NL West Preview: Padres

By Kevin Pedersen
SportsTicker Staff Writer

Arrivals: OF Jim Edmonds, 2B Tadahito Iguchi, LHP Randy Wolf, RHP Mark Prior, 1B Tony Clark

Departures: OFs Mike Cameron and Milton Bradley, 2Bs Marcus Giles and Geoff Blum, RHP Doug Brocail

Projected Starters: C - Josh Bard (.285/5/51) 1B - Adrian Gonzalez (.282/30/100) 2B - Tadahito Iguchi (.267/9/43) SS - Khalil Greene (.254/27/97) 3B - Kevin Kouzmanoff (.275/18/74) LF - Scott Hairston (.243/11/36) CF - Jim Edmonds (.252/12/53) RF - Brian Giles (.271/13/51)

Projected Rotation: RHP - Jake Peavy (19-6, 2.54) RHP - Chris Young (9-8, 3.12) RHP - Greg Maddux (14-11, 4.14) LHP - Randy Wolf (9-6, 4.73) RHP - Justin Germano (7-10, 4.46)

Projected Closer: RHP - Trevor Hoffman (4-5, 2.98, 42 saves)

Strengths: Pitching easily is this team's biggest strength. Peavy is the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, and the Padres had the best team ERA in all of baseball at 3.70 - which included a league-best 20 shutouts. ... Despite a few blown saves down the stretch, Hoffman still is one of the league's elite closers. ... Gonzalez also is a budding star at first base.

Weaknesses: The Padres were next-to-last in the National League in team batting average at .251 and still do not have a dominant hitter to scare opposing pitchers. ... San Diego is slow all over the field, ranking last in the NL in stolen bases. ... The Padres need more stability out of there everyday lineup, as only three current players played at least 140 games last season. Unless Edmonds stays healthy and gives San Diego some sort of production in center field, the Padres could really miss Cameron, who was their only base-stealer (18) and one of three 20-home run hitters in 2007.

Rotation outlook: The rotation is strong at the top as Peavy is one of the best pitchers in the National League. Young went 0-5 over his last 11 starts since straining an abdominal muscle on July 24, but the 6-10 righthander led the majors with a 1.82 ERA over his first 19 appearances. If he is healthy alongside No. 3 Maddux, San Diego should be in good shape. ... Wolf and Germano are solid options as fourth and fifth starters, respectively, if healthy. If Mark Prior - who is not expected to be ready until May - can give them anything, San Diego could get an added boost.

Bullpen situation: The all-time saves leader, Hoffman is one of the best around. But he tied a career high with seven blown saves, including a crucial one in the NL Wild Card tiebreaker against Colorado last season. ... As a whole, the bullpen is strong. Heath Bell, Cla Meredith and Kevin Cameron all had sub-3.50 ERAs in 2007. ... The only thing lacking may be a lefthander, but youngsters Justin Hampson and Joe Thatcher pitched well in limited innings last season.

Projected Finish: Fourth in NL West