I know it’s early but the winds of change have been blowing in the National League West this off-season.  Here is how I see things if the season started today:

1. San Francisco Giants - The Giants didn’t make many changes for 2011 and why should they?  They are the defending World Series Champions and they have an awesome pitching staff that is only going to get better.  The Giants brought back Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell while adding Miguel Tejada to take over as the starting shortstop.  Having Buster Posey for the whole year will also boost the offense in 2011.  If Pablo Sandoval & Freddy Sanchez bounce back and play like they can in 2011, the Giants are going to win around 100 games!

2. Colorado Rockies - The Rockies’ strength is going to be the pitching staff in 2011.  They re-signed Jorge de la Rosa for the rotation (which is going to be strong) and they traded for Matt Lindstrom to help out at the back end of the pen.  The Rockies also added Ty Wigginton, Jose Lopez, Joe Crede and Jose Morales and each of them could have a big role for the Rockies in 2011.  The Rockies will be right there with the Giants this season in the N.L. West.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers - The Dodgers decided to spend money on pitching over the winter.  They re-signed Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla (who will likely pitch out of the pen in 2011) which were smart moves.  Jon Garland, Matt Guerrier and Blake Hawksworth were also added to the pitching staff for 2011 and they will all prove to be solid additions.  Juan Uribe was given a pretty nice contract to take over as the Dodgers’ starting 2B and they hope he can give them 20 homers while playing good defense.  The Dodgers will likely have platoons at both catcher (Rod Barajas & Dioner Navarro) and LF (Marcus Thames & Jay Gibbons) and they will need power production out of those spots.  I don’t think the Dodgers have enough hitting to keep up with the Giants & Rockies in 2011.

4. San Diego Padres - The Padres made a lot of changes but losing Adrian Gonzalez is going to hurt.  They plan on platooning Brad Hawpe & Jorge Cantu at 1B and that is going to be a huge downgrade in production.  The Padres will likely try to run more on the basepaths to try to make something happen.  They added Cameron Maybin, Jason Bartlett, Orlando Hudson, Eric Patterson and Gregg Zaun to help out in the field but none of those bats inspire much fear in opposing pitchers.  The Padres took a chance on a couple pitchers during the winter in signing Aaron Harang and Chad Qualls.  I expect them both to like pitching in Petco Park and have good rebounds in 2011.

5. Arizona Diamondbacks - The D-Backs went with volume moves to try to improve the team and they will be interesting to watch.  Geoff Blum, Juan Miranda, Henry Blanco, Xavier Nady and Willie Bloomquist were added to try to help the team in the field.  The Diamondbacks had one of the worst bullpens I can remember last season so that was a priority to fix this winter.  J.J. Putz, David Hernandez, Kam Mickolio and Micah Owings were brought in to help.  The D-Backs also added Armando Galarraga and Zach Duke to help out in the starting rotation in 2011.  If everything goes right, the D-Backs could finish in 4th place in the N.L. West.

The National League Central is going to be one of the best divisions in baseball as any of the top four teams could win the division in 2011.  Here is a look at how I see things standing right now:

1. St. Louis Cardinals - The Cardinals only saw a few holes on the team and they worked quickly to fix them.  Ryan Theriot & Lance Berkman are new for 2011 and they should give the offense a spark.  Nick Punto & Gerald Laird were signed to help off the bench in 2011 and they are solid players.  Pitching wise, the Cardinals re-signed Jake Westbrook which pretty much ensures that they are going to have one of the best rotations in the majors.

2. Milwaukee Brewers - The Brewers knew that their biggest weakness was the starting rotation last season.  So they went out and traded for Zack Greinke & Shaun Marcum.  Greinke, Marcum, Gallardo and Wolf will give the Brewers a pretty imposing starting rotation in 2011.  They also added righty reliever Takashi Saito to help out in the back end of the pen in 2011 and I really like that signing for them.  The Brewers are going to score runs with Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, Casey McGehee and Corey Hart in the lineup so they might surprise in 2011.

3. Chicago Cubs - The Cubs only had three major additions for 2011, but they are good ones.  1B Carlos Pena, starting pitcher Matt Garza and reliever Kerry Wood are in the fold for the Cubs in 2011.  Pena will add a lot of power and he’s a Gold Glove 1B, but he won’t likely put up a good batting average.  Adding Garza gives the Cubs an imposing rotation that includes Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Carlos Silva and Randy Wells.  Kerry Wood will also be a key addition as the Cubs’ bullpen was pathetic last season outside of Carlos Marmol & Sean Marshall. 

4. Cincinnati Reds - This is not a typo.  I really like the Reds but they pretty much stayed pat for 2011 while other teams in the division were making major improvements.  That will likely prove to be a mistake for the Reds and it will cost them in 2011, mark my words.  Edgar Renteria will likely be the only new starting player for the Reds this year.  The Reds still have a good team as they have solid young pitchers and improving hitters, but they will struggle to keep pace with the Cardinals, Cubs & Brewers in 2011.

5. Houston Astros - The only major additions the Astros made were adding Bill Hall & Clint Barmes to be the new double play combo.  The Astros are hoping that pair plays good defense while adding some power to the lineup.  The Astros actually have a good starting rotation but I think the bullpen is going to absolutely kill them in 2011.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates - The Pirates have added some talent during the off-season but not nearing enough to get them out of the basement in the N.L. Central.  Lyle Overbay, Matt Diaz, Garrett Atkins and Josh Fields will try to add some punch to the Pirates’ lineup in 2011.  Kevin Correia and Greg Olsen were added to a very bad starting rotation and the Pirates added Joe Beimel and Jose Veras for the pen.  The Pirates are going to finish in last place in the N.L. Central by a lot of games once again in 2011.

With pitchers and catchers getting ready to report to spring training, I have decided to take an early look at the N.L. East.  Here is how I see things right now:

1. Philadelphia Phillies - The Phillies only made one key addition to the team over the winter and boy was it a big one.  The Phillies re-signed Cliff Lee which could set them up with one of the best starting rotations in recent history.  Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton could each with 15+ games in 2011 as they are that good.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see two or three of these guys win at least 20 games in 2011.  The Phillies will need some hitters to rebound from off years and I don’t see that being a problem at all.

2. Atlanta Braves - The Braves felt that they needed more offense in 2011, so they went out and dealt for 2B Dan Uggla of the Marlins.  He is a homer hitting machine and he will fit in very well in the Braves’ lineup in 2011.  The Braves are not without questions though offensively as rookie Freddie Freeman will be starting at 1B, Nate McLouth in CF and Chipper Jones will be back at 3B after missing a lot of last season.  The Braves still have a strong starting rotation but they have a rebuilt back end of the bullpen that will be relying on youth.

3.  Florida Marlins - The Marlins couldn’t re-sign Dan Uggla to a contract extension so they dealt him to Atlanta for his replacement (Omar Infante).  Infante will likely improve the Marlins’ D a little bit, but they are going to miss Uggla’s power.  The Marlins overpaid for John Buck who is coming off a career year.  But, the outfield of Logan Morrison, Chris Coghlan and Mike Stanton have big time potential offensively.  Also, look for Hanley Ramirez to rebound with a huge 2011 season.  The Marlins have a good starting rotation and I think signing Javier Vazquez is going to really pay off.  The Marlins also brought in a lot of talented, young arms for the pen.

4. Washington Nationals - The Nationals went shopping for bats this winter and they came up with Jayson Werth, Rick Ankiel, Adam LaRoche and Jerry Hairston.  Those guys combined with the young core of up and coming hitters on the Nationals will likely improve the offense for 2011.  But, they didn’t do enough to improve the pitching staff.  Adding Tom Gorzelanny (deal with the Cubs) and Todd Coffey (free agent) aren’t the kind of moves the Nationals need to make as they should have aimed higher.

5. New York Mets - Due to the team’s financial problems….they were on the outside looking in on free agency.  They got Ronny Paulino, Willie Harris, Scott Hairston, Chris Young, D.J. Carrasco, Chris Capuano, Taylor Buchholz, Chris Young and Blaine Boyer out of the bargain bin.  With Johan Santana likely to miss the first half of the season, the Mets are in deep trouble.  If Jason Bay can stay healthy in 2011, the Mets are going to score some runs.  But, they will give up more than they score on most nights.  It’s going to be a long, long season for Mets’ fans.

Betting when you get down to two games in a day is always hard.  But, I like a side and total for both games.  Seeing how I am 7-1 against the spread so far this year, you might want to pay attention.  Here is how I see the games turning out:

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP:

The Packers are coming into this game superhot, having thumped the Eagles and Falcons on the road already in the playoffs.  But, this is a very heated rivalry and I expect a great game to take place.  Both teams have good defenses but the Packers have an edge as Aaron Rodgers and his fleet of WRs are likely going to be very hard for the Bears to corral tomorrow.  The Bears hope that they will be able to get pressure on Rodgers without blitzing which is easier said than done.  The Bears are going to try to control the clock and the ball by handing off to Matt Forte and Chester Taylor a lot in this game.  But, the Packers are likely going to be ready for that after shutting down Lesean McCoy and Michael Turner the last two weekends.  That means the pressure is going to fall on Jay Cutler.  The problem with that is the Packers are going to be sending Clay Matthews after him, while covering his WRs with Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams & Sam Shields. 

PREDICTION:  GREEN BAY PACKERS 20, CHICAGO BEARS 14

THE BETS:  Take the Packers -3.5 and take the total under 43 points.

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP:

The Jets come into this game flying high after knocking Tom Brady & Peyton Manning out of the playoffs in consecutive weeks.  They also beat the Steelers 22-17 on Heinz Field just five weeks ago.  The Jets are going to come out running the ball against the Steelers.  That might sound like a bad idea, but the Jets rushed for over 100 yards against them five weeks ago.  If the Jets get the running game going, they are going to torch the Steelers’ secondary.  The Steelers need to run the ball too so they can slow the Jets’ pass rush.  Because if Roethlisberger doesn’t have time to throw the ball he’s going to be making mistakes against Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie.  I see Shaun Suisham missing a field goal at the end of this game to send the Jets to the Super Bowl.

PREDICTION:  NEW YORK JETS 17, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 16

THE BETS:  Take the Jets +3.5 points and take under 38.5 on the total.

The Texas Rangers are going to be the favorite in the A.L. West this season but the Oakland A’s have had a great winter of reloading and they will be right there in the end.  The Angels will likely be better than they were in 2010 but they still need a big bat.  The Mariners are rebuilding and they will be the whipping boy in this division.  Here is a early look at the teams:

1. Oakland Athletics:  The A’s will have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball in 2011.  This will be the season that Brett Anderson turns into one of the best starting pitchers in all of baseball.  Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden and Trevor Cahill will give the A’s a very solid front four of the starting rotation.  The A’s will also have a deep and dominating bullpen after adding Brian Fuentes & Grant Balfour to the mix.  The A’s have added DH Hideki Matsui, LF Josh Willingham and RF David DeJesus to the offense and they will give the A’s just the boost they need.

2. Texas Rangers:  The Rangers added 3B Adrian Beltre and C Yorvit Torrealba to an already potent offense.  They key to their season is going to be the pitching staff as they are going to head to spring training with some questions in the starting rotation.  They are considering moving Pedro Feliz to the starting rotation but I think that would be a mistake.  The bullpen is very deep and talented so the Rangers should try to keep them together.  If the Rangers get guys in the starting rotation to step up, they can beat the A’s in the West.

3. Los Angeles Angels:  The Angels had problems scoring runs last season.  They hope the recent addition of Vernon Wells and the health of Kendry Morales will get them back on track.  The Angels still have a very solid starting rotation from #1 to #5, so they aren’t going to be a pushover.  Adding lefty relievers Scott Downs and Hisanori Takahashi were very solid additions to the Angels.  The Angels will need a lot of things to break right to win the A.L. West.

4. Seattle Mariners:  The Mariners’ offense sucked last season and I don’t see that changing in 2011.  The Mariners brought in Miguel Olivo, Jack Cust and Brendan Ryan in during the off-season but only Cust might be a true impact bat of that trio.  The Mariners hope that moving Chone Figgins back to 3B and having 1B Justin Smoak for a whole year will help revive the offense.  The Mariners will be trying to win with pitching and defense in 2011, but they are clearly the worst team in the A.L. West as of right now.