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Projected Final Standings

Team Record W Total +/- San Francisco Giants 92-70 +5 Los Angeles Dodgers 87-75 -4 Colorado Rockies 84-78 +9 Arizona Diamondbacks 81-81 +12 San Diego Padres 57-105 -11

Overview

The NL West could be this year's version of the AL East in 2016, when four teams contended for the playoffs deep into the second half of the season.

The Giants and Dodgers again represent the cream of the crop, and both will be eyeing a return to the postseason and some revenge on the Chicago Cubs for ending their seasons in October.

With the addition of Mark Melancon to the back of the bullpen and full seasons of Will Smith and Derek Law setting him up, what was the biggest weakness on the Giants' roster has a chance to now become a strength.

Though no significant additions were made to the lineup, healthy seasons from Joe Panik (127 G) and Hunter Pence (106 G) could also make a difference.

As for the Dodgers, a healthy Clayton Kershaw will be joined by Rich Hill for a full season after he was re-signed to a well-earned three-year deal.

Sorting out the rest of the starting rotation now that Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Scott Kazmir are healthy and Julio Urias is ready for a larger workload will be interesting.

Figuring out how to distribute at-bats at the corner outfield spots and determining bullpen roles following the addition of Sergio Romo are also on the to-do list for manager Dave Roberts.

Then we have the two teams that could surprise in the Rockies and Diamondbacks.

The Rockies offense has never been the question, and it should be among the best in baseball once again.

However, with Jon Gray looking like a legitimate ace and Tyler Anderson, Chad Bettis and Tyler Chatwood also stringing together some quality starts last season, the rotation has a chance to be the best in franchise history.

That's not saying much, but the pitching should be good enough for them to make some noise.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks will benefit greatly from the returns of A.J. Pollock and David Peralta, and the rotation could be formidable with Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray and Taijuan Walker—and a Shelby Miller bounce-back season would be icing on the cake.

With a starting rotation that is rivaled by more than a few Triple-A staffs and Yangervis Solarte currently penciled in as the cleanup hitter, the Padres have to be considered the early favorites to be picking No. 1 overall in 2018.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com, unless otherwise noted.