The Dodgers are going to win 130 games and blow away the NL West.<\/p>\n
Of course they\u2019re not going to do that. Isn\u2019t that what was said about the Dodgers last year? They won exactly one more game than the Cubs did.<\/p>\n
Obviously they\u2019re the favorites to win their division again, as they have done 12 times in the last 13 years, missing out only in 2021 when they won 106 games but the Giants had that freak 107-win year. (And then LA beat the Giants in the postseason anyway.)<\/p>\n
But a couple of other teams in this division have improved, and this division might be more competitive than you might think.<\/p>\n
Key departures: Jalen Beeks, Ildemaro Vargas, Jake McCarthy, Blaze Alexander<\/p>\n
Key arrivals: Nolan Arenado, Merrill Kelly, Carlos Santana, Paul Sewald, Jonathan Loaisiga, Michael Soroka<\/p>\n
Look at that \u201carrivals\u201d list. Looks like a 2019 All-Star team to me.<\/p>\n
The D-backs did bring back Zac Gallen, who was rumored for a while to be coming to the Cubs, and re-united with Merrill Kelly, who they traded to the Rangers last summer.<\/p>\n
The Cubs had Carlos Santana for a while last September. Remember that? Now he\u2019s expected to be at least a platoon first baseman for Arizona \u2014 and he\u2019ll turn 40 in April and hasn\u2019t been dominant since, yes, 2019.<\/p>\n
Nolan Arenado seems in career decline, too.<\/p>\n
The D-backs still do have some good younger players, including Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno. An injury to Corbin Carroll puts the start of his season in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
They finished 80-82 and it says here they won\u2019t be much better than that.<\/p>\n
At Wrigley Field: May 1-2-3<\/p>\n
At Arizona: Aug. 24-25-26<\/p>\n
SB Nation team site: AZ Snakepit<\/a><\/p>\n Key departures: Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez, Kyle Farmer, Thairo Estrada, Sam Hilliard, Ryan Rolison, Michael Toglia, Warming Bernabel, Anthony Molina, Drew Romo, Angel Chivilli<\/p>\n Key arrivals: John Brebbia, Nicky Lopez, Keegan Thompson, Jake McCarthy, Michael Lorenzen, Willi Castro, Edouard Julien, Valente Bellozo, Tomoyuki Sugano, Jos\u00e9 Quintana<\/p>\n There is almost no chance this Rockies team could be worse than last year\u2019s, which went 43-119, setting a franchise record. It was their third straight 100-loss season.<\/p>\n The Rockies actually played a bit better after starting the year 9-50. From that point until Aug. 31, they went 30-48, which is bad but not horrendous (it\u2019s a 62-100 pace for a full season). Then they went 4-21 in September, which, yikes.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve acquired a couple of decent veteran starters in Lorenzen, Sugano and Quintana and have a few decent young players in Hunter Goodman, Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar.<\/p>\n Like the 2025 White Sox, who improved by 20 wins over their 41-121 season in 2024, the Rockies could post a 60-win season. Which is still bad, but would be a significant step in the right direction.<\/p>\n At Wrigley Field: June 15-16-17<\/p>\n At Colorado: June 9-10-11<\/p>\n SB Nation team site: Purple Row<\/a><\/p>\n Key departures: Clayton Kershaw, Michael Conforto, Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates, Justin Dean, Tony Gonsolin, Ben Rortvedt, Esteury Ruiz, Anthony Banda<\/p>\n Key arrivals: Kyle Tucker, Edwin D\u00edaz, Cole Irvin, Michael Siani, Santiago Espinal<\/p>\n What can be said about the Dodgers that hasn\u2019t already been said?<\/p>\n Kyle Tucker will be a complementary piece in L.A., a different role than he was expected to play in Houston. So if he\u2019s healthy, that\u2019s a big jump for a Dodgers offense that didn\u2019t really need it (they led the NL in runs and home runs last year anyway).<\/p>\n The pitching rotation is its usual 11-deep, even after the retirement of Kershaw. And D\u00edaz will head up a very deep bullpen.<\/p>\n And Shohei Ohtani will do more Shohei Ohtani things and very possibly win a fourth straight MVP (and fifth overall).<\/p>\n The Dodgers will probably win this division again. Maybe this time the Cubs will see them in October. I suspect the Cubs would have given the Dodgers a more competitive NLCS than the Brewers did.<\/p>\n At Wrigley Field: Aug, 3-4-5<\/p>\n At Los Angeles: April 24-25-26<\/p>\n SB Nation team site: True Blue LA<\/a><\/p>\n Key departures: Luis Arr\u00e1ez, Dylan Cease, Nestor Cortes, Jose Iglesias, Ryan O\u2019Hearn, Robert Suarez<\/p>\n Key arrivals: Triston McKenzie, Jose Miranda, Marco Gonzales, Nick Castellanos, Ty France, Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez, Walker Buehler, Griffin Canning<\/p>\n The Padres are trying to address the departure of Dylan Cease with quantity \u2014 look at all the FA pitchers they signed. Who knows, maybe they can resurrect Walker Buehler into what he once was with the Dodgers. Griffin Canning is a good signing, and Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez should be better outside of Coors Field.<\/p>\n With Robert Suarez gone, mid-season acquisition Mason Miller moves into the closer role. He was lights-out (0.77 ERA, 0.729 WHIP, struck out 54.2 percent of batters faced, 45 of 83) as a setup guy last year, so if they can get the game to him they should win a lot of close ones.<\/p>\n At Wrigley Field: June 29-30-July 1<\/p>\n At San Diego: April 27-28-29<\/p>\n