ShareThisIt's up to San Francisco's Giants to save the National League West from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Manny Ramirez scandal and the depressing notion of a division won much too easily. Not that it seems very likely, but the Giants are the only team even remotely equipped for the task.
Arizona, the preseason pick in some quarters (including this column), is little more than a laughingstock. The Diamondbacks' heralded young hitters have a remarkable knack for striking out with men on base, the team's best pitcher (Brandon Webb) is injured, and there is nothing close to a reliable short reliever.
Worse yet, Arizona panicked, replacing manager Bob Melvin with A.J. Hinch despite the fact that Hinch hadn't even coached anywhere. Hinch is a likable guy with a lot of friends in the game, but as a leadership presence in the dugout, he looks about as inspiring as an insurance salesman (or A's manager Bob Geren).
As for Colorado manager Clint Hurdle, who found himself in the World Series two seasons ago, his job status is very much in doubt. The Rockies are hitting, but not for power (big problem in that ballpark), and their pitching has that familiar, Coors Field-stricken look. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki put the Rockies' crisis in stark terms the other day, saying, "We're not playing the game the right way. We're thinking failure."
Down in San Diego, such thinking is a way of life. The Padres are frantically moving players on and off the roster, but as one player told the Union-Tribune, "That's like putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound." This was supposed to be a terrible team, and it is exactly that, to the point that general manager Kevin Towers admitted, "I'm not disappointed. I'm embarrassed." And it will get worse with the inevitable midseason trade of ace Jake Peavy.
Next to all this, the Giants seem positively golden with the likes of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Bengie Molina and Pablo Sandoval. Can they win this division? Total long shot. But they're the only threat to Mannywood.
(E-mail Bruce Jenkins at bjenkins(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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