Spring is here and so is baseball. The season opened mid-March with the LA Dodgers sweeping the Chicago Cubs in the Tokyo Series. Now, the rest of the league has started. The Dodgers spent the most money a year ago and they walked away with a World Series crown. Much of the same happened this past offseason, but baseball is a funny sport. Having the best team in baseball doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to win the title. That’s more important than ever to remember as we enter a new year with exciting new rosters and a bounty of young talent rising to the top. Here is our 2025 NL West preview.
What Happened in 2024:
What else did you expect? The Dodgers had a historic offseason a year ago and followed that up with a World Series title against the New York Yankees, a World Series that the world has been begging for since the turn of the century. LA was dominant during the season and marched to a division title before ousting the Padres in the playoffs in what was the most exciting series in the postseason. The Arizona Diamondbacks once again proved that they could compete despite a fractional payroll while the Giants suffered enough to fire their president of baseball operations and hand the keys over to Buster Posey. The Rockies, who refuse to spend a cent, stayed in the basement of the division.
Best Players to Watch:
Dodgers – Roki Sasaki – An offseason after getting Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers got Sasaki to add to their Japanese trio which should wow the league.
Giants -Willy Adames – Buster Posey put all his faith in Willy Adames this winter and gave him the most money in Giants history, the team now hopes they have a cornerstone at short for a long time.
Padres – Jackson Merrill – Merrill was my pick for the NL ROY but Merrill lost out to Paul Skenes. I am all in on the 5-tool center fielder who wants to take down LA.
Rockies – Ezequiel Tovar – He had a productive year and showed off incredible power in Colorado’s lineup last season.
Diamondbacks – Corbin Carroll – After a slow start to 2024, Corbin Carroll went right back into his winning ways and should compete for the MVP award in 2025 with his array of speed, glove, and on-base abilities.
Biggest Additions and Subtractions:
Congrats to the Dodgers for getting the biggest additions of the offseason. They came in the form of Blake Snell from San Francisco and then signed Japanese sensation Sasaki to a deal that will make their rotation the best in baseball.
As I mention Snell above, he also acts as the biggest subtraction in the division. The Giants saw a Cy Young version of Snell down the stretch as he wowed fans with strikeouts. He struggled out of the gate but turned things on.
Division Winner:
Dodgers, 105 – 57: I think it is safe to pencil them in for the next decade or so. Between their lineup and their new bolstered rotation, nothing is coming in between LA and a division title anytime soon.