Fox Sports: Padres will win the NL West.

[HollywoodLeo]

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5770588

8. Who's the best of the NL West?

The NL West is once again rife with chaos, but at least it's the good kind of chaos. The last-place Diamondbacks are only five games back of the Padres, and that means every team in the division is capable of capturing the flag. It's the pitching of the Padres versus the hitting of the Dodgers versus the pitching of the Rockies versus the veterans of the Giants versus the youngsters of the D-backs. Sounds good to us.

Our take: Much will depend upon how Jake Peavy's shoulder responds to the 11 days of rest he'll be getting over the break. Our money's on the defending champs in San Diego. They have the pitching, the defense and a handful of productive core hitters. If there's a serious challenge, it will come from the Dodgers. However, you have to believe that J.D. Drew, Brad Penny or Nomar Garciaparra will get hurt at some point, right?

[love_that_reefer]

Too bad most of ESPN thinks it will be the Dodgers. Honestly, I don't see how anyone can take an educated guess.

[Rufio181]

I like it, I love it! The evaluation is great!

[FmrFresnan]

Too bad most of ESPN thinks it will be the Dodgers. Honestly, I don't see how anyone can take an educated guess.

ESPN is picking the Dodgers for no other reason than they're one of the biggest media markets in the country and the rich, siliconed, show up late leave early Dodger fans would be pissed if they weren't.

[padrefanforever]

I'd rather nobody picked us......that way at the end of the year while we're clinching, we can see how many in the media start back peddeling and saying crap like " I picked them at the beginning of the year" and " I knew they'd pull it out".......bla bla bla........

Dodgers rookies probably wont maintain their first half pace, Dodger pitching isn't great, Kent just hit the DL, Nomar probably wont keep up a .356 pace, and Gagne's career is in jeopardy.....all good reasons to think they will win ....

[padrefanforever]

On the other hand......... Padres bats are finally starting to heat up more consistantly, Pitching has been solid all year long, we've maintained our play despite zero production from 3rd base, and little production from LF. Were in great shape and even better shape if they add a couple missing pieces