MLB Season Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks

Last year's stunning turnaround has transformed the Diamondbacks into the NL West's most complete team and a World Series contender.

This man once hit a broken-bat home run.

Offense: Three budding stars compose the middle of the D'backs' lineup. Justin Upton is the franchise player who will begin putting up MVP-type numbers once he gets over a nagging thumb injury. In the early goings, only Matt Kemp is off to a hotter start than Chris Young, who's slugging at an impossible .897 rate with five homers. Behind the plate, Miguel Montero is one of the best offensive players at his position. The rest of this deep roster is filled with quality role players. Ryan Roberts and Aaron Hill were pleasant surprises last year, and Willie Bloomquist will fill in as Stephen Drew recovers from his ankle injury. Two interesting platoons to watch will be in left field, where the bat of Jason Kubel is competing with the glove of Gerardo Parra, and first base, where the incredible raw power of Paul Goldschmidt is paired with the corpse of Lyle Overbay.

The official term for the type of trade that sent Daniel Hudson
to Arizona for Edwin Jackson is: Highway Robbery.

Pitching: Arizona's depth and balance extend to its rotation and bullpen. Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson will continue to be effective top-of-the-rotation guys even if they don't repeat their 2011 breakout numbers. Trevor Cahill, the big addition, won't be bothered much by the move from Oakland to Chase Field thanks to his groundball tendencies. Joe Saunders is quite mediocre and Josh Collmenter looks like a bullpen arm, but the Diamondbacks have one of the game's most exciting young righties in the minors, Trevor Bauer, who is nearly major league-ready. And it won't even be a problem if the rather-flimsy back of the rotation puts a lot of pressure on the bullpen. GM Kevin Towers has done an impressive job rebuilding a once-terrible 'pen in a fascinating variety of different ways: free agency (J.J. Putz, Takashi Saito), trades (David Hernandez, Brad Ziegler, Craig Breslow), the Rule 5 draft (Joe Paterson), and the minors (Bryan Shaw).

Some think Trevor Bauer was the best prospect in last year's
draft, and some think his arm is due to fall off any day now.

Breakout Candidates: He'll strike out a lot and won't ever hit for a high average, but Paul Goldschmidt has a chance to crack the 30-homer plateau if he can hold off Lyle Overbay for at-bats. He hit eight homers in the final two months of 2011. The organization's ultimate wild card is Trevor Bauer, one of Arizona's first round picks last year whose unorthodox style provokes comparisons to Tim Lincecum. Bauer is ironing out his command in Double-A and will be one of the first arms called upon if (when?) Josh Collmenter gets bumped to the bullpen.

3 Key Questions: Can Kennedy and Hudson replicate their 2011 numbers? Is there enough offensive punch in the infield? And when does Bauer get his first chance?

Best Case Scenario: Justin Upton is this year's Matt Kemp, Stephen Drew comes back healthy, Bauer's debut is Strasburgian, and the Diamondbacks ride elite pitching and timely hitting to another World Series title.

Worst Case Scenario: Kennedy and Hudson take a step back, Putz succumbs to injury once again, Goldschmidt and Bauer are disappointing, and 2011 proves to be a mirage as the D'backs fall back into the middle of the NL West pack.

Predicted Finish: The Diamondbacks seemingly have it all: strong starting pitching, a shutdown bullpen, few holes in the lineup, and useful depth. They're the best team in the NL West and will be a serious contender for the pennant.