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As the Putley picks continue we take a look at the Wild, Wild Western division of the National League. Four out of five teams should contend for the playoffs in this group. Here’s the order my crystal ball reveals:
Los Angeles Dodgers - I can’t stand this franchise and their National Debt payroll. Many fans show up fashionably late and leave early. Dodger Dogs are way overrated. Too many bandwagon celebrities. Don’t particularly care for Magic Johnson. And I’m tired of them signing every Japanese superstar and winning the West every year. And of course they’re favored to win another World Series this year. They have future Hall of Famers in the first three slots of their batting order and an absolute embarrassment of riches in their pitching rotation. And if there’s a weakness in the lineup they’ll fill it with a mid year trade to add another trillion or so to their employee compensation level. Yuck. I will concede that the Dodgers will win over 100 games and win this division, but I’m not picking them to repeat as World Champions. Stay tuned.
San Diego Padres - It’s almost a coin flip for me to decide the next three positions, but I’m going to predict the Padres to finish second. They have a strong lineup featuring Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis, Xander Bogaerts , three time batting champ Luis Arraez, super sophomore Jackson Merrill, and a strong pitching staff, especially if Yu Darvish comes back healthy after starting the season on the injury list. San Diego fans have waited long enough.
Arizona Diamondbacks - This team boasts a very deep starting rotation group led by perennial Cy Young candidate Corbin Burnes. They have a nice lineup which finds ways to score runs with timely hitting and speed on the base paths. Manager Torrey Lovullo gets results with his opportunistic strategy. They will be in the mix.
San Francisco Giants - This team has been trying to land a big free agent for several years, but has usually fallen short of the big prize. (You be the Judge as to whether some candidates were just using the Giants to drive up their eventual signing price) This year they were able to get Wily Adames, who hasn’t gotten a lot of attention playing in Milwaukee, but is an excellent player who I think will excel in San Francisco, playing alongside young hitters Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee. The Giants have good pitching depth featuring Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, and added Justin Verlander to mix. Can he tap in to the fountain of youth again? Don’t sleep on San Francisco - they would be picked higher than fourth in any other division!
Colorado Rockies - A beautiful ballpark in a great city, but a team that will contend for the title of worst in baseball with the White Sox. Their free agent signee from last year, Kris Bryant, has been a major disappointment. They have two solid ball players in Ryan McMahon and Brenton Doyle, but not much else to brag about . The fans who are in the stands are watching the Nuggets and talking about who the Broncos will draft.
That takes care of the National Laegue. American League picks to follow.
That’s one man’s opinion - whay’s yours?
Completely agree about the dodgers and the bandwagon following along with the riches they throe out there! Almost not fair in my humble opinion! Diamondbacks ate still in my top 4 overall teams for what that's worth! 😆 love reading these and look forward to the next article!!!