Where do the Padres Finish in the NL West?

The teams will cannabalize each other.  Every year certain teams have it over others... The D-Backs have it over the Padres, The Padres have it over the Dodgers, The Rockies have it over the D- Backs, The teams will beat each other, with no clear advantage to one team.  That being said, 87-89 wins will win this division.  When it's all said and done, I think youth will be a factor..  The D-Backs have it, plus a strong rotation, the Rockies have it, but the Giants, Dodgers, and Padres do not.  Arizona will win it I think, with the Pads and Dodgers a close second and third.  Colorado will have a sophmore jinx - they got a taste of success last season, but I don't think you can count on a streak every year to get in.  I do think all the teams will finish above .500 (except for San Fran)  but only one gets in.  The Mets will run away with their division and someone like Philly or Cincinnati gets the WCard.  It hurts me to say it, but the Padres are not championship caliber.  They are a good to very good club.  AZ looks like the team this year.  God knows I hope I'm wrong on this...  GO PADRES!!

1 Snakes   89-73

2 Padres    86-76

3 Dogs        86-76  (Pads win head to head 12-7)

4 Rocks     84-78

5 Giants     76-86

I don't think there are too many variables...  In fact, I see three really.  They are LF, CF, and RF....  Okay, and stopping the other teams running game.

The bullpen will be solid as always (actually think this years 'pen will be incredible).  The rotation...  I don't care if Mark Prior bombs or not, anything he does is just gravy.  Peavy, Young, and Maddox could just about take a team to the playoffs with smoove and me filling out the rotation - and I only played organized football and basketball.  The infield defense will be awesome, and offensive production from Gonzalez, Greene, and Kouz should be above average.

Then there's the outfield.  I wasn't happy with the Edmonds pickup - a case of Towers bargain shopping as always but in a real curious direction.  The guy is too old and too broke.  And Giles, who I do like, is coming off of microfracture which is iffy at his age (and then there is the whole issue of his rapidly declining power).  And left field..  Jody Gerut, are you kidding me - no offense to him, but that's not the player I want as a starting left fielder on what I perceive to be a contender.  So for now Hairston is in center, he put up better numbers than I realized with the Padres, but he's still Scott Hairston...  Seriously, squad looks solid except for the scary outfield situation - and there I'm not saying anything you don't know.

I dont really think AZ had a fluke year, maybe played a bit over their heads yes but they are a good team. THe fluke of the year came from the Rockies. They hovered around 3rd place all year and went on a tear at exactly the right time. They came back down to earth at the wrong time getting smoked in the Series.

The west is a tossup this year between four teams and I honestly think any of them can finish at any spot. Its the best division in the majors in my opinion. I agree that if things fall into place with Edmonds and the entire outfield situation, the Pads will finish first or second.

I grew up an Angle fan as a kid, before my Padre conversion, and still enjoy watching them play living in the OC I do not get padr games, I mention this because their owner goes out and spends what it takes to win. They are a Orange County team with now huge city, they do not a have a new stadium, and they spend the money to win. Angels fans are talking World Series, in the same sized if not smaller market up the freeway.

I love the Padres, but the time to make sure that the team delivers on its promise to increase payroll and add superstars is now! They got Petco Park and we got promised more payroll, Brian Giles, Jim Edmunds and a bunch of maybe's and NL West titles are not enough! As Padre fans we deserve a World Series quality team.

Last season 24 teams had a higher payroll then the Padres, excluding the obvious Yankees and Red Sox payrolls and team like the Twins, Brewers, Rangers, Blue Jays,Diamondbacks, Reds, Astros, and Indians had more payroll then the Padres with a new ball park. I have heard it all form, we do not want to waste money, to there are no good free agents, to we build through our farm system. All of these reasons are good, but they do not make up for the fact that the Padres are Cheap! Greg Maddux is nearing the end, Jake Peavy is in his prime, Trevor Hoffman does not have many years left, and San Diego deserves better as do its stars.

Hear is hoping all of those maybe outfielders come through, I just wish we had more. I want nothign more thena World Series in San Diego, I just hope the organization will do what it takes to make sure that happens!

Good overall observations below. I'm going to try to boost my rating and also add everyone on this list to my favorites to do a general boost for all Padre fans.  GO PADS, GO BOLTS!!!

I agree that if any team was a fluke it was the Rockies. They had monster seasons from players like Troy Tulowitski and Brad Hawpe, also when Aaron Cook and Ublado Jimenez are your #2 and #3 staters you may be in trouble. The Diamondbacks have added talent in Dan Haren and if Randy Johnson comes back they are a young tough team for sure. The team that bothers me, is the Dodgers, I know we own them head to head but that might not be enough. With Brad Penny and Dereck Lowe, and Chad Billingsley, they are close to Jake Peavy, Chris Young , and Greg Maddux. the Dodgers have a great releif core as well. What gives them an edge is their offense. The Padres have not improved from last years almost un-viewable lack of run production. Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene are our only really soild run producers. If Jim Edmunds stays some what healthy what can he do? Maybe bat 270, hit 18 home runs and bat in 80 RBI's, that will not be enough. I know Sandy Alderson and Kevin Towers are playing money ball, but Justin Huber, Jody Gerut and Scott Hairston are not what is needed. This Padres team is not stacked were they can afford to have a average outfield, because they do not have a great run producing infield. Plus, the NL West is noce to win, but I want more as a Padre fan. When you have the Mets, and Philies and Cubs, and maybe the Brewers stacked the target needs to be bigger! We do not have the young talent to keep up with the Diamond backs and Rockies in a few years, so the time is now.

I grew up an Angle fan as a kid, before my Padre conversion, and still enjoy watching them play living in the OC I do not get padr games, I mention this because their owner goes out and spends what it takes to win. They are a Orange County team with now huge city, they do not a have a new stadium, and they spend the money to win. Angels fans are talking World Series, in the same sized if not smaller market up the freeway.

I love the Padres, but the time to make sure that the team delivers on its promise to increase payroll and add superstars is now! They got Petco Park and we got promised more payroll, Brian Giles, Jim Edmunds and a bunch of maybe's and NL West titles are not enough! As Padre fans we deserve a World Series quality team. (I do like trying to build through young players and them keeping them around, much better plan than overpaying for free agents).

Last season 24 teams had a higher payroll then the Padres, excluding the obvious Yankees and Red Sox payrolls and team like the Twins, Brewers, Rangers, Blue Jays,Diamondbacks, Reds, Astros, and Indians had more payroll then the Padres with a new ball park. I have heard it all form, we do not want to waste money, to there are no good free agents, to we build through our farm system. All of these reasons are good, but they do not make up for the fact that the Padres are Cheap! Greg Maddux is nearing the end, Jake Peavy is in his prime, Trevor Hoffman does not have many years left, and San Diego deserves better as do its stars.

Hear is hoping all of those maybe outfielders come through, I just wish we had more. I want nothign more thena World Series in San Diego, I just hope the organization will do what it takes to make sure that happens! 

The Padres will finish 1st in the division because their pitching is the best in the NL west and that is saying something.

Their infield defense and players will be great this year.

Giles will do much better this year.

Barret is going to surprise people at catcher.

The Outfield can only get better after the taint of Termel Sludge and 3 strikeouts per game Cameron.