Manny Ramirez opened up spring training by telling the baseball world that this was his last year with the Dodgers. What a way for the two-time defending National League West champs and the team who's lost in the NLCS two years in a row to start the season. While Manny is the guy who's pushed the Dodgers over the top, it's clear he can be the man to ruin it for him as well.

 

Meanwhile, the Dodgers learned how to win without Manny during his drug suspension in 2009. Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier stepped up and emerged as stars, finally. Look for their development to continue as they become one of the better one-two punches in the National League.

 

Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley will have to lead the pitching staff for "Big Blue" to repeat in the West. They will and so will the Dodgers. 93 wins will do the trick as the Dodgers return to the post-season.

 

The Colorado Rockies have provided fans with two of the better late-season runs in the past five years. Steady Todd Helton and his .325 batting average and 80 runs batted in provided leadership. Troy Tulowitzki led the team in every other offensive catagory.

 

Jorge De La Rosa and Ubaldo Jimenez provided them a force on the mound. Many baseball fans could not have told you who either of these two were before the post-season began, but they know now.

 

I'm not convinced the Rockies can do it again. Too many weaknesses were exposed during the play-offs. They'll be a plus-85 win team, but not enough to play in October.

 

The San Diego Padres are a yard sale in progress. The team you see at the beginning of spring trainin may not be the team that comes out of spring training. This team could end up losing 90 games in 2010. Jon Garland and Adrian Gonzalez are both potentially trade bait. There's nothing to really chear about in San Diego.

 

The Arizona Diamondbacks are a team full of potential. Justin Upton is a potential superstar and will improve on his .300 batting average and 26 homeruns. Mark Reynolds is looking for a new contract after his 44 homeruns and 102 rbi. The D-backs would love for him to improve on his .260 batting average, which would allow him to drive in even more runs.

 

Stephen Drew missed some games and it hurt his numbers on the offensive end. His health is very important for Arizona. If he can play 150-games in good health, he could be a .290, 25 homerun player.

 

Health is also the key with the pitching. The Diamondbacks have not been particularly healthy on the mound. If they are, they can be a surprise team in the National League West.

 

No one will have better pitching than the San Francisco Giants. Tim Lincecum isn't the only quality starter in the rotation, but he is the best. Matt Cain had a sub-3.00 earn run average and over 215 innings pitched. Barry Zito had his best season since signing with the Giants with a 4.03 era and just under 200 innings pitched.

 

Hitting, or the lack thereof, will keep the Giants out of the post-season. They've done a patch up job for their line-up in the off-season. While it doesn't take a tremendous amount of scoring in the West to win, it takes more than San Francisco can provide to become real players in their division.

 

Rob Long