Craddock , Alberto Garza , Keith Throneberry , Alex Trajano
IN: Tony Soriano , Peter Pastornicky , Ryan Moore , Hamish Gibbons , Larry Bates , Dude Colbrunn , Carl Maddox , Vin Flores
PREVIEW: Axtells Rockies did finish at the bottom of the N L West but they still had a good year. 87 wins was the best year Axtell has had with this team, and they seem to get better every year.Now axtell is in his 5th year in Mccabe and will look to get this Colorado team into the post season. Last year they were the #1 hitting team(.296 Team BA), 4th worst pitching(5.13 Team ERA), 2nd best Fielding(72 Team Errors).In the offseason Axtell let Torres,Diaz,Craddock and Garza go to free agency and released Throneberry.Then he traded away Trajano to the Brewers.With many holes to fill Axtell signed free agents Soriano,Pastornicky,Moore,Gibbons,Bates,Colbrunn and Maddox.Finally he traded for Flores to complete the Roster.It's no secret that the Rockies play in a hitters friendly park and they are built to win there.Thats why they were the #1 hitting team last year.But they also were the second best Fielding team so this will keep them in games on the road.Look for this up and coming team to fight for a wild card berth.To bad they play in such a tough division.PREDICTION:88-74
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