NL West newcomers poised to make impact

The National League West has never been afraid to reinvent itself, and it has done it again this winter, although maybe not with the cachet of seasons past. San Franciscos 1993 stealth signing of free agent Barry Bonds who knew the draw of his fathers favorite stop would be such a selling point? changed the course of the division for more than a decade. Free agent Larry Walkers addition in 1995 helped Colorado become the fastest expansion team to the playoffs, until the Diamondbacks after adding free agents Randy Johnson, Steve Finley and others made it even more quickly in 1999. Trades have been part of the makeover. Kevin Brown, acquired in Floridas post-World Series sell-off in the winter of 1997, got San Diego to its only World Series the next year, when closer Trevor Hoffman another acquisition from the Marlins a few years earlier put together a Cy Young-worthy season. Some still say he was robbed. Curt Schilling, acquired in a seven-player trade from Philadelphia in 2000, added a second ace to the Arizona rotation that won the World Series in 2001, when he and Johnson were named co-MVPs. San Diego landed Adrian Gonzalez in another trade coup in 2006, and Manny Ramirezs bat pushed Los Angeles into the playoffs in 2008 after his acquisition at the trade deadline. The Dodgers might have pulled off the best trade of the decade when they sent Milton Bradley to Oakland for a minor-league outfielder named Andre Ethier. And so it goes. None of the divisions additions this winter may have as dramatic effect Bonds, Johnson et al. It will play itself out. But there have been some qualitygets in a division that prides itself on its competitiveness. Four teams have won the division in the last six years, and the one that did not Colorado made the 2007 World Series as a wild card. All five division teams have won at least 90 games once in the last three seasons.Click here to see our starting lineup of nine newcomers poised to make an immediate impact.Follow Jack Magruder on Twitter