Projections And Other Stuff

The only mystery bigger than why self-identified 20-year-old college junior Marc Normandin has his own chat at Baseball Prospectus is why you care enough about what he says about the Dodgers to make his declarations the subject of a post on your blog.

He says, in his chat, that he is a Padres fan, he has a cat named Brian Giles, he is a communications major, and he is not interested in television unless a show is a cartoon or is on Comedy Central.  All four of those things make his opinions on the Dodgers beneath the level of worthless.  I mean, sheesh.  Does a guy have to admit to typing his comments on baseball while wearing an article of women's underwear on his head like a hat before he loses credibility?

I have faith in my opinions on where teams are going to finish, but that doesn't mean it's my viewpoint and no one else's. As of this moment, I think that the Dodgers are going to finish in second or third in the NL West. If someone presents an argument otherwise that's convincing, it isn't like I can't change my tune :-)

Sorry for the vent, I got hammered with questions about the Dodgers as the chat was winding down, and just wanted to let that out.

The Padres have played well over the last few years, and now with Maddux in the fold, they will be tougher to beat. Now, the D-Backs have alot of question marks-namely, their closer situation certainly is not settled. Valverde is one of the streakier closers in the NL. They have 4 rookies starting next year, one at SS, one in CF, one at C, and one in RF. It will be tough for them to keep up in the West next year.
BTW-YOU have not given any explanation as to why SD and Ariz will finish ahead of LA next year, especially when LA went out and got the ace they needed in Schmidt, have a more reliable CFer in Pierre who will steal 60 bases in '07. They have Russell MArtin for the full season, and everyone knows how well LA played when he was behind the plate. They quite possibly have the best starting pitching staff in the NL West, and their bullpen is solid with Saito and Broxton forming one of the better late inning tandems in the NL. Saito was absolutely lights out last year, leading ALL NL relievers in K's, with Broxton not far behind. They have Beimel and possibly Kuo as their lefty specialists, possibly Hendrickson also. They have the best bench in the NL with Saenz, Anderson, Martinez and possibly Loney and Kemp. Their starting lineup lacks a consistent power hitter, but they get on base, take alot of pitches, and hit with men in scoring position like no other lineup. They have the resources to trade for a power hitter when one presents itself. I don't blame Colletti for not trading LA's future for Manny Ramirez. It's,still quite possible they can trade for him.
Colletti took over a team that lost 90+ games in 2005 and went to the playoffs in 2006. What else did you expect in his 1st year, when they were playing with 3-4 rookies every game in the 1st half of the season?
And Andrew is quite negative on the Dodgers, he even admits it in a recent article.