The Arizona Diamondbacks went all-in for the 2016 season. They've signed two new top-of-the-rotation pitchers to add to a team which was already full of young players with a ton of potential, and many think they're the dark horse candidates in the NL West.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
Odds to Win the World Series: +2648
Odds to Win the NL Pennant: +1309
Odds to Win the NL West: +555
Regular Season Win Total: 82 Games
On one glance, it's tough to not like Arizona over 82 wins. The team won 79 games last year, and the additions of Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller almost have to be good enough to add three wins to that mix.
That said, the reason why Arizona is still a relatively big underdog to win the NL pennant and the World Series is because the Dodgers and Giants both have fantastic lineups and championship pedigrees. The D'Backs haven't been to the playoffs since 2011.
LOOKING AT THE LINEUP
Arizona's offense was good enough to get into the playoffs last year, but it just didn't have the pitching staff to keep up. The team averaged 4.44 runs per game and batted a comfortable .264.
A.J. Pollock had a breakout year, batting .315 with an OPS of .865, and he blasted 20 dingers while helping to protect all-world first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
Yasmany Tomas could end up seeing a big improvement in his second year in the bigs while Jean Segura could have a big year at the top of the order as well after moving over from Milwaukee.
PITCHING STAFF PROFILE
This is where the real improvement comes into play. The argument could be made that Greinke was overpaid in the offseason, but to pull him away from the Dodgers and keep him from the Giants at the same time was a huge accomplishment.
Patrick Corbin came back from Tommy John surgery last year, and though he only had 16 appearances under his belt, he looked good for the most part, and he could end up as a top-of-the-rotation type of pitcher again in 2016. If so, between Greinke and Miller, the D'Backs have as good of a rotation as there is in baseball, even if Rubby De La Rosa and Robbie Ray don't pan out as the fourth and fifth starters for this team.
Brad Ziegler had a nice year closing last season, going 30-of-32 with a 1.85 ERA. Tyler Clippard will make for a great setup option here as well for a team which didn't have much bullpen depth last year.
THE 2016 SEASON WILL BE A SUCCESS IF…
… Arizona gets enough protection around Goldschmidt to carry the offense. The Diamondbacks are going to be counting on Segura to have as good of a year as Ender Inciarte had last year. However, Segura strikes out a lot more than Inciarte did, and we aren't sure he's going to get on base quite as often. Goldschmidt is only going to be as effective as his batters in front of him, and Segura and Pollock are going to be critical for that.
If Tomas really evolves into the slugger that he was billed to be when he came to the States, that's only going to help Arizona out.
We know that this team can pitch this year for sure, and on paper, it all looks good for the rest of the squad as well. But will it all come together? It's worth remembering that this division is really tough, but it's tough to argue with the prices here on what could evolve into one of the best teams in the bigs.
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