Editorials

Dodgers: Which Team Stands in the Way of Another NL West Title?

No one in baseball expected the Giants to do what they did last season. All year long it seemed like analysts were just waiting for them to stumble out of the NL West lead and for the Dodgers to dominate. That never happened though.

Injuries derailed the Dodgers and San Francisco flat out played good baseball from start to finish. It was wild to watch, and it came down to the wire in the West for the first time since the Rockies were good. But who stands in the way of an NL West crown this season?



You can basically forget about the Rockies and Diamondbacks with both teams somehow already out of contention. But the Padres and Giants should give the Dodgers a tough time all season long, it’s just a matter of which team steps up.

Padres

The PECOTA projections have the Padres finishing with 90 wins this season, 10 less than what the Dodgers are projected at. They went out and added some big-name talent this offseason too, most recently trading for A’s starter Sean Manaea. 

They also landed Luke Voit in a trade with the Yankees and got Matt Beaty from Los Angeles. But they lost Fernando Tatis Jr to wrist surgery and he is not expected back until Summer. That’s a huge blow for a team that relies on Tatis for a lot of their production. 

If they can get more potential ot of their starting rotation, the Padres should win more than 90 games. But that’s a big if. 

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Giants

Given what they were able to do last season, it’s a surprise that PECOTA has them at just 78 wins this year. But Farhan Zaidi once again has assembled a starting staff that could give the Dodgers problems this year. They lost Kevin Gausman but added Carlos Rodon to the mix. 

They also added Joc Pederson via free agency and will have most of their usual position players from last season there as well. Kris Bryant is gone, which is a relief to many in Los Angeles. But other than that, Gabe Kapler should have a pretty good ball club on his hands. 

The Padres are the better team on paper between the two but don’t count out San Francisco. 

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One Comment

  1. Giants lost Posey and should not expect a resurgence from all of their other old dudes like Crawford, Longoria, or Belt. 78 wins…..lol

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