This baseball offseason had the makings of a Hollywood movie. The greatest player the game has seen in decades, perhaps ever, was a free agent, another generational star was traded, a new Japanese superstar looks to make his stamp on the game, and the reigning NL Cy Young winner was finally signed right before the season began. Hopefully, the 2024 season will live up to the hype. We are fresh off a fun World Series with two teams that we didn’t see coming and new stars are set to take over the game. Let’s dive into some divisional previews. Here’s our 2024 NL West preview.
What Happened in 2023:
The regular season was an absolute bloodbath in the NL West with the Dodgers taking first with 100 wins and the Diamondbacks finishing in second with a grand total of 84 wins. But as we have seen all too many times, the Dodgers didn’t have any steam as they entered October and it was Arizona who made the push, taking down the Phillies in the Pennant before falling to the Rangers in the World Series. They were a great story but came up just short. Outside of those two teams, the Giants and Padres were massive disappointments while the Rockies won just 59 games and hardly put up a fight. The Padres were the most disappointing team, with an insanely talented roster that’s now somewhat broken up and being managed by someone else.
Best Players to Watch:
Dodgers – Shohei Ohtani – This one is easy. He won’t be pitching this season, but he will be in the batter’s box, barring any gambling-related suspension, and that should add a whole lot of juice to a Dodgers team with major expectations.
Giants -Jung Hoo Lee – Big addition for the Giants here as they handed out the most money ever to a free agent in the franchise’s history. He was a Korean MVP and now looking to make a name for himself in San Francisco.
Padres – Dylan Cease – The Padres added Cease during Spring Training and I always thought he was a guy who could win a Cy Young for the White Sox, maybe a change of scenery helps.
Rockies – Nolan Jones – He had a nice emergence in 2023 with 20 home runs and a near .300 batting average.
Diamondbacks – Corbin Carroll – Last year, I called him the most exciting prospect in baseball and then he won the NL Rookie of the Year. His arm needs some work, but he has four other impressive tools.
Biggest Additions and Subtractions:
Addition: Shohei Ohtani is going to win this spot too. When you add the best player of a generation, it’s a big deal. The Dodgers spent another $300 million on Yoshinobu Yamamoto who was Japan’s best pitcher.
Subtraction: Juan Soto was shipped out of San Diego and sent to the Yankees in a move that the Padres had to make to help their finances. They also lost Blake Snell to the rival Giants.
Prediction:
Give me the Dodgers with maybe the all-time greatest roster ever assembled in Major League Baseball. It is littered with talent from top to bottom. Division Winner: Dodgers, 108 – 54.