Baseball 2021 (NL West)

Happy Opening Day Eve!  With the season set to begin tomorrow, I've saved the best for last.  It's only fitting to start this year talking about the team that was holding up the trophy at the end of last year.  The Dodgers had to wait 32 years to finally capture another World Series title, and, if possible, the 2021 edition of the team may even be better!

While there's very little argument that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball, I'd argue that the NL West might be home to the two best teams in baseball!  Because the San Diego Padres would be the runaway favorites if they played in any other division.  As it is, another second-place finish seems inevitable, but they've closed the gap considerably while also widening the gap with the rest of the division.

It would be a massive shock if the Dodgers and Padres didn't finish 1-2.  The only question there is how close San Diego will be able to make it.  As for the Giants, Diamondbacks and Rockies, they're in their own race for third place.  And that should actually be fairly tight, since not much separates those three teams.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers: Only the Dodgers can win the World Series AND convince the reigning Cy Young winner to sign with them as a No. 3 starter.  Let's not forget they've also added David Price, who was a throw-in in the Mookie Betts trade and opted out of last season.  Clearly his absence had no impact on their 2020 fortunes!  It really is ridiculous the abundance of riches they have.  Two out of the three in the Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Julio Urias triumvirate are headed to the bullpen.  Oh yeah, and they added former Brewers closer Corey Knebel for further bullpen reinforcements.

Is it any surprise then that they're the odds-on favorites to repeat as champions?  It's ridiculous how good this team is!  Keeping Justin Turner in the fold was big, but some of their free agent losses were actually just as significant.  Joc Pederson is now with the Cubs and Kike Hernandez is with the Red Sox.  So now they don't have to worry about getting everybody at bats and can play their "primary" lineup on a regular basis.  They also finally have room for second baseman Gavin Lux, my pick for NL Rookie of the Year, who didn't even make the team last season after a bad Summer Camp.  So, yeah, business as usual in LA.  Another 100-win season and another division title seem likely, but they only care about what happens in October.  Can they become the first team since the 1998-2000 Yankees to win back-to-back World Series titles?
Projected Lineup: Mookie Betts-RF, Corey Seager-SS, Justin Turner-3B, Max Muncy-1B, Will Smith-C, Cody Bellinger-CF, A.J. Pollock-LF, Gavin Lux-2B
Projected Rotation: Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Trevor Bauer, David Price, Dustin May
Closer: Kenley Jansen
Projected Record: 101-61

2. San Diego Padres: After a few years of building a contender through some shrewd free agent signings of sluggers, the Padres finally broke through last season and earned a playoff berth.  Of course, with how loaded the Dodgers are, they had to settle for a wild card, which meant facing their dominant division rivals in the Division Series.  And that series showed them that they weren't quite there yet.  If they want to seriously contend with the Dodgers, they needed to upgrade their pitching.  Big time!

So, what do the Padres do this offseason?  Load up on pitching and then some.  On the same day, they swung trades for Rays ace Blake Snell AND Cubs ace Yu Darvish, then they traded for the Pirates' Joe Musgrove in January.  With holdovers Dinelson Lamet and Chris Paddack, they now have the pitching to match their hitting, and they're ready to make another run.  They're the only team that has any chance of hanging with the Dodgers in this division.  Even if they can't, they're more than good enough to claim a wild card berth.  The Padres might be the second-best team in the National League.  Unfortunately, they're stuck in the same division as the first-best.
Projected Lineup: Trent Grisham-CF, Tommy Pham-LF, Manny Machado-3B, Fernando Tatis Jr.-SS, Eric Hosmer-1B, Wil Myers-RF, Victor Caratini-C, Jake Cronenworth-2B
Projected Rotation: Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Dinelson Lamet, Joe Musgrove, Chris Paddack
Closer: Emilio Pagan
Projected Record: 90-72

3. San Francisco Giants: In the NL West, there's the two playoff teams, then the other three.  And San Francisco's probably the best of those three.  All that means, however, is the Giants should finish third.  They're nowhere near the same level as the Dodgers and Padres, and they're not likely to challenge for a wild card either.  The best they can hope for is a push for .500, which is definitely possible.

The pitching staff, led by Johnny Cueto and Kevin Gausman, is capable of holding its own against top teams.  And the lineup has the potential to do damage if everyone can stay healthy at the same time, which has been their biggest problem over the past several years.  Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford are the last remaining links to the World Series teams from a decade ago (has it really been a decade?), while Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson look like All-Stars in the making.  Ultimately, it'll be up to the lineup to determine how far the Giants can go.  They're probably not gonna challenge the Dodgers or Padres regardless.  But if they can get the hitting to match their pitching, who knows?
Projected Lineup: Donovan Solano-2B, Brandon Belt-1B, Mike Yastrzemski-RF, Evan Longoria-3B, Alex Dickerson-LF, Buster Posey-C, Brandon Crawford-SS, Mauricio Dubon-CF
Projected Rotation: Johnny Cueto, Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Logan Webb, Alex Wood
Closer: Tyler Rogers
Projected Record: 78-84

4. Arizona Diamondbacks: Arizona made the playoffs in 2017, then won 82 games in 2018 and 85 in 2019 before slipping to 25-35 last year.  They finish 18 games back in a 60 game season (of course, the Dodgers' going 43-17 had a lot to do with that!).  Sadly, I think it'll be more of the same for the 2021 Diamondbacks.  They've traded most of their worthwhile players over the past few seasons, leaving them without much to get you excited about.

Madison Bumgarner enters his second season in the desert looking to rebound from a disastrous 2020 that saw him go 1-4 with a 6.48 ERA.  That's certainly not the type of production the D-backs were expecting when they signed him!  If Bumgarner can get his act together and even vaguely resemble the future Hall of Famer he was on the Giants, Arizona's chances of having a .500ish season improve greatly.  If not, it'll be a long, hot summer for the Diamondbacks.  Because the offense isn't gonna give the pitching staff much help.  Their lineup simply pales in comparison to their division rivals.  Ketel Marte, Christian Walker and Eduardo Escobar are the only guys they have left who can put any fear into opponents.
Projected Lineup: Ketel Marte-CF, Nick Ahmed-SS, Christian Walker-1B, Eduardo Escobar-3B, David Peralta-LF, Tim Locastro-RF, Carson Kelly-C, Josh Rojas-2B
Projected Rotation: Madison Bumgarner, Merrill Kelly, Caleb Smith, Tyler Widener, Luke Weaver
Closer: Joakim Soria
Projected Record: 74-88

5. Colorado Rockies: You knew it would probably reach this point eventually.  Nolan Arenado's and the Rockies' frustration with each other finally boiled over into his being traded to the Cardinals for pretty much nothing.  And, with that, the Rockies' best player is no longer in Colorado and the rebuilding process is officially on.  The only question really is how bad this season will be.  Can they reach 70 wins?  It'll be a struggle, frankly.

Offense isn't the problem in Colorado.  It never has been.  Even without Arenado, the Rockies are plenty capable of mashing their share of homers.  But, as has often been the story throughout their nearly 30-year history, it won't be enough to carry the day.  I've actually heard of a good number of their pitchers (which is more than I can say for Arizona!), but that doesn't mean I'd trust any of them in a big game situation.  Unfortunately, they're looking at a lot of 12-10 and 9-7 losses.
Projected Lineup: Charlie Blackmon-RF, Garrett Hampson-CF, Trevor Story-SS, C.J. Cron-1B, Ryan McMahon-3B, Brendan Rogers-2B, Elias Diaz-C, Raimel Tapia-LF
Projected Rotation: German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, Jon Gray, Austin Gomber
Closer: Daniel Bard
Projected Record: 70-92

And with that, I've officially given you my two cents about each of baseball's six divisions.  My American League division winners are the Yankees (East), Twins (Central) and Athletics (West), with the Astros meeting the White Sox in the Wild Card Game.  The real races will be in the National League, where I see the Braves (East), Cardinals (Central) and Dodgers (West) emerging as division champions, and a Mets-Padres matchup in the Wild Card Game.  In the end, though, I think the Dodgers and Yankees are the clear best teams in each league, so that's my World Series pick.  And, call me crazy, but I'm taking LA to repeat.