NL West Power Rankings: How Carlos Correa signing impacts the division

Star shortstop Carlos Correa has officially joined the San Francisco Giants, giving them a huge boost in talent on the roster.

The San Francisco Giants are bound to improve this upcoming season with star shortstop Carlos Correa officially signed to the team, which will likely help them in such a competitive division.

They’ve consistently struggled to rise above the Los Angeles Dodgers and the now up-and-coming San Diego Padres, and this signing could help move them in the right direction.

They made it very clear that they were willing to spend big this offseason. They were full-force after Aaron Judge, but they didn’t get discouraged when he ended up re-signing with the New York Yankees. They weighed out their other options and made a star a priority, signing Correa to a 13-year deal worth $350 million.

With Joc Pederson accepting the qualifying offer, the Giants aiming to re-sign Carlos Rodon and inking Correa, San Francisco has a lot of talent and is making huge moves toward the roster development they’ve been undergoing for quite some time.

NL West power rankings: Giants may be on the rise

The division just seems to get more and more competitive each season. Here’s how I’d rank each team in the division, based on depth and overall talent in each roster:

1. San Diego Padres
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Colorado Rockies

The Padres and the Dodgers are truly a toss-up of who will be best off this season, but the Padres are slightly favored as they’ve made so many big moves over the past year and truly proved what they’re capable of during the postseason.

The Padres knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs with a star-studded roster which included Joe Musgrove, Manny Machado, Juan Soto and Yu Darvish. Each of these players are coming back in 2023, and both Xander Bogaerts and Fernando Tatis Jr. are expected to be added to the mix as well.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, still have a solid team with a few stars returning, such as Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw. However, they’re at more of a disadvantage than the Padres because they lost star shortstop Trea Turner and haven’t made a big splash on the free agency market, leaving just Gavin Lux available to play the position.

Lux primarily played second base over the 2022 season, so they’re taking a bit of a gamble on him as there are no backups yet.

The Giants fall to third because of the fact that they’ve yet to reach the same depth and development as the Padres and Dodgers. They’re getting closer and signing Correa was a massive step in the right direction, but they haven’t quite caught up to the rapid development of San Diego or Los Angeles yet.

The Diamondbacks and the Rockies haven’t made the necessary moves, leaving them in similar positions to 2022.

The Diamondbacks are, however, linked to a trade rumor of Daulton Varsho for a few Houston Astros players, which has the potential to work great in their favor as the Astros just won the World Series this season. They may gain a few championship-caliber players, putting them at an advantage over the Rockies.