Baseball Futures – National League West an Easy Pick

The division with the reigning World Series champions looks to be locked for the 2011 season. 

Baseball Futures – National League West To Win

Arizona Diamondbacks                       +2000
Colorado Rockies                                +175
Los Angeles Dodgers                          +300
San Diego Padres                                +1000
San Francisco Giants                           +125

The San Francisco Giants, the current World Series champs, are the baseball futures best bet to win the National League West this season. Tim Lincecum looks to be off to a hot start again this season, already striking out seven in just over three innings of play in the preseason.  Rookie of the Year catcher Buster Posey continues to surprise baseball betting fans everywhere, and the Giants seem to be picking up right where they left off – at the top.

The nearest team to the Giants in the MLB futures odds is the Colorado Rockies. Cy Young contender and Rockies’ ace Ubaldo Jimenez will lead the pitching line-up again this season. In addition, the team recently signed Ty Wigginton for his power batting, and he is showing his worth, as he both homered and doubled in the Rockies’ win over Cleveland recently. After a low end to last season, dropping 13 of their last 14 games, the Rockies need to maintain their play all season long to have a chance to contend with the Giants.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will have to prove themselves yet again under a new manager, this time Don Mattingly, who is off to a 4-7 start in the preseason. The Dodgers have been unable to sign any big names, as the team owners are embroiled in a divorce and so the team funding is a bit limited.  The Dodgers will be relying on their key bats, namely Andre Ethier, James Loney, and Matt Kemp to build expectations for a successful season, but the team, at this point, still seems to be a bit of a mess.

The San Diego Padres are getting pitcher Matt Latos ready for the season with plenty of preseason play as the Padres will open the 2011 season at the St Louis Cardinals, the first opening game for either team. Remember that the Padres hung tough last season, giving the Giants a run for their money late into September before losing four out of their last five to be eliminated from the playoff race.

Arizona was an all-around disaster last season, finishing in the basement of the National League West.  Case-in-point:  The D’Backs set an MLB record for the most strikeouts in a season, with 1,529, while the Arizona bullpen finished the season with a collective ERA of 5.47.  Even with improvement, the D’Backs have a long way to go before competing in this division.

Baseball Futures Pick – Take the San Francisco Giants to win the National League West again in 2011!