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Baseball Odds: National League Preview, Part 3

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It's part three of our National League preview in anticipation of the new 2008 MLB season getting underway. The Dodgers should win out West as Mike Robb tells all...

This is undoubtedly the most competitive Division in the NL with three teams - Dodgers, Rockies and Diamondbacks - capable of winning it.

Saying that, I think the Dodgers should win this Division. The LA side have young talent in abundance and strength in depth in every department, so they should be able to cope with injuries better than most. If Matt Kemp and James Loney perform as we know they can then who is to say the Dodgers can't be the NL's underdog? You can get [2.88] on them winning the Division, [6.0] for the NL Pennant and a huge [29.0] if you think they can win the World Series.

Then we have last year's surprise package, the Colorado Rockies. They have undoubted talent in the likes of Holliday, Tulowitzki and Atkins, while Jeff Francis had a great year pitching. The big question mark is whether or not they have the depth to come through again? I think it could well be a case of one season wonders for this Rockies team and they will finish second in the Division, but missing out on the wild card to the Phillies. They are [4.3] to beat the Dodgers to top spot.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have added Dan Haren from Oakland to give them a bigger bite on defence. The offence does not look good enough to take them anything more than second this year, however, even though the Betfair market currently makes them second favourites at [3.0]. At that price they are definitely worth laying.

It looks a similar story for the San Diego Padres with a weak offence set to let them down. There's no doubting they have solid starting pitching in Jake Peavy, Greg Maddux and Chris Young but I cannot see where the runs are going to come from to make them a real force this year. The addition of Jim Edmonds could be a fantastic move if stays fit - I was sad to see him leave the Cards. They are [4.3] for the Division and, again, worth opposing at that price.

Like the Padres, the San Francisco Giants are lacking in firepower. A good starting pitching roster is one thing but without offence teams cannot win, simple as that, and the loss of Barry Bonds is key. Will anyone in the line-up come thorough and hit 15+ home runs? I can't see it and this will be their downfall, as represented by the huge odds of [21.0] for them to win the Division and [170.0] the World Series. I wouldn't touch either.

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