How could we! Wecompletely forgot to offer up our worthless NL West predictions. These are silly and trivial, but it’s always fun to check back in eight months and see just how horrendous everyone’s prognostications were. (Last year, we had the Rockies last, and they reached the World Series! Then again, did anyone have them in the postseason?) After the jump, we opine on arguably the most competitive division in baseball. To recap, here are the AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, and NL Central. Your homework assignment: World Series picks tomorrow.

1. Arizona Diamondbacks - Can’t go against the best (narrowly) 1-2 pitching punch in the NL, Webb and Haren. The lineup is young, but emerges this year as the most balanced in a challenging division.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers - Guessing that Joe Torre’s crew finishes two games out in a tight race. The pitching keeps them in the mix, but the bats will probably be their undoing.

3. San Diego Padres - Love the Padres, really do, but the schedule-makers were unkind – a brutal road stretch bridging April and May where the Padres go on the road for 21 of 29, and a nasty interleague schedule (Yankees, Indians, Tigers, Mariners) will keep this team from the postseason. Despite this, we still see them within five games of first at season’s end.

4. Colorado Rockies - Fall back to earth because the pitching cannot possibly be as good as the second half and postseason. The prodigious offense should keep them within 10 games of first all season long, though.

5. San Francisco Giants - Seventy wins would be an accomplishment. Who on this team hits 20 homers?