Padres Editorial: NL West 2015-Ranking the First Basemen

How Good Are the Padres?

The San Diego Padres are going to the World Series, right? Ok, ok. Maybe that’s a bit premature, but cut me some slack. They haven’t been to the playoffs in eight years, and they’ve just signed several players who are as good as any player they’ve had during this loooooong dry spell. We’re excited, and we have good reason to be.

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But before the team gets to the World Series, there’s a full season of games to be played, and success in the NL West will be critical in determining the Padres chances of seeing postseason play. The NL West is not a division of patsies. The Dodgers are loaded, the Giants are the defending World Series champs, and the Rockies will score mountains of runs. The Diamondbacks may not be the preseason favorites to win the division, but they will feature a middle of the lineup with the potential to be as good as any in the division. And the Padres are not the only team within the division to make some key off-season acquisitions.

To get a sense of where the Pads rank within their division, why don’t we do a position-by-position comparison of the NL West teams?  First up, first base.