NL West preview: Season 7

Anaheim Anteaters (105-57, NL West champion)

The Anteaters missed out on Don Masato, but they still had a very active and impressive offseason. Catchers Josh Wagner and Brian Wilson and pitchers Kevin Lee and Patrick Doster left via free agency and pitcher Jordan Holmes and shortstop Russ Lawson were traded to Tampa Bay.

In return for Holmes (who was very good for Anaheim last year) and Lawson (who wasn't), the Anteaters got all-world hitter and good defensive catcher Richard Maxwell. He can only give Anaheim 350-375 at-bats, but similarly durability-challenged catcher Donatello Paul can take most of the rest and Maxwell will be huge for Anaheim when it really matters: in the playoffs.

Anaheim also traded a couple prospects for pitcher Grover Rowand (who will make an excellent closer) and center fielder Byung-Hyun Yosida (who will allow the aging Fritz Rushford to move to left).

Anaheim dabbled in the free agent market as well, signing pitcher Sammy Manuel to slot in behind a very nice top three of Benny Molina, Kelvin Sullivan and Sal Roosevelt in the rotation and adding Jesus Reynoso to play first base.

Any pitcher in Anaheim's rotation can now turn in an excellent start and, even with corner outfielders Rushford and Alexander Stowers getting older, the only real weak spot in the lineup is shortstop. And the team has great depth, as Paul, Matthew Allen and Preston Grieve are some of the better backups you'll find and Louie Bonilla is a tremendous option as a fifth starter.

Prediction: 110 wins, NL Champions (losing to the AL Champ in the World Series, of course)

Boise Mashers (83-79)

The Mashers are only missing three significant players from last season's team: reliever Omar Benitez, "center fielder" Butch Cintron and catcher Joey Robinson.

Robinson was traded for catcher Will Carter and pitcher Keith Bryant. Bryant can replace much of the production Benitez provided and Carter can be nearly as good as Robinson, if he can stay healthy.

To replace Cintron, who was woefully miscast as a center fielder, Boise signed Tony Cortes, who is also not a true center fielder defensively but at least has more range than Cintron. The Mashers also signed a couple pitchers (Harry Rivas and Kareem Kipling) who are unlikely to be particularly good over the course of a full season.

Boise's best hitter is left fielder Jon Stowers and second baseman Doug Rueter is probably the team's best all-around players. The key to the team, however, may be pitcher Christopher Cook. He had a 3.30 ERA in six ML starts last season. If he can be even close to that good over 35 or more starts this season, that will give Boise a huge boost.

Prediction: 85 wins, wild card

Colorado Springs Silver Stars (56-106)

The Silver Stars got rid of a lot of pitchers from last season, none of whom posted an ERA below 4.00 and only two of whom were below 4.90. Unfortunately, the pitchers they added to replace them (Hades Roa, Benito Carreras, Rex Kirwan and J.C. Carroll) aren't that good either.

There are two reasons to see some improvement for Colorado Springs, however. The first is the trade for Chris Hall, who will replace Ron Black in the lineup and should definitely be an improvement offensively.

The second is the promotion of shortstop Max Walters. He should be solid offensively, and he'll mostly be replacing the at-bats of Billy Ray Benson and Chris McEnroe. More important, however, is his defense. Last season, Patrick Hartman and Juan Lopez combined to play 620 innings at shortstop and they made 26 errors and seven poor plays. With Walters playing shortstop every game, the team's defense should be significantly better.

Prediction: 60 wins

Tacoma Down Pour (51-111)

Tacoma's home park makes the team very difficult to read, but ultimately there's only one player on the big league roster who would start for most teams in the league: Brooks Zaun.

In the offseason, the Down Pour got rid of or lost a bunch of players who aren't very good. They didn't bring in any good position players, but a few of their new pitchers (Dicky Stargell, Dustin Harvey and Larry King could be decent).

A lot of Tacoma's success will depend on whether young players like Gene Tessmer and Gerald Griffiths get better. And a lot will depend on whether Tacoma wants to win as many games as possible or would rather gun for the highest pick possible again.

Prediction: 58 wins