NL West

Not much has happened since I wrote about the Hot Stove last week – Ryan Dempster resigned with the Cubs, Jeremy Affeldt signed a curiously lucrative contract with the Giants, and Mike Mussina retired as the first major leaguer to crack 20 wins in his final season since Sandy fuckin Koufax! Still no movement on the big names yet. The pundits seem to think Sabathia will end up with the Angels, and they may be right. But I see that money being spent on Teixeira and possibly another live arm down in the pen, in case Jose Arredondo doesn’t live up to his stuff. Since I already covered the Dodgers, Cubs, Yankees, and Red Sox, I will go through the divisions the next few days – so let’s start out here, with the rest of the NL West. Obviously, there are much more reputable sources to get this info, this is simply my take . . .

San Diego Padres: Remember when the Padres were a half inning away from the playoffs a year ago? Jake Peavy was the Cy Young winner, and the Friars looked poised to dominate the admittedly weak division for years to come? Seems like a long time ago. The franchise has become deeply dysfunctional. John Moores, the team’s owner, is going through a nasty and public divorce and the team itself is up for grabs. He has ordered payroll slashed, and many of his marquee names are on the trading block. Adding fuel to the fire, Kevin Towers – who has made the Padres much more successful than they deserved to be during his tenure – now has to get all personnel moves approved by special assistant Paul DePodesta (or, as Dodger fans call him, Paul fucking DePodesta). The Peavy situation has been well publicized, but the Padres are going to have to take much less than they are asking. The Cubs dropped out with the re-signing of Dempster. The Braves refuse to give up blue-chippers pitcher Tommy Hanson or centerfielder Jordan Schafer, and the Padres seem to think the Yunel Escobar, Gorkys Hernandez and Jo-Jo Reyes/Charlie Morton isn’t enough for their ace. They asked for Matt Kemp or Clayton Kershaw from the Dodgers, which simply ain’t going to happen. How about Jason Repko and Scott Elbert? Ha Ha . . . They have put feelers out to the Yankees, but New York has shown a tendency to buy their players and avoid trades – why give up young talent when you can simply buy veterans as needed? The Braves offer is going to get more and more attractive as the offseason moves on – especially if Towers manages to move Khalil Greene, who has generated some interest from St. Louis. But that probably won’t happen until Rafael Furcal, Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera land somewhere first. Bright spots are limited. They picked up the 9 million dollar option on the vastly underrated Brian Giles, who will be rejoining young studs Wil Venable and Chase Headley in the outfield. Kevin Kouzmanoff has star potential, and Adrian Gonzales blossomed into one of the top hitters in the league this year. But that’s about it . . .

San Francisco Giants – The post-Barry rebuild continues in San Francisco, who have a nasty stable of young starting pitchers led by Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, and can slam the door with one of the top closers in baseball, Brian Wilson. What do they need? A big bat, first and foremost. Bruce Bochy does not want to spend another year writing Bengie Molina’s name in the cleanup spot. Early rumors of a Matt Cain for Prince Fielder deal seem shaky, but may resurface if the Brewers can’t hold on to CC or Ben Sheets. GM Brian Sabean seems more comfortable dangling lefty Jonathan Sanchez rather than the top-of-the-rotation Cain anyway. They let Brad Hennessey, Kevin Correia, and Tyler Walker go, so they need bullpen help – explaining the Jeremy Affeldt deal. Omar Visquel and Rich Aurilia are free agents, and while Visquel won’t be back (Sabean: “No chance”) look for a late offseason resign of Aurilia, who had a respectable year filling in at both first and third. The Giants, like the rest of the division, seem to be embracing a youth movement. Beyond their pitching, they have a core of young position players – Emmanuel Burriss, Fred Lewis, and Pablo Sandoval - who all look to have primary roles. Farmhands Buster Posey (catcher) and Conor Gillespie (corner IF) may have a shot at the big club as well. It looks like Sabean will spend the offseason dangling Randy Winn and one of his young pitchers for a power bat, but don’t count out a free agent signing. They have surfaced as suitors for Rafael Furcal and Manny Ramirez, and it would be just like them to fleece the Dodgers . . . I think the Giants will be a strong, young, and hungry team next year; however Bochy’s laid back, “player’s manager” style worries me with so many youngsters.

Arizona Diamondbacks – The Dbacks had a rough finish to the 2008 season, blowing a 4.5 game lead with 28 to play to Manny and the Dodgers and seeing their two aces, Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, blow a few big games each down the stretch. The addition of Adam Dunn was a disappointment, Chris Young was underwhelming and Justin Upton spent a good portion of the season hurt, and then underperformed down the stretch. He’s no BJ, at least not yet. According to GM Josh Byrnes, they have about 10 mil to spend next year on free agents. The chance of a trade is negligible; they have unloaded a lot of prospects the last few years for the likes of Dunn and Jon Rauch, their farm is weak. Right now their biggest problem is the logjam in the outfield. Conor Jackson had a stellar year, and proved to be a better leftfielder than first baseman and a better hitter than Eric Byrnes. With Jackson in left and Young and Upton in center and right, Byrnes, at 11 mil a year and with a no trade clause, is an expensive fourth outfielder. One solution gaining traction in Phoenix is moving Jackson back to first, Chad Tracy to third, and Mark Reynolds to second to fill in after Orlando Hudson’s presumed departure. However, with corner guys Josh Whitesell and Jamie D’Antona torching the PCL, using Tracy as trade bait and simply resigning David Eckstein as a temporary solution at second may be more likely. Byrnes will have to compete. The brightest spot for the Dbacks coming in to ’09 is Max Scherzer, who was impressive – nearly unhittable at times - during his short stint as a starter and will look to join Haren, Webb, and Doug Davis as a permanent fixture in the rotation. The Dbacks will be in the mix, no doubt . . .

Colorado Rockies – Wow. Not much to say here. They dealt Holliday. Rumor is they are shopping Atkins as well, which won’t be as big of a blow because Ian Stewart is better than Atkins and can hit on the road. They can’t afford Brian Fuentes. Josh Francis was a fluke. Ubaldo Jimenez has great stuff, and could be poised for a breakout year. But who knows what that stadium does to a young pitcher’s psyche? On the farm they have an A-List 5 tool switch-hitter in Double A, Dexter Fowler, who we saw a bit of in September. That makes Wily Taverez expendable. Also Eric Young Jr., son of former Rockie and current ESPN douchebag pundit Eric Young, could get a look at second. I expect the Rockies to be in a stiff competition with the Padres for the cellar.