The NL West mess

Who wants to win the National League West this season?

Put your hands down, Los Angeles Dodgers. We already know you have too many flaws to contend this season.

I'm specifically referring to the quartet of Arizona, Colorado, San Diego and San Francisco -- a group that is separated by 1.5 games entering Tuesday's action, and yet none of them have reached the 40-win plateau. The only division leader other than Arizona (37-33) that has yet to win 40 games is Detroit (39-29).

Arizona has been in the lead for a while, but the Diamondbacks' grasp has been slipping in the wake of a four-game losing streak. The good news for them is that Colorado has been treading water ever since Troy Tulowitzki was sidelined with a broken rib, and San Francisco has lost five out of its last seven games.

Surprisingly, it's San Diego that is threatening to take over this division. The Padres have won seven in a row to climb into third place, all of which have come against either teams leading their divisions (Atlanta and Arizona) or are in contention (San Francisco). And since starting the season 5-15, San Diego has gone 31-19.

(Mid-blog quiz: Can you name any San Diego starting position players other than Chase Headley or Carlos Quentin off the top of your head? How about any starting pitchers not named Edinson Volquez or Jason Marquis?)

It's possible that the Padres can keep up the pace they've set since late April and take command of the NL West. But, it's equally likely that San Francisco or Arizona will get back on track and battle for the lead. Even Colorado has a shot at it, given how good its offense has been this season (.275 team batting average, .451 slugging percentage, 91 home runs and 337 RBI).

The two things we know for certain are it will be interesting to watch Arizona, Colorado, San Diego and San Francisco beat each other up in the NL West, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to wind up in last place.