NL West Division

By MIKE DIGIOVANNA

March 31, 2002 12 AM PT

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Who’s new: P Rick Helling and Mike Myers, OF Jose Guillen.

Who’s gone: OF Reggie Sanders and Midre Cummings, P Bobby Witt and Albie Lopez, C Mike DiFelice.

Strengths: No team in baseball can match the 1-2 punch of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, who combined for 43 victories and 665 strikeouts. The addition of Myers, a left-handed relief specialist, bolsters the bullpen. Luis Gonzalez (.325, 57 homers, 142 RBIs) is coming off a monster year, and the Diamondbacks had the fewest errors (84) in the league in 2001.

Weaknesses: 3B Matt Williams is out until August because of a fracture and dislocation of the left ankle, and Arizona will miss Sanders, who hit 33 homers last season, 16 of which tied the score or put the team ahead. There is a big drop-off in the rotation after Johnson and Schilling.

Outlook: If Todd Stottlemyre, who hasn’t pitched since Sept. 21, 2000, bounces back from elbow surgery, the rotation will be stronger and will give Arizona an edge in the division.

At Dodger Stadium: May 31, June 1-2, July 11-14, Aug. 26-28.

PROJECTED LINEUP

SS Tony Womack

RF Danny Bautista

LF Luis Gonzalez

1B Mark Grace

3B Jay Bell

CF Steve Finley

2B Craig Counsell

C Damian Miller

STARTING PITCHERS

Randy Johnson

Curt Schilling

Todd Stottlemyre

Rick Helling

Brian Anderson

BULLPEN

Byung-Hyun Kim

Mike Myers

Bret Prinz

Miguel Batista

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

Who’s new: 3B David Bell, OF Reggie Sanders and Tsuyoshi Shinjo, P Jay Witasick.

Who’s gone: P Shawn Estes and Mark Gardner, OF John Vander Wal and Eric Davis, 1B Andres Galarraga.

Strengths: Rich Aurilia, Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent combined for 132 homers and 340 RBIs in 2001. Bell and 1B J.T. Snow provide outstanding defense at the corners.

Weaknesses: Kent, who missed most of spring training because of a broken wrist, could have a slow start. Aurilia and Kent are only average defensively. The Giants seem to be shoe-horning Shinjo into the leadoff role; he had a .320 on-base percentage last season and didn’t draw a walk until his 11th game this spring.

Outlook: The addition of Sanders gives the Giants an edge over the Diamondbacks on offense, and San Francisco has a deep and talented bullpen with one of baseball’s best closers in Robb Nen, so the Giants should challenge for the division title. But the Giant rotation isn’t as strong as Arizona’s, so that could relegate them to the wild-card race.

At Dodger Stadium: April 2-4, July 19-21, Sept. 16-19.

PROJECTED LINEUP

CF Tsuyoshi Shinjo

SS Rich Aurilia

LF Barry Bonds

2B Jeff Kent

RF Reggie Sanders

1B J.T. Snow

C Benito Santiago

3B David Bell

STARTING PITCHERS

Russ Ortiz

Kirk Rueter

Livan Hernandez

Jason Schmidt

K.Ainsworth/R.Jensen

BULLPEN

Robb Nen

Felix Rodriguez

Jay Witasick

Jason Christiansen

Tim Worrell

DODGERS

Who’s new: OF Brian Jordan and Dave Roberts, P Hideo Nomo, Kazuhisa Ishii, Odalis Perez, Omar Daal, Guillermo Mota and Paul Quantrill, SS Cesar Izturis.

Who’s gone: OF Gary Sheffield, P Chan Ho Park, Matt Herges, Terry Adams, Jeff Shaw, Luke Prokopec and James Baldwin.

Strengths: If Kevin Brown and Andy Ashby recover fully from elbow surgery--and all indications are that they will--and Ishii lives up to his billing, the rotation should be solid. Defense on the left side, with a healthy Adrian Beltre at third base, Jordan in left field and Izturis at shortstop, is improved. RF Shawn Green is coming off a career season (.297, 49 homers, 125 RBIs).

Weaknesses: The bullpen lacks a proven closer. Eric Gagne probably will evolve into that role, but he has never been a full-time reliever, let alone a closer. 2B Mark Grudzielanek was slowed by a hamstring injury for much of the spring and hasn’t found his stroke. When Grissom plays center field, the Dodgers won’t have a true leadoff hitter in the lineup.

Outlook: Everything must go right for the Dodgers to contend, but when does that ever happen?

PROJECTED LINEUP

CF Dave Roberts

SS Cesar Izturis

C Paul Lo Duca

RF Shawn Green

LF Brian Jordan

3B Adrian Beltre

1B Eric Karros

2B Mark Grudzielanek

STARTING PITCHERS

Kevin Brown

Hideo Nomo

Odalis Perez

Andy Ashby

Kazuhisa Ishii

BULLPEN

Eric Gagne

Paul Quantrill

Giovanni Carrara

Jesse Orosco

SAN DIEGO PADRES

Who’s new: P Brett Tomko and Alan Embree, SS Ramon Vazquez, INF Deivi Cruz, OF Ron Gant, C Tom Lampkin.

Who’s gone: OF Tony Gwynn, INF Dave Magadan, Damian Jackson and Alex Arias, C Ben Davis and Matt Walbeck.

Strengths: The offense, led by Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin, should be among the five best in the NL. Closer Trevor Hoffman is the closest thing in the NL to a lock for 40 saves every year.

Weaknesses: The rotation lacks a proven No. 1 or 2 starter. Two rookies will start on the left side of the infield, 3B Sean Burroughs and Vazquez, and Nevin (1B) and Klesko (RF) are moving to new positions, so the defense could be shaky. The top two set-up men, Jose Nunez and Jeremy Fikac, have never pitched full big league seasons.

Outlook: The Padres have a good young nucleus, which bodes well for a team that plans to move into a new downtown stadium in 2004. But their rotation is full of soft-throwing pitchers who don’t record many strikeouts, and that will challenge them on defense. Despite their holes, the Padres should win 80 games or more for the first time since 1998.

At Dodger Stadium: April 18-21, July 17-18, Sept. 27-29.

PROJECTED LINEUP

2B D’Angelo Jimenez

CF Mark Kotsay

RF Ryan Klesko

1B Phil Nevin

LF Bubba Trammell

Ray Lanford

3B Sean Burroughs

C Wiki Gonzalez

SS Ramon Vazquez

STARTING PITCHERS

Kevin Jarvis

Bobby Jones

Brett Tomko

Brian Lawrence

Brian Tollberg

BULLPEN

Trevor Hoffman

Jose Nunez

Jeremy Fikac

Alan Embree

COLORADO ROCKIES

Who’s new: P Todd Jones, Chuck Smith, Rick White, Dennys Reyes, Brian Fuentes and Dennis Stark, OF Benny Agbayani, 3B Todd Zeile.

Who’s gone: 3B Jeff Cirillo, P Mike Myers, Jay Powell, Brian Bohanon, Dan Miceli and Gabe White, C Sal Fasano, OF Alex Ochoa.

Strengths: Larry Walker and Todd Helton give the Rockies one of the best 3-4 tandems in baseball. Juan Pierre tied for the NL lead in stolen bases (46) and was the toughest player to fan in baseball, striking out 29 times in 617 at-bats.

Weaknesses: No. 3 starter John Thomson has potential but is injury prone, and the bottom two in the rotation are questionable. The Rockies have three players up the middle, CF Pierre, SS Juan Uribe and 2B Jose Ortiz, with two years experience or less.

Outlook: The Rockies finished 19 games out in 2001 and trimmed their payroll from $65 million to $51 million this season, so there’s little reason for optimism. But if they get decent pitching and Zeile provides sound defense and some punch, they could be respectable.

At Dodger Stadium: April 5-7, June 24-27, Sept. 24-25.

PROJECTED LINEUP

CF Juan Pierre

2B Jose Ortiz

RF Larry Walker

1B Todd Helton

3B Todd Zeile

LF Todd Hollandsworth

Benny Agbayani

C Ben Petrick

SS Juan Uribe

STARTING PITCHERS