LOS ANGELES – None of their rivals have gotten worse, and plenty of them have gotten better.
That’s how it looks, at least, halfway through the offseason in both the Angels and Dodgers’ divisions, with most of the league-wide improvement seemingly concentrated within one region.
“It’s like the Gold Rush all over again,” Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss said at this month’s Winter Meetings. “Everyone’s going West. It’s always been appealing for free agents to play on the West Coast, and we’re seeing that once again in this offseason.”
The Diamondbacks are the new 49ers, then. Arizona has made two of the sport’s biggest acquisitions this offseason, right-handers Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller, resulting in clear immediate improvements — likely at the expense of their future, but the future’s not so important right now.
There are more miners. Seattle has assembled arguably the most improved roster of anyone, albeit with that same caveat and via less dramatic moves, such as the trade for Wade Miley and the re-upping of Hisashi Iwakuma. Houston has re-signed many of its pieces and added an elite reliever, Ken Giles, from Philadelphia.
San Francisco made two big starting-pitching signings in Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. San Diego has fashioned trades that make sense, including the jettisoning of closer Craig Kimbrel for a host of talented prospects. Oakland and Colorado have signed a bunch of relievers, and they had two of the three worst bullpens in the majors, so they might be better, too.
Texas has done little, but will regain the services of an elite starter – one Yu Darvish – who missed all of 2015. The Angels can make an argument they’ve improved, with upgrades at shortstop and third base.
And then there are the Dodgers, the only one of the 10 teams in the two West divisions who cannot make a reasonable case that they have improved since the season’s end. That, of course, is the source of the massive discontent throughout their fan base.
“Well, I think you look at it as a much more balanced division,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said at the meetings in Nashville. “Every team has their guy, their horse. I think it kind of changes the look of the division with the parity now that’s in Arizona, L.A., and us, and of course San Diego. It’s a very, very balanced division. That’s how you have to look at it.”
Said new Padres manager Andy Green: “Clearly, the NL West is becoming like the old AL East right now. It’s a highly competitive division with moves that are being made throughout.”
Thus, the discontent is understandable. Also understandable, though, is the Dodgers’ contention that their offseason is far from over, that there remains plenty of time for them to join the rest of their regional brethren and improve, too. The clubhouse leader on opening day need not be the clubhouse leader on Christmas Eve. The winner need not be the clubhouse leader ever.
“I think at this time last year, everybody was looking to us in San Diego to be the team,” said Green, who worked for Arizona until October. “Things don’t always turn out how you expect. That’s why you play the games on the field and not on paper.
“It’s our job as a coaching staff to reach inside each individual person and maximize who they are and create an environment where they played their absolute best and we challenge every single team, every single day, and put as much pressure on the opposition as possible.”
There is oppositional pressure in the AL West, as well, where both Texas teams strained each other in September for the first time in a long time, if not ever, and the Mariners and Athletics present promising cases for future contention.
“The West Coast has its own set of rivalries now,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “The divisions are really starting to heat up in certain areas.”
At the meetings each year, most every manager is asked about the state of his team’s division, and most every manager answers with glowing positivity. New Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was no different when he received the question earlier this month.
He first acknowledged his long-held bias toward it, saying he always feels like the West is best. But he pointed to Greinke’s within-division switching as an example of its particular strength this year.
“I have a lot of respect for the division,” Roberts said. “For sure.”
Contact the writer: pmoura@ocregister.com
