When the Diamondbacks won the NL West title last season, the surprise came not so much in the success- Arizona had assembled some of the best young talent in the league- but that it came so fast.  A year or two before I expected it, for sure, and I know I'm not alone.  This year, the challenge for Arizona will be to prove '07 wasn't a fluke.  There are definitely reasons to be suspicious.  Despite all their talent, Arizona had a negative run differential (-20, meaning they allowed 20 more runs than they scored), one of the reasons that- not that I can do the math- the eggheads translated their stats into an expected 79-83 record.  Their offense was near the bottom of the National League in average, OBP, and runs scored, and the D-Backs benefited from being incredibly good, or incredibly lucky, or both, in one-run games, going 32-20. 

So on one hand, there's all that stuff. On the other, the Diamondbacks improved this year by trading for Oakland's Dan Haren, and it's not unreasonable to think their young sticks will show some growth and produce more offense.  So how does it all shake out?  Click below to read more.

In some ways, the Dodgers can say they made it to the postseason in '07.  After all, while the homer Takashi Saito surrendered to Todd Helton to give the Rockies a 9-8 win over the Blue on September 18th effectively ended L.A.'s postseason hopes, it can be argued that the game helped propel the Rockies to their miracle run through September and October, where they won, if memory serves, a billion games in a row before being mowed down by the Red Sox.  So a little piece of Blue went to the Series with them, right?  Maybe not.  Anyway, the 90 wins Colorado posted last season was easily a franchise best, and with basically the same team returning in '08 expectations are high... mile high you might say.  (I apologize for that one.)

But while there's no question the Rockies would dust any team in the NL West in a game of Home Run Derby, or a Score Runs Derby, or simply the Have an Offense That Isn't Dicey In Some Way, Shape, or Form Derby, they're hardly runaway favorites to take the West this year, thanks to what is likely the shakiest pitching staff in the NL West.  Not that it's a train wreck, but given the arm strength of the Dodgers, D-Backs, Padres, and even the G-Men, Colorado easily brings up the rear. 

So how does it play out at Coors?  Click below to find out. 

Given how their season ended in '07, with Trevor Hoffman blowing two save chances, either of which would have landed the Padres in the playoffs, you'll forgive them for coming into this season with a chip on their collective shoulders.  Sure, San Diego has won 87 or more games in three out of the last four seasons, and have two division titles as well.  They've had some success, but the most important memories in sports are  often the most recent.   Still, they face an uphill battle to reclaim the NL West title despite a fundamentally sound, pitching rich team.  The days of 82 win seasons cutting the mustard are long over, and in one man's humble opinion, San Diego lacks the sticks to once again reach the mountaintop, or reach the 89 win mark they hit last season. 

There's no question that the NL West is shaping up to be the best, or at least the most competitive, division in baseball.  Four teams each with a realistic shot at taking the division.  But the more astute among you will note that there is indeed a fifth team in the mix, one less likely to win the division than AK is to find himself on People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive list.  That would be the San Francisco Giants.  But that doesn't mean they're not worthy of a season preview.  After all, is there anything a Dodgers fan loves more- aside from a World Series title- than drinking in the misery of a wretched Giants team like a frat guy at a weekend kegger?

So without further ado:

Remember that scene in "Dazed and Confused" when Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) delivers the classic line, "That's what I love about these high school girls, man.  I get older.  They stay the same age."  Well, replace Wooderson with Diamondbacks Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick , substitute "D-Backs roster" for "high school girls" (and remove the hilariously inappropriate context) and you've likely paraphrased the Arizona front office's opinion of their future.  The roster's core sports a low enough collective age that by the time they become steady and consistent Major Leaguers, they'll still have plenty of youthful production ahead of them as the honchos gather more gray in their locks.  Unfortunately, their net inexperience makes predicting their immediate future a crap shoot. 

It's going to be an interesting year at PETCO, especially for fans of old school, pitcher-centric baseball.  And should said fans have a particular distaste for the long ball, all the better. Similar to a Catholic school dance, the Pads are constructed to prevent scoring, which is good because they'll produce runs like Peter Gabriel produces albums—rarely. In '06, only four teams scored fewer runs than the Friars.  Only seven hit fewer homers (fortunately for San Diego, three of them were the Rockies, D-Backs and Dodgers). They did manage to finish third among NL teams in stolen bases, but 49 of San Diego's 123 moved up north when the Giants signed Dave Roberts. 

84 games into last season, the Rockies were 44-40, and looked like they were on the way up.  Unfortunately, they had reached the season's mountaintop (Get it?  Mountain top?  Rockies?) and it was all downhill from there.  They finished the season at 76-86, still good enough for Colorado's best mark since winning 82 games in 2000... which indicates things in the Mile High City haven't been all peppermints and moon pies since Y2K. 

Opening day is right around the corner, so it's a good time to check in on the state of the NL West.  The Dodgers look to be the class of the division, but we're no longer talking the laughing stock quintet of 2005, when San Diego's 82 wins were enough to take the pennant... by five games.  This year, every team in the west has a shot to be (in varying degrees, and with some requiring more luck than others) good to very good in '07.  Well, almost every team.  While the Dodgers, Padres, Rockies, and D-Backs are on the upswing, the Giants aren't.  In fact, the bunch that limped to a 76 wins last year have a good shot at losing 90 during this go 'round.