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NL West Division - Manny's Dodgers are the Early Favorites

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National League West Future Wagering

Spring training is winding down, the World Baseball Classic has been played, and future book wagering on Major League Baseball is full of great bets for the upcoming MLB season.

There wasn’t a more interesting division in baseball in 2008 than the N.L. West.  The Los Angeles Dodgers stormed back later on in the summer to win the division.

A lot of L.A.’s success had to do with the trade for Manny Ramirez.  Los Angeles has since signed Ramirez to a two year deal.  With Manny back in the fold will Los Angeles once again win the N.L. West?

Let’s analyze the odds of each team in the sportsbook to win the N.L. West Division.

National League West Futures:

  1. Arizona Diamondbacks +140 - - The D’Backs bring back one of the strongest rotations in baseball.  With Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Doug Davis and Jon Garland, Arizona should be in a good position to win most of their games in the later innings.  The problem is with their bats. Where is the power coming from?  Arizona doesn’t have a reliable home run hitter in the line-up.  They will have to manufacture runs in order to win games.
  1. Colorado Rockies +750 - - The Rockies can hit but their problem, unlike Arizona, is with their starting rotation.  Aaron Cook is a decent pitcher but with an ERA of 3.96, he’s not the guy you want to count on to shut down an opposing team at least once a week.  Ubaldo Jimenez, second in the rotation has an ERA of close to 4.00.  That means the Rockies probably lose a lot of 10 to 8 games this season.
  1. Los Angeles Dodgers +150 - - The Dodgers bring back Manny.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that their top pitcher in the rotation is Chad Billingsley who began to take charge last season but has serious mental collapses at times on the mound.  Second in the rotation is Hiroki Kuroda who was fantastic during some games last year, but Kuroda is a year older and the N.L. has had a chance to see his stuff.  They will adjust to Hiroki.  After that, the rotation is simply awful unless Clay Kershaw improves.  The Dodgers have a lot of power and speed with Rafael Furcal, Russell Martin, James Loney and Manny but it won’t do them any good if they give up too many runs in games. 
  1. San Diego Padres +1200 - - The Padres should have no chance in the N.L. West.  They still have Jake Peavy, perhaps the best pitcher in the National League, but other than that this team is just awful on paper.  No power at all in their line-up and after Peavy, there’s nobody in the rotation that’s gong to scare any of the other teams in the N.L. West.  Chris Young could bounce back from a horrid 2008 to be a nice starter again, but gamblers shouldn’t count on it.
  1. San Francisco Giants +450 - - In Tim Lincecum, the Giants have a serious shut down pitcher.  He’s an amazing talent and deserved the Cy Young in 2008 even though he played for an awful team.  After Lincecum both Matt Cain and Randy Johnson can have monster days.  The signing of Edgar Renteria at short-stop was huge.  There are a lot of things to like about the 2009 Giants but expecting them to win the division might be asking too much.  This team is about a year or two away from really being a force.

And the Winner is…

Los Angeles Dodgers at +150

Analysis:  I hate to say it but the Dodgers are still the best in the N.L. West.  I have no real faith in their starting rotation but there are so many holes with the other teams, the D’Backs can’t hit, the Giants are too inexperienced, the Padres are just awful, and the Rockies have no pitching. They have something that no other team does, the Phil Jackson of baseball in Joe Torre.  With Torre calling the shots, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley improving, and Hiroki Kuroda being able to win a few games, L.A. should take down another N.L. West title.