San Francisco Giants: Keeping up with the NL West

While a lot of the San Francisco Giants fanbase has been paying attention to what their own team is doing, there are still four others that matter pretty heavily to the San Francisco Giants. Let’s see what the rest of the West is up to.

The San Francisco Giants are probably the most “will they, won’t they” team in their division. The Rockies are solid, but questions remain whether or not their pitching can match what it was last year. Still, they’re expected to be a contender, and at least above .500. The Dodgers are expected to compete, no doubt. But then after that it’s three question marks.

However, the question marks next to the Diamondbacks and Padres isn’t necessarily to question their status as contender or pretender, but rather to question whether or not they take a step forward in 2019. The Diamondbacks were solid to start they year, but collapsed significantly around the end of the season. Now they’ve sold off to rebuild and the question mark is what type of step they take.

The Padres also have all this potential, but potential is still a question mark until it becomes a proven commodity. So will all their top 100 prospects turn into proven commodities? Probably not in 2019. So again, the question begs, how far forward of a step do they take?

Then there is the Giants. Old, not as expensive anymore, and with a very new direction. Still, the same championship core is intact. While they’ve been awful the past two years, there is still the championship pedigree. Do they rally themselves together again? Who knows. But the largest range for volatility still lies with the Giants. So now, we have to really analyze where the rest of the West is.

San Diego Padres

2018 Record: 66-96

2019 Vegas Prediction: 77-85

Players In for 2019: Garrett Richards, Ian Kinsler, Matt Szczur, Manny Machado

Players out for 2019: Freddy Galvis, Clayton Richard

So the Padres added (another) washed up infielder, and a starter to a team that was lucky to not lost 100 games, but somehow that pitching staff will be good enough to add 11 games to their win total? Do they all come from the Diamondbacks (the answer is no, and you’ll see later).

Vegas predictions don’t always have a ton of merit, especially in early season win totals. So we’ll see how the free agent market shakes out, and what the total sits at before the season starts. For the Padres to take an 11 win step forward, you’d be asking a lot from guys who have never been in the big leagues, or haven’t quite taken the step forward.

Don’t get me wrong, the Padres have a lot of young talent. Fernando Tatis, Cal Quantrill, Logan Allen, Luis Urias, Francisco Mejia, and Fernando Tatis Jr. are all expected to play a role in their 2019 season. But asking all of them to play solid enough in their rookie years to add 11 wins is a lot. I’m not saying they cant, but I’m also won’t believe they can until they do. Why? Because they’re the Padres. And despite adding Manny Machado, who is very good, their pitching is still a large mess, and likely won’t be ready for another two to three years.

Believing in the Padres is like believing the Browns are a playoff contender. Until the Browns actually make they playoffs, they’re still the Browns. Until the Padres show they can actually turn their prospects into solid players, and find success and win, they’re still the Padres. I can’t wait to be proven wrong. You know why? They’ve never been able to do it, regardless of large acquisition or “top prospects.” So again, until the Padres see it out, and actually develop the kids, and they actually turn into their potential, I’ll believe they’re actually capable of doing that.

Arizona Diamondbacks

2018 Record: 82-80

2019 Vegas Prediction: 77-85

Players in for 2019: Wilmer Flores, Greg Holland, Caleb Joseph

Players out from 2018: Patrick Corbin, Brad Boxberger, A.J. Pollock, Daniel Descalso, Chris Owings, Jake Diekman, Shelby Miller, Paul Goldschmidt

This might be the most shocking team in terms of the fact that they’re predicted to have more wins than the Giants. A team that lost that much and plays in a pretty competitive NL West, is supposed to win 77 games? Oh, and by the way, lost Paul Goldschmidt and gained one player who will potentially contribute in 2019.

This team went full blown “we’re giving up and can’t compete.” But somehow they’ll win 77 games? I don’t buy it. They do retain Robbie Ray and Tyler Skaggs, who were both decent in 2018, but as far as offense goes, they have to hope Jake Lamb is ready to be a consistent contributor, and that Steven Souza Jr. can stay healthy for…oh I don’t know, more than 100 games?

Look, I don’t mean to bag on the D-Backs too much. But for the life of me I can’t see this team winning more than 75 games, and sure as heck won’t win as many as the Giants. There isn’t the whole entertaining “we’re gonna play these kids that 7 of them are ranked top 100” vibe like the Padres going on. They actually have less top 100 prospects than the Giants do.

So what on earth is intriguing about this D-Backs side? Not a whole lot, and their roster doesn’t exactly scream “2018 Pirates.” That team everyone thought was tanking, but still had enough talent to like actually win 80 something games. So there really isn’t a whole lot to see down in Phoenix, and there is an even better chance they end up bottom feeders like the rest of the teams in their city (Suns, Cardinals, Coyotes).

Los Angeles Dodgers

2018 Record: 92-71

2019 Vegas Projection: 93-69

Players in for 2019: Russell Martin, A.J Pollock, Joe Kelly

Players out for 2019: Manny Machado, Yasmani Grandal, Brian Dozier, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Kyle Farmer, Alex Wood

So the Dodgers got rid of a ton of money, all to sign A.J. Pollock instead of Bryce Harper, and their two best corner OF’ers from 2018. Got it.

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Their pitching staff is continuing to get old, Kershaw is aging and their once strong bullpen wasn’t so strong in 2018. Granted they’ll still win 90 something games, but the Dodgers’ window is beginning to close. Maybe not this year, but a lot of these moves don’t make sense, especially if you aren’t going to go get Bryce Harper.

The Dodger’s front office is likely going to rely on Verdugo, Pollock, Pederson, and Bellinger in the outfield and that doesn’t actually scare me as much. Verdugo is still unproven, and Pederson is very hit or miss. So Bellinger and Pollock out there? Can Pollock even stay healthy?

Speaking of health, Kershaw hasn’t pitched a full season in a while, and neither has Maeda or Ryu. T

he one big plus they’ll get coming back here is Corey Seager. Seager had missed almost the entirity of 2018 thanks to his Tommy John surgery. Now he’s expeted to be back in 2019, making the departure of Machado hurt much less.

With Harper still unsigned, and a few NL West suitors in for him, it’s truly difficult to say where the Giants will stand in the middle of it. Currently I’d handicap them to be between the Padres and Diamondbacks when it’s all said and done, but that might change based on what else they have planned during their revamp. Hopefully this has kept you updated with the rest of the NL West, and now back to our regularly scheduled Giants programming.