Again, my apologies if you are a fan of one of the following teams.  It’s not that I don’t care about your franchise, but…if I may quote Winston Wolf: time is of the essence.  I’d like to write a full preview of three teams in particular before Opening Day (I’m sure you can guess which teams), and for this to happen, I have to breeze through some others.  Like the career of Creighton Gubanich, these will be quick.

The following two teams are the NL West squads I have yet to cover.

Arizona Diamondbacks 2009 Team Preview:

Projected Pitching Staff:

1) Brandon Webb
2) Danny Haren
3) Max Scherzer
4) Jon Garland
5) Doug Davis

Chad Qualls
Tony Pena
Jon Rauch
Yusmeiro Petit
Scott Schoeneweis
Billy Buckner
Juan Gutierrez

Projected Hitters:
1. 2B Felipe Lopez
2. CF Chris Young
3. SS Stephen Drew
4. LF Conor Jackson
5. RF Justin Upton
6. 1B Chad Tracy
7. 3B Mark Reynolds
8. C Chris Snyder

Eric Byrnes – OF
Miguel Monteiro – C
Augie Ojeda – SS
Tony Clark – 1B
Ryan Roberts – 2B/3B

The guy everyone will be watching in that rotation is 24-year-old Max Scherzer, a phenom with a mid-90’s fastball and a 10.6 K/9 in his 2008 debut.  If Scherzer reaches his ceiling, Arizona could have the best front three in the National League.  The lineup is full of upside, as Upton and Young both have superstar potential, and Stephen Drew has established himself as one of the better shortstops in the league.  Defensively, it’s a mixed bag.  Their outfield is decent, but their infield is lackluster.

Rotation Grade: B+
Bullpen Grade: D+
Lineup Grade: B
Fielding Grade: C+
OVERALL SCORE: 70 (B/B-) 

Colorado Rockies 2009 Team Preview:

Projected Pitching Staff:

1) Aaron Cook
2) Ubaldo Jiminez
3) Franklin Morales
4) Jorge De La Rosa
5) Jason Marquis

Manny Corpas
Huston Street
Taylor Buchholz
Ryan Speier
Jason Grilli
Alan Embree
Glendon Rusch

Projected Hitters:

1. CF Ryan Spilborghs
2. SS Troy Tulowitzki
3. 1B Todd Helton
4. 3B Garrett Atkins
5. RF Brad Hawpe
6. C Chris Iannetta
7. LF Seth Smith
8. 2B Clint Barmes

Ian Stewart – 2B/3B
Yorvit Torrealba – C
Jeff Baker – 1B/OF
Dexter Fowler – OF
Omar Quintanilla – INF

We’re a long way from 2007, aren’t we?  Who would have thought that Matt Holliday’s replacement would be the immortal Seth Smith (most notably Papelbon’s final victim in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series).  If I were Clint Hurdle, I would just punt defense and start Ian Stewart at 2B, but that’s me.  That rotation might be cruising for a bruising next season, without Jeff Francis for the year and counting on a couple of shaky pitchers to keep games close in Coors Field.  Defensively, the Rockies have a good middle infield, but they are very shaky in several other key areas (RF, 3B, CF)

Rotation Grade: D
Bullpen Grade: B-
Lineup Grade: C+
Fielding Grade: C-
OVERALL SCORE: 52.6 (C) 

That does it for the NL west.  Next up, I’ll finish up the remaining AL Central teams (Cleveland, Minnesota, Chicago).

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