Can the Snakes Take a Bite Out of the Dodgers in the NL West?

Can the Snakes Take a Bite Out of the Dodgers in the NL West?

 

Every prognosticator will make one bold prediction when forecasting the season whether it has to do with a player or a team. Well, here is mine for the 2014 season. The Arizona Diamondbacks will win the NL West and very well could go on to represent the National League in the Fall Classic. At this point those of you reading this may think I’m crazy and that’s fine. If the D-Backs finish terribly I won’t hide from the prediction. This is a deep team with a great mix of veterans and young talent and they are being led by a manager who knows what it takes to win.

The Diamondbacks two big offseason moves came in both a trade and a free agent signing. The trade brought Mark Trumbo to the desert, one of the best and youngest pure power hitters in the game. He will be playing left field with perennial MVP candidate Paul Goldscmidt entrenched at first base. His defense in left field will improve but certainly does not grade out to be a strong suit. The DBacks are perfectly fine with this as they have A.J. Pollock in center, a guy who can definitely cover ground and will even be able to shade towards left with Gerardo Parra in right field and arguably the best defensive outfielder in all of baseball. The Diamondbacks want one thing from Trumbo and that is to mash home runs. Paired up with Goldschmidt they form a potent combination I like to call the New Age Bash Brothers.

Also calling Arizona his new home is Addison Reed. Reed will slide right into the closer’s position and shore up the back end of a bullpen that certainly needed some shoring up. He allows everyone else to move up into a spot where they are more comfortable. Joining Reed on the pitching side of things is innings eater and tremendously underrated Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo has done nothing but rank first in the National League in starts, wins, and innings pitched since 2006 and has pitched at least 199 innings in 9 consecutive seasons. He joins Patrick Corbin and Wade Miley to shore up a starting rotation that measures out well in the division. Phenom and top prospect Archie Bradley will be joining them at some point, whether it is to start the season or later on to hold off his arbitration clock from starting too early. Bradley has looked tremendous and will push an already good rotation over the top. He will not have to be the man or the saving grace so there will be no pressure on him. He can go out and pitch with no worries.

In addition to everything that has already been stated the Diamondbacks also have solid veterans such as Miguel Montero, Eric Chavez, Cody Ross, and Martin Prado (possibly one of the best all-around players in the game) to help coach up and develop their young players like Pollock and shortstop combination Chris Owings and Didi Gregorius. Gregorius is the front runner to win the position according to General Manager Kevin Towers, due in part to his superior glove on the defensive end of things. The DBacks also have shortstop prospect Nick Ahmed rising quickly through the ranks. Shortstop is a premium position and having a surplus of talent is not the worst thing in the world. The DBacks could use that trade chip and ship one of these guys off and get back some bullpen help or a backup catcher who can help ease the load of Montero behind the plate.

Summers in Arizona are guaranteed to bring the heat and this Diamondbacks team will kick things up a few degrees in the desert. The already built in rivalry with the Dodgers made those games must watch, but now with this team breathing down their necks and ready to overtake them the season opening set in the Land Down Under cannot get here fast enough.

 We will be back tomorrow with a look at the bright future in Houston. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @changingspeeds for all our coverage of the national pastime.