2011 NL West Division Winner

[WCTYSON]

Take your pick of the Division winner and give you reason why. Feel free to also post your guess for the final standings too. I will take the winners from each poll and make a WS poll for the finalist.:)!

Rockies
Giants
Dodgers
Diamondbacks
Padres

[Nodie27]

Giants
Dodgers
Rockies
Diamondbacks
Padres

As a Dodgers fan it's hard to put the Giants #1 to win it but their core players are so young and are only going to get better. Their pitching rotation (minus Zito) is very strong and their bullpen is solid. Sandoval should have a bounce back season and Posey will keep it up. Dodgers haven't done much this off season and depends on how Ethier and Kemp do this season for their offense. It's wishful thinking to have them finish 2nd

[tehchamp]

If the Rockies actually play to their potential, they are a 95 win team. Their lineup could be among the best in baseball, they have that much potential.
The pitching is up in the air.
Was last year the Ubaldo we will see again? Will he be better/worse?
Chacin, is what he did last year what we can expect from him this year?
De La Rosa, will he be consistent?
I love the outlook on this team though. I'm excited to be a Rockies fan, every year now they seem to be in contention.

But seriously I do love the outlook of their lineup.

[Newbs]

Probably a homer pick but gotta go with my Giants. They are not a great offensive team but their pitching is outstanding, from the starters (minus Zito, although he was a bit better last year than years past in SF) to the bullpen led by the beard. Hoping the offense is a bit better this year. Pablo cut some weight, so hopefully that has a positive effect, Posey should continue to play well like he did last year. Our pitching will keep us on games for the most part, yes, there will be the days that they have an off day every now and again, but for the most part they should keep us in a lot of games, especially those one run games. I do think that the divison will be another close race. I look for the Dodgers to rebound, the Rockies have a pretty good team out there. The Padres will miss Gonzalez' bat, but they have the pitching to stay in games. The D'backs, well, they could potentially be a dark horse. I work with their Triple A team and they have a good group of young players. They should be better than last season. Might be a couple years before they contend though.

[WCTYSON]

Probably a homer pick but gotta go with my Giants. They are not a great offensive team but their pitching is outstanding, from the starters (minus Zito, although he was a bit better last year than years past in SF) to the bullpen led by the beard. Hoping the offense is a bit better this year. Pablo cut some weight, so hopefully that has a positive effect, Posey should continue to play well like he did last year. Our pitching will keep us on games for the most part, yes, there will be the days that they have an off day every now and again, but for the most part they should keep us in a lot of games, especially those one run games. I do think that the divison will be another close race. I look for the Dodgers to rebound, the Rockies have a pretty good team out there. The Padres will miss Gonzalez' bat, but they have the pitching to stay in games. The D'backs, well, they could potentially be a dark horse. I work with their Triple A team and they have a good group of young players. They should be better than last season. Might be a couple years before they contend though.

Not a homer pick.;) They are WS champs. I just think the Rockies are a better all around team.:)!

[migraine]

Giants:flex::flex::flex::flex:


me=homer:D

[tehchamp]

One thing about the Giants is you gotta start to wonder about the healthiness of that pitching staff. One of the reasons why they won the WS is how healthy they stayed in that spot.
I'm not saying they are due, but it is something to watch out for. I don't expect the full rotation to stay healthy though.

[38stud]

Unless Lincecum and Cain have major arm issues or something, I just can't pick any other team to win the NL West.

[BroncosFAN#1]

Rockies avoid injuries and they dominate that division. They will be good this year if the pictching is a lil better. They will have the best 3-4 combo in the league maybe

[enginedown]

I voted for my Padres. Yes, it's a homer pick, but I don't think it's completely unreasonable.

The Rockies and Giants are the two strongest teams. But don't forget that they also won 12 of 18 vs the Giants last year. The Padres won 90 games, all while struggling to score runs. Pitching and defense could get us there again.

"But you traded Adrian Gonzalez!! The offense will be way worse!!"

It's possible, but overall I think the lineup is improved. There are some big question marks, but it's not unreasonable to think that Hudson will be better than Eckstein/Hairston Jr, Bartlett will be better than Cabrera/Hairston Jr/Tejada, and Maybin will be better than Gwynn Jr. Ludwick should be better (he was incredibly unlucky last season), and hopefully Venable, Headley, Hundley continue to improve, and Hawpe/Cantu could make for a very serviceable platoon at 1st.

The bullpen will be pretty much the same (all the bullpen pieces we traded in the offseason weren't major pieces in 2010), and the starting pitching will be pretty much the same. Harang could be just as good/lucky as Garland was in 2010. Latos, Richard, Stauffer, Leblanc will continue to improve. Luebke will get a full year with Castro and maybe Kelly (but probably not) getting a look later in the season.

All in all, I really think the Padres could repeat what they did last year. It's going to take some luck, and a whole lot of 1-run wins, but it's possible. Pitching and defense.

Padres 90-72
Rockies 88-74
Giants 88-74
Dodgers 81-81
Dbacks 76-86

[chansen10]

As long as posey and tim lim dont get hurt this will be the best team in the division for a few years :)

[houdini]

Gotta go with the Giants.

[BOWMANLORD99]

POSSE.......

[piazza31]

Padres
Giants
Dodgers
Rockies
DBacks

:)! thats how i see it playing out but i see a legitimate shot for any team to win it in the division :)! (except arizona OF COURSE lol :D)

[Abracadaver]

Giants
Padres
Rockies
Dodgers
Diamonbacks

[tehchamp]

I fail to see how Padres or Dodgers even come close to winning the division.
The Rockies have a lineup that no other NL West team can match plus have good depth. Pitching is solid as long as no injuries occur. Outstanding team.
Giants have incredible pitching and a decent lineup. Heck, reigning WS Champs for crying out loud.
Padres lost their most valuable position player and hoping to remain the same team with other scraps? I don't see it. Yes, the pitching is solid, but I don't expect some of those guys to have the same stellar seasons. Plus, they could lose Bell in a trade.
Dodgers I just don't believe they'll put it all together to get the 90+ wins to win the division.

[WCTYSON]

Did a lot of people pick the Giants last year? Then why are so many picking them this year. They are the exact same team, right?

[7290morint]

Here is my pick for final standings...

Rockies
Giants
Padres
Dodgers
Diamondbacks

The Rockies just need to show up and play for the whole season instead of September; they are for sure the best all around team. I think the Giants will definitely put up a good fight providing they don't keep Brandon Belt in AAA too long. No way the Padres put up enough offense considering they traded their only real offensive weapon in Adrian Gonzalez. Dodgers are hampered by the fact that Frank McCourt is a moron and is going to be forced to sell the team and the Diamondbacks have Justin Upton who still hasn't lived up to his potential. Although, he is still young...

[cj52racers]

Giants
Dodgers
Rockies
Diamondbacks
Padres

As a Dodgers fan it's hard to put the Giants #1 to win it but their core players are so young and are only going to get better. Their pitching rotation (minus Zito) is very strong and their bullpen is solid. Sandoval should have a bounce back season and Posey will keep it up. Dodgers haven't done much this off season and depends on how Ethier and Kemp do this season for their offense. It's wishful thinking to have them finish 2nd

I agree with you on your list and I am not sure what all the hate with Zito is. Is he way overpaid? Yes, definitely. However, he is probably the best 5th pitcher in baseball. He had a decent year last year and he could spring up and have a good year, he definitely has the talent. If he was pitcher 1 or 2 in the rotation, then he would be a problem, but being that he is 5th in the rotation then he is an incredible asset. Money is the only issue.

[Nodie27]

I agree with you on your list and I am not sure what all the hate with Zito is. Is he way overpaid? Yes, definitely. However, he is probably the best 5th pitcher in baseball. He had a decent year last year and he could spring up and have a good year, he definitely has the talent. If he was pitcher 1 or 2 in the rotation, then he would be a problem, but being that he is 5th in the rotation then he is an incredible asset. Money is the only issue.

I just wouldn't call him a strong pitcher. I mean i've seen him pitch enough times to know he isn't reliable in must win situations. He has shown flashes of his previous greatness but i just think when giving their team credit for great pitching, he's an after thought.

[cj52racers]

I just wouldn't call him a strong pitcher. I mean i've seen him pitch enough times to know he isn't reliable in must win situations. He has shown flashes of his previous greatness but i just think when giving their team credit for great pitching, he's an after thought.

Oh I agree, for the money he is not a good value at all. However, like I said, there isn't a better 5th rotation guy in the league.

This last bit has no bearing on the argument, but I thought it was pretty awesome he was in the dugout every game of the playoff run despite being left off the roster. Glad to see that even through a tough couple years and there being no monetary gain the guy stuck by the team.

[frankiecgsw]

giants! thats cause they are my team. but the rockies creep up every year so they are legit.it was epic with giants/rockies towards the end.

[ItsYourBoyBlue]

I am a Padres fan, but I picked the Giants. If their bats can produce, they have one of the best starting rotations in baseball to back it up, and Wilson is a beast out in the pen. I'm thinking they should be able to repeat as NL West champs, but I don't think it will be easy by any means.

The Padres lineup lost their best hitter, but improved from top to bottom otherwise. Petco is a pitchers park and we had arguably the best pen in the league last year. If we can score runs we can win 90+ again. That 10 game losing streak is what killed them last year, so I'm anxious to see how this new roster does this season.

As most people have said the Rockies are a very solid team, if their pitching holds up all season in Coors they'll be right there as usual. They always make that late season run and I don't see any reason for it not to happen again. Needless to say it should make for a very entertaining race.

As for the Dodgers and D'backs, Dodgers could be up there if they can sort out their bullpen and get Eithier back on track. D'backs... yea nothing for ya.

Giants
Padres
Rockies
Dodgers
Diamondbacks

Yup, I know, same as the results from last year, but I don't see much changing.

[WCTYSON]

Maybe I am not giving the Padres enough credit in this division but it seems that most are giving the Giants too much credit. The Giants have a great pitching staff but I think to many things went right for the Giants last year. I do not see them making the playoffs.

[ItsYourBoyBlue]

Last year they wouldn't have made the playoffs if the Padres hadn't lost their minds and 10 in a row. We still had a chance to take it back towards the end, but the fact that we could barely score runs made things difficult.

[tehchamp]

Last year they wouldn't have made the playoffs if the Padres hadn't lost their minds and 10 in a row. We still had a chance to take it back towards the end, but the fact that we could barely score runs made things difficult.

Heck the Rockies very well could have won if they didn't go just 1-13 in their remaining 14 games of the season.

Pretty much all those games were close too. 9 games decided by 1-2 runs, 1 game by 3 runs.

They also had that terrible start to the 2nd half with 11 road games vs Cincy, Florida and Philly going 2-9. This was when Tulo was still out.

[cj52racers]

And at the end of June beginning of July the Giants lost 10 of 12. Every team has bad streaks. Yeah if the Padres wouldn't of lost 10 straight then they would have beat the Giants, but the Giants had to win those games in August/September in they did.

[Kent Clements]

Giants
Rockies
Dodgers
Padres
D-Backs

Giants have the best all-around team in the division.If all teams stay healthy,Giants will win because of "Kung Foo Panda"!!!


Kent

[WCTYSON]

The highest vote getters will be listed for a WS poll. Taking votes for each division in baseball until the end of the week.

[WCTYSON]

Time to get those votes in. Time is running out. I will take votes on each division through the weekend and make the WS poll on Mon.

[WCTYSON]

Last night to vote for division winners. I am however going to do another poll for the remaining 4 spots on the final WS poll.

[Fonda1119]

Giants
Rockies
Dodgers
Padres
Dbacks

I just can't see any other team other than SF or Colorado winning that division.

The Giants have the best rotation in baseball (yeah, I'd take theirs over Philly's for the simple fact that an average SF lineup beat Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Hamels in the postseason last year). Posey, Belt, Huff, Torres, and a slimmed down Sandoval make the lineup look pretty darn good.

Colorado has a fantastic mix of players. And they made one of the best under-the-radar signings of the offseason when they acquired John Maine. If he stays healthy he could be a solid #2 or #3.