The NL West is thought to be hotly contested in the MLB Futures odds market, with San Diego rising and Los Angeles slipping just a bit.
San Francisco is continuing the process of moving on from their record-breaking season of two years ago, without a complete rebuild. Arizona and Colorado will occupy the final two slots with the Rockies appearing to have a decided edge to finish in the cellar again.
Key Takeaways
- The Dodgers-Padres wars should be even more intense with 13 games rather than 19.
- The Giants should be a replica of last year.
- The Rockies are unconcerned with winning.
Note: All MLB futures odds in this article are based on projections from BetOnline. (visit our BetOnline Review)
Los Angeles Dodgers
- Win NL West: (+100) T-1st
- Win NL: (+425) T-2nd
- Win World Series: (+900) 5th
- Season Win Total: Over/Under 95.5 Wins
Dodgers Hope Starting Pitchers Can Hold Up
The Dodgers will still be among the best teams in baseball, if not quite up to their recent past.
On the pitching side, if Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, and Dustin May can give Los Angeles 25 starts with about two-thirds above average, Dave Roberts’ club will win the division again. That however is not guaranteed and will Tony Gonsolin hold up after a career-high 24 starts?
The L.A. bullpen will be good because the Dodgers always have hard-throwing arms and the hope is Brusdar Graterol is ready to be Roberts’ closer.
Head Start
On offense, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are a good starting point, and look for Chris Taylor and Will Smith to perform. The rest of the team’s batters and fielders won’t feel pressure with those players around them and the offense will again be strong, but not having Trea Turner, along with losing Gavin Lux will hurt L.A.
Color Dodger Blue as NL West champs for your MLB picks, but surpassing 95.5 wins finally might be too much to ask, though they will be very close.
Remember, fans from the City of Angels who want to wager on this game should check out our top-rated California betting sites.
San Diego Padres
- Win NL West: (+135) T-1st
- Win NL: (+425) T-2nd
- Win World Series: (+800) 4th
- Season Win Total: Over/Under 93.5 Wins
Friars’ Main Question: Will Padres Talent Match Mental Maturity?
Though San Diego signed Manny Machado, this feels very much like the year they need to win. All the pieces are in place for the Padres to overtake the Dodgers and possibly return to the World Series.
Besides Machado, there is Juan Soto, and Xander Bogaerts, along with a nice collection of players that are grinders like Trent Grisham and Jake Cronenworth who do their job every day. And though a wild card, Fernando Tatis Jr. will be back from suspension this season.
Pitching-wise, the Dodgers are still stronger, but having Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, and Michael Wacha is still a good starting staff, and closer Josh Hader is better than anything than Dodger Blue has.
(In)Mature Padres
But in the end, the Dodgers are a team of proven winners and have players that were on other teams that also won a World Series. Do the Padres have the maturity to avoid the highs and lows, something they have not handled well in the past couple of years?
That’s the key for San Diego, knowing you can win and going out and proving it. Possibly an Over for win total, but how much is the question?
San Francisco Giants
- Win NL West: (+800) 3rd
- Win NL: (+2000) T-8th
- Win World Series: (+5000) 15th
- Season Win Total: Over/Under 81.5 Wins
Big Concern About Giants: Lack of Speed on Defense
To the surprise of few, San Francisco falling from 107 wins in 2021 to 81 victories last year wasn’t a shock. A veteran cast of players had one last hurrah and came back who they really were, individuals on the downside of their careers who had become injury-prone.
The Giants made a strong bid for Aaron Judge and thought they had signed Carlos Correa until he failed their physical.
Tried but Failed
San Francisco still did try to upgrade the roster by signing Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto to help the outfield. Also added were pitchers Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling and reliever Taylor Rogers. Yet, truth be told, that barely moves the needle.
Their outfield could be atrocious by the number of balls that will fall in or sharply his singles that will turn into doubles. And the infield defense’s lack of range won’t help pitch to contact hurlers like Logan Webb and Alex Cobb who need infielders to gobble up grounders.
A .500 team at best and we’ll nod to the Under for season wins against the MLB odds.
Arizona Diamondbacks
- Win NL West: (+3300) 4th
- Win NL: (+5000) T-11th
- Win World Series: (+10000) 23rd
- Season Win Total: Over/Under 75.5 Wins
D-Backs Dilemma: Down is the New Up in 2023?
After losing 110 times in 2021, there was nowhere to go but up and Arizona did just that, winning 74 games, a 22-game improvement. Because Arizona doesn’t have the deep pockets of its rivals from the next state to the west, they have to take incremental steps to keep improving.
On the positive side, the Diamondbacks have a true ace in Zac Gallen and a solid No. 2 in Merrill Kelly, with Madison Bumgarner, penciled at No. 3, with him truly a 5th starter at this point of his career though only 33.
The D-Backs outfield has such an upside with Corbin Carroll, a possible star, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy, all 25 or younger, and all three oddly enough throw and bat left-handed. This contingent is worth paying attention to.
Veteran Cast
The infield is a veteran cast, who is unlikely to get better, but as long as they are healthy, Christian Walker, Ketel Marte, and Nick Ahmed are steady and utility player Josh Rojas is a very good fill-in player.
Though we are big fans of skipper Torey Lovullo, not sure what he can do about the bullpen. Last year the Snakes were tied with Texas with the most losses (41), they were last in ERA and had the 8th-most blown saves. Not sure I see that much of an upgrade.
After such a vast improvement, I’m not sure Arizona can match last year’s win total and I will pass.
Colorado Rockies
- Win NL West: (+66000) 5th
- Win NL: (+5000) T-11th
- Win World Series: (+12500) 28th
- Season Win Total: Over/Under 65.5 Wins
Mile High In the Hole and Not Climbing Out
While some teams are interested in winning divisions and attempting to reach the World Series, the Colorado Rockies are content to lose.
At the same time, Colorado’s ownership is not really thrilled in giving the appearance of attempting to build something, rather just collecting the checks from shared revenue sources that go into their bottom line, with no benefit to betting the Rockies product on the field.
The Monfort family complained about what division rival San Diego was spending and what the Mets were doling out, which left them babbling about how they thought their team could finish .500 or better, which are empty words given their projected win total of 65.5.
Familiar Names
A few of the names are familiar like C.J. Cron, Charlie Blackmon, and Kris Bryant, yet, for the first time in franchise history the Rocks did not have a Top 10 in baseball in a non-shortened season.
German Marquez and Kyle Freeland give it their best as starters, but with runs not as plentiful (especially on the road) and being a mediocre fielding club, not much reason to watch Colorado except for when they win or lose 10-9 home games.
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