The Dodgers are kings of the NL West. 8 straight division crowns and capped off by a 2020 World Series title. Is their reign in jeopardy? Two hours south, the Padres are vying for another offseason championship but may have what it takes to dethrone the defending NL West champs. CJ Nitkowski of MLB Network Radio joined the DA Show on Wednesday and talked about how the balance of power could be tilting in the west.
“They (the Dodgers) are the team to beat in the National League, but I will tell you this, watching the offseason kind of unfold… There's been this back and forth and even though the Dodgers are still heavy favorites, kind of guessing here, I'd say 6 1/2 to 7 out of 10 would pick the Dodgers, which means that the Padres still really have a chance and it's going to be a lot of fun to watch 19 times this year.”
Any chance the Padres have at a division crown leans on star Fernando Tatis Jr. who recently inked a mega 14-year extension. “I think ultimately it is a good deal for them. This is one of those guys that, I hate the phrase but I keep saying it, who could be the face of baseball even though he's out on the West Coast, everyone loves the personality and the way that he plays the game. He's playing a premier position and you're also taking a contract that's going to take him to age 35.
The bigger issue with a lot of these deals (Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera) the contract takes them up to age 40 sometimes, that's malpractice because it more often than not you're just not going to get the production. Great players, no doubt, but when they get close to 40, no chance you're getting what you're paying for at that point. I think the idea of it being 35 years old when this contract expires, getting a guy that the market but I think even the game as a whole can really identify with and get excited about. I've had people tell me that we were tuning into Padres games last year. I don't know if I've ever heard anybody outside of San Diego, really say that in the past, and so that's a big part of it as well.”