I don’t really see any brilliant Giants commentary in your link Grant…

Dan Haren wins 35 games with 300 Ks 1.35 ERA and a .87 WHIP. Please?

Srsly though, I like the Douchbacks too, but unfortunately I think the Dodgers will be second and we’ll be bit further down….though I think on 4/5 days we’re going to like watching our pitchers. Should be fun.

1. Giants: 162-0

2. Diamondbacks: 90-72

3. Rockies: 67-95

4. Padres: 55-117

5. Dodgers: 0-162

You heard it here first.

But seriously, we’ve probably got a chance to contend if our lineup produces better than expected, and our rotation does as expected. I’d say the Dodgers would contend if the rotation didn’t implode by mid-April, so the Diamondbacks will probably win the divison.

Nice WSJ linkage…

However their take could be summed up as: “LOL TEH GIANTZ ARE STILL KINDA OLD!”"

No doubt about it.

1. Dodgers: 85-77
2. D’Backs: 82-80
3. Giants: 79-83
4. Rockies: 78-84
5. Padres: 72-90

1. D-Bags 90-72
2. Da Bums 87-75
3. Giants 81-81
4. Rockies 70-92
5. Padres 61-101

I’d love to get a shout out from WSJ

1. Dodgers: 87-75 – starting rotation will be better than people think.
2. D-Backs: 84-78 – just an enigma of a team. talent to win 90+ games, but they don’t.
3. Giants: 76-86 (See below)
4. Rockies: 76-86 – starting pitching will be worse, offense a bit worse.
5. Padres: 58-102 – historically bad team.

Starting pitching will be a bit better than last year. Bullpen also will be slightly improved. Offense – also slightly improved, though I don’t expect much from Renteria and Rowand. All that, to me, adds up to about 4 more wins from last year’s total, especially considering that last year the Giants were lucky to win 72.

This team could potentially win the division if:
(1) no one of any significance missed much time with injuries, though reality says that’s not likely.
(2) a few career type years for the right guys.
(3) a really good (fire sale-like) mid-season trade by the Giants gets them some valuable pieces.

I actually am going to side with Grant on this one.

D-Backs are going to be a force that will have a serious chance at the NL pennant this year. Their young offensive power will go nutso, Webb and Haren will be, well, Webb and Haren, and look for Max Sher-whatever to show he deserves his hype.

The Giants pitching will keep them in the hunt for 2nd. Pablito continues to astound us and the baseball world. Ishikawa will continue to take his frustation out on the LHP’s who tormented him last year. When the GIANTS BRASS!!! realizes their mistake and brings Holm back he will be a solid backup that will also be a good hitter off the bench. Giants will finish slightly over .500, including Sweeping the last series with the Da Bums in mid-September that will send them on a downhill tumble for the remainder of their season. Giant could contend for the division if some bad things happen to the D-Backs.

The Dodgers’, (Read: Manny Ramirez) offense will be great, the rest of the team mediocre. When pitchers just start giving Manny the Bonds treatment, his follow up hitters will have trouble capitalizing. Their rotation is nothing to write home about, but all the Blue fans (people with a lack of oxygen to their brain) will rave about Kershaw’s latest 7-6 victory and how he pitched really well those 6 innings to only give up 4,5,or 6 runs. Dodgers look to overtake the Giants for second place as they start September on a tear then are swept AT HOME by the Giants that sends them on downhill slide for the rest of the season where they will only win 5 more games

The Rockies, bless their hear they will try, and they will score a lot of runs, but their pitching will give up more. Look for Tulowitzky to win a gold glove this year, and be in the running for a batting title. Dude’s good, and when healthy will be downright scary.

The Padres, will be wondering why their family never calls or visits.

Take that serious predictions.

Please refer to the following predictions and give me props if Giants are in 1st on September 1st, if not please refrain from making fun of me too much unless they are dead last – then give me all you’ve got.

1. Giants (90-72) – I’m a fan and it’s about time, offense or no offense (but seriously score some runs!)

2. D-Backs (87-75) – Webb down year, Haren is steady but I predict many blown saves to be their downfall despite a young and solid offense.

3. Rockies (80-82) – Tulo becomes his ’07 self again, Helton hits 30+ bombs but no starting pitching and middle relief doomed them like it did back when Coors was a HR paradise.

4. Dodgers (79-83) – Shocker at 4th but not because of my hate for the Blue Crew. Billingsley won’t start 30 games, Kershaw will have a 4.5+ ERA and Broxton’s not ready to close out 1-2 run games. Manny, however, will be in a good mood and hit about 38 roundtrippers and drive in 110. However, O-Dawg will be a bust and so will Furcal.

5. Padres (69-93) – A bad team but not bad enough to lose 100. Peavy will bounce back enough to have even better trade value for the offseason but the rest of pitching staff won’t be relevant. Heath Bell will be a decent closer ( a la Wilson in 2008) but seems to me like a team that will only have a high chance of winning when Peavy starts.

should we show this post to the guy who thinks we are all pessimists? theres a lot of positivity floating here (perhaps wishful thinking?)

i wont try to predict records, but i will predict improvement for the giants. heres why…
1. pablo is an upgrade over joe castle
2. edgar is an offensive upgrade over omar
3. randy johnson is an upgrade over anyone in that spot
4. our bullpen is upgraded across the board
5. ishikawa is an upgrade

our defense on the left side of the infield is worse, but with young stars getting better and older guys with proven track records brought in, how could we not take a leap forward? the answer is that some guys will have injuries, sophomore slumps, and the like. but, i just dont see it happening to a large degree. i dont think anyone here thinks that any of the players will regress; we are all counting on the good performances of last year (as few as they were) not being aberrations.
i dont think we weill win the division, but i truly feel we are still better than the dodgers and a lot better than the rockies and padres.

and the Giants are going to win the division. That is all

1-Giants (87-75) It won’t be exciting, but the bullpen will outperform expectations. Nobody implodes on offense.
2-Dodgers (85-73) Death by 1000 paper-cuts, the whole teams sees the DL for 3 weeks with sprained toe, blister on finger, etc.
3-Diamonbacks (81-81) Stretches of domination mix with bullpen implosions and streaky hitting.
4-Padres (72-90) Adrian Gonzalez goes crazy this year, some mediocre surprises pop up.
5-Rockies (69-93) This is the year that Helton’s fuel meter hits E, sub 90 OPS+.

1) Dodgers: Win somewhere around 88-91 games
This lineup is too good.
Their starting 4 in their rotation looks about as good as the Giants starting 4 of 2002. A little younger and more inexperienced in the ML, but very solid starting 4. Sure, there’s some question marks with those 4, but there ALWAYS is. What they’ve shown so far has been good.
There’s no reason why Jonathan Broxton wouldn’t be able to fill in adequately in much the same way as Tim Worrell did for the Giants in 2003.
 
2) Diamondbacks: Win somewhere around 85-88 games
Good young team, but inconsistent.
Bullpen troubles all season long keeps them from winning some important close games.
 
3) Giants: Win somewhere around 79-82 games
The best pitching team in the NL West.
Has too much defensive and offensive problems.
 
4) Padres: Win somewhere around 67-70 games
This might just be me, but it seems as if history shows that the teams that are counted out by EVERYONE, seem to always out-perform peoples expectations. They may not pull what the Rays did in 2008, but a lot of times they do a little better and show some spark.
They have 2 excellent guys for their ace in the rotation, and for their big bat in the middle of the lineup.
I also personally feel Heath Bell will do a good job as a closer.
This is more of just a gut feeling to me. But you heard it here first!
 
5) Rockies: Win somewhere around 61-64 games
Another gut feeling.
It seems like teams that go through what the Rockies have been going through tend to have wretched seasons.
They don’t have any pitching whatsoever, and their lineup is much less scary without Matt Holliday, with an aging Todd Helton, and with small offensive holes throughout the lineup.

1. Diamondbacks (88-74): The best of a relatively weak bunch. Chris Young is on my fantasy team.
2. Dodgers (85-77): Manny might rake, but FurcaLOL will be on the DL before the National Anthem is finished on Opening Day. “Suck it,” Russell Martin is on my fantasy team.
3. Giants (80-82): Randy Johnson will win 12 Games, at least. But I’m really worried about Rowand and Renteria. Pablo Sandoval, Jonathan Sanchez and Brian Wilson are on my fantasy team.
4. Rockies (76-86): I can’t imagine losing Holliday isn’t going to have a negative effect. Ian Stewart is on my fantasy team.
5. Padres (64-98): Peavy traded to the Red Sox in June. Gonzalez traded to the Cubs in July. Unused seats of Petco Park torn out and sold off for scrap in August. No Padres are on my fantasy team.

With the exception of the Sad Pads, I see the division bunched up around .500 – a couple teams slightly above, a couple teams slightly below. Which teams are which depends on more variables than I’m willing to consider right now. I’m hoping the Giants are one of the teams slightly above, and the Dodgers are slightly below. Sad Pads – way below .500.

How’s that for insightful analysis? I’m guessing it won’t get me a quote in a WSJ blog (curious: who reads the WSJ for baseball, I ask?).

Diamondbacks 93 Wins: Way Under
Giants 83 Wins: Slightly Under
Dodgers 80 Wins: Way Over
Rockies 80 Wins: Under
Padres 59 Wins: Way Over

vr, Xei

the giants will get somewhere around 60-110 wins

.

Dodgers – 86-76
Arizona – 84-78
Giants – 79-83
Rockies – 78-84
Padres – 69 – 93

I’d put my W/L right around where he has them. I’m about to call up my cousin’s husband (Dodgers fan) and offer a small wager on which team finishes above the other.

and not having to split it I’ll change my answers a bit.

D-backs: 90 wins
Giants: 82 wins
Dodgers: 81 wins
Rockies: 78 wins
Padres: 63 wins

T-1. Giants – 85-77

Timothy will win
Affeldt’s Merkin eats LA
Pablo hits dingerz

T-1. Diamondbacks – 85-77

Byres is a big douche
Neck-Snapping outfield flip crash
Pitching is too good.

3. Dodgers – 79-83

Juan Pierre’s arm is
Weaker than Kate Moss on crack
Manny is quite good.

4. Rockies – 75-87

Whoosh goes the baseball
Off the bat of one and all
Coors is no excuse

5. Padres – 62-100

Peavy and Gonzo
Are like MCC users
Trapped on Yahoo

Giants win one game playoff on walk-off balk.

I think the dbacks win the division with 90-94 wins and the Giants finish somewhere around .500 along with the Bums and the Rockies and the Padres lose about 100.

OMG I’M ORIGINAL!

Dodgers: 87 wins
Dbacks: 86 wins
Giants: 79 wins
Rockies: 76 wins
Padres: 62 wins

Here goes nothing:

1. Diamondbacks 93-69. Not a juggernaut (nor a juggerNate), but the class of the division.
2. Dodgers 89-73. The rotation could be a bother, but Kemp will blossom & Manny will hit. Weird: this year, the Dodgers will have the hitting and the Giants will have the pitching.
3. Rockies 84-78. Their pitching will be better than Grant thinks.
4. Giants 83-79. We finally come out of the steep decline. “Plan 2013” is beginning!
5. Padres 67-95. Jeff Moorad has lots of work to do.

Diamondbacks 88-74 – Most well rounded team in the NL West. Good pitching, good hitting IF the young hitters develop
Dodgers 84-78 – ZERO pitching outside of Kershaw. Best hitting in the West
Giants 75-87 – Best 4 man staff in the NL West (Lincecum, Johnson, Cain, Sanchez)
Rockies 73-89 – Can still hit but injuries to the pitching hurts
Padres 59-103 – BAD, BAD, BAD. Will be worse if Peavy does get traded.

Can anyone explain this quote from Tim Brown’s power rankings:

24. San Francisco Giants (72-90) – Giants opt to start season with one catcher, two if you count Bengie Molina.

I’m not really following his “joke” here.

OH HAI GAME THREAD, PLEASE!

Sitting in stupid LAX airport, wearing giants hat, using my phone as a modem so i can listen to the game on my laptop.

1. Giants 85-77
1. Dodgers 85-77
3. D’Backs 82-80
4. Rockies 72-90
5. Padres 59-103

Dodgers: 87-75
DBacks: 85-77
Giants: 79-83
Rockies: 77-85
Padres: 67-95

Giants 81-81
DBacks 81-81
Rockies 81-81
Dodgers 81-81
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(wait for it)
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Padres 80-82

Brilliant.

Giants finish 87—75 and win the NL West!