The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants have had a monopoly on the National League West for a while. One of the two has won the division in each of the last five seasons. In all but one of those years, the two teams finished first and second in the standings. As good as those teams have been, they’ve been aided by a consistently terrible division. None of the other three NL West teams have enjoyed a winning season since 2011.

Expect Los Angeles and San Francisco to reign atop the division again. But Colorado won’t make it quite so easy in 2017.

Offense has never been a problem for the Rockies. It won’t be in 2017, either. Nolan Arenado is the headline grabber but the lineup also features Carlos Gonzalez, Trevor Story, Ian Desmond, Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu. Pitching to that group is going to be a chore.

The starting rotation is a question mark. But with Adam Ottavino and the newly acquired Greg Holland, the bullpen can mask a lot of those problem. On top of that, new manager Bud Black had a knack for getting the most out of his pitchers with the San Diego Padres. Coors Field is a different animal, but if anyone can find guys to work through that, it’s him.

It’s unlikely that any of that will be good enough to earn a playoff spot, but a winning record would be quite an achievement for Colorado. Since their last winning season in 2010, the Rockies have had posted MLB’s third worst record and the worst in the National League.

But now, things are heading in the right direction. Competing with the Dodgers and Giants isn’t likely this year, but it’s not an unrealistic possibility, either. Look for that to show with a vastly improved record.

7. The Atlanta Braves will make the playoffs

Admittedly, the last three seasons have brought very little reason to think that a winning record is in the cards for 2017, let alone a playoff spot. So, why the optimism?

Well, let’s break the 2016 season down into two parts.