NL West Morning Links: Wednesday Edition

Here's a look around the web at some news involving the Dodgers' NL West opponents:

Never fear, (All-Star?) Sandoval is here
Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at Kung Fu Panda (Pablo Sandoval), Matt Kemp's competition for the All-Star Final Vote (vote for The Bison!). After reading the following from Shawon Dunston, I'm very glad he's a coach with the Giants:

An infield coach for the Giants, Dunston went beyond defending Sandoval's tendency to swing freely, reaching back into another era and risking the wrath of Bill James cultists everywhere. "I'm sorry, but you walk 80 times a year, and you don't hit .300 ever in your career, you're not that good," he said. "But he's up there, putting it on the line. Guys who walk a lot, they say they have a good eye. Maybe they're just protecting their average. They're protecting their average, cheating the game."

SFGate: The Splash : The money might be there for a bat, but maybe Sabean will stand pat
Henry Schulman handicaps the Giants and their likelihood to land an impact bat like Jermaine Dye later this month:

This is what I've been led to believe from various conversations: The money might be there to make a deal, but the cost in prospects to acquire an impact bat might be prohibitive.

Rockies edge Washington 5-4 - The Denver Post
An error by Old Friend Joe Beimel opened the door for the Rockies to win their second straight game Tuesday night.

Marquis, Hawpe star in Rox win over Washington - The Denver Post
The mesmerizing Jason Marquis won again on Monday night, for his MLB-best 11th win. However, the most important nugget from Troy Renck's article was this:

Marquis can dunk a basketball

Is there anything Marquis can't do?

azcentral.com blogs - Nick Piecoro: Pena dealt to White Sox for Brandon Allen
Reliever Tony Peña was traded by the reeling Diamondbacks for slugging first baseman Brandon Allen. The 23-year old Allen was rated as the 6th best prospect in the Sox system by Baseball America before the season.

Silva's stint with club officially over
Early season feel-good story and former Palm Desert Outback Steakhouse employee Walter Silva was designated for assignment, says Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

SD Union-Tribune: Bush facing more criminal charges
One of the #1 draft picks in recent memory, Matt Bush, continues to have off-the-field problems. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on many charges, including driving under the influence, resisting arrest, driving on a suspended license, and vandalism. Hey, at least he's not Ryan Leaf.

Wednesday's NL West Games (all non-Dodger games are day games):

12:10pm:  Washington (Ross Detwiller) at Colorado (Jorge De La Rosa)

12:40pm:  San Diego (Chad Gaudin) at Arizona (Max Scherzer)

12:45pm:  Florida (Chris Volstad) at San Francisco (Ryan Sadowski)

4:10pm:  Dodgers (Hiroki Kuroda) at NY Mets (Oliver Perez)