The National League West is a glorious thing, home to every manner of baseball crackpot, eccentric, and would-be visionary. From the Dodgers, who are run with the steely intuitiveness of a mergers-and-acquisitions firm, to the Rockies, who have tried everything from humidified baseballs to changeup artists in their quest to conquer mile-high baseball, there are plenty of theories going around on the Left Coast.

And which one’s been most consistently successful over the last few years? The Giants’ theory that playing no one younger than Hank Aaron will lead to winning baseball. Go figure. Here’s a look at some of the major issues facing each of the clubs in the division.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS No general manager in baseball gets more undeserved stick than the Dodgers’ Paul De-Podesta. He’s rightly criticized for moves that make little sense, like signing Derek Lowe to a $36 million contract, but also for things that make a great deal of sense, like getting rid of overrated and overpaid players like Paul LoDuca and Shawn Green. On balance, he’s been fantastic so far, digging the Dodgers out from under a mountain of horrible contracts and filling the roster with underappreciated talents like Hee Seop Choi, Jeff Weaver, Jeff Kent, Brad Penny, Milton Bradley, and J.D. Drew.

Each of these players is potentially among the best at his position – and each carries serious risk, whether because of health, age, poor performance, or attitude. DePodesta’s strategy is admirable because he’s assembled a team that can, if things break right, be the best in baseball this year. At the same time, his calculated risks merit considerably skepticism. For instance, counting on Choi to live up to his potential when two other smart organizations have given up on him may prove not to be a good idea.

Either way, DePodesta has been GM for one season, and he has one division title. He deserves the benefit of the doubt – for now. It’s easy to see his strategy failing, though, because the real world has a way of intruding on plans that look good in paper.

Take the Dodgers’ center-field situation. It has long been thought that Drew, who is especially susceptible to leg injuries, would stay healthier if he played center rather than right field, as the position involves less abrupt stopping and starting. Manager Jim Tracy hasn’t decided whether or not Drew will start there, but incumbent Milton Bradley apparently has: “I’m the center fielder and that’s where I’m going to be playing,” he announced Tuesday.

Therein lies the pitfall of building a team around getting players with huge, obvious flaws: Sometimes the flaws actually hurt your team. Bradley has proved somewhat difficult over the course of his career and may need to change positions, which he doesn’t want to do; Drew is a potential MVP, but may need to change positions to do so. If this conflict, or others like it, prove costly to the Dodgers, DePodesta will deserve all the stick L.A. can give him.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS Speaking of undeserved stick, it’s funny how everyone in the world knows more about baseball than Giants GM Brian Sabean. Every year, he trots out a team of mediocre graybeards alongside Bar ry Bonds and Jason Schmidt; every year, the Giants win 90 games.

Perhaps one of these years, baseball people will admit that Sabean’s Methuselah strategy, which has been demonstrably successful, has some merit to it. Certainly it’s being pushed further than ever this year in San Francisco; six everyday players are 34 or older.

To me, the real issue for the Giants this spring will be outfield defense. With the statue-like Bonds in left and 38-year-old Marquis Grissom in center, the newly acquired Moises Alou, 38, will be moving to right. I’ve seen Alou struggle to reach cut-off men playing shallow left; he is to corner defense as Bernie Williams is to center field defense. Visitors to camp will have a fine old time watching the decrepit Giants infield try to figure out alignments for throws from Alou and the equally ragarmed Bonds.

I don’t think the Balco nonsense surrounding Bonds will be an issue. If Bonds were going to be affected by people wondering why his head is the size of a beach ball, he wouldn’t be one of three players ever to hit 700 home runs. Think what you will of the man, but he’ll be ready to play on Opening Day.

SAN DIEGO PADRES The Padres are a good team. They have good young pitchers, including last year’s major-league ERA leader, Jake Peavy; good young position players like Khalil Greene and Sean Burroughs; and veteran stars like Brian Giles, Ryan Klesko, and Phil Nevin.

But many people don’t quite realize how good the Padres’ position players are, because they hit in an extreme pitcher’s park and because they play so many road games in Dodger Stadium and SBC Park, which are also good pitcher’s parks. Burroughs, Giles, Nevin, and Klesko hit just 60 home runs between them last year.

Because of that, it will be interesting to see if manager Bruce Bochy emphasizes a change in approach for the team, especially for the left-handed power hitters. A lineup with Giles, Nevin, and Klesko in the middle isn’t going to start playing like the Go-Go Sox of the late 1950s, but an emphasis on contact and line-drive hitting may pay some dividends.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS After losing 111 games in 2004, the Diamondbacks made several of the worst moves of the winter when they cut long-term deals with Troy Glaus, Russ Ortiz, and Shawn Green, all of whom face major health issues and all of whom are being paid like perennial All-Stars. That said, however much the new Snakes are being overpaid, they’re certainly going to help the team improve greatly over last year’s wretched edition.

This team is not going to contend, however, so the open question is whether young middle infielders Scott Hairston and Alex Cintron will be allowed to develop at the major league level, or whether they’ll plug in awful veterans like Craig Counsell and Royce Clayton. I’d bet on the latter, but we’ll see.

COLORADO ROCKIES Quick! Someone name a Rockie position player other than Todd Helton and Preston Wilson. No, catcher Charles Johnson doesn’t count; he’ll be coming off the bench.

This is what spring training’s all about. Aside from the above-mentioned veterans, the Rockies begin the spring letting kids such 3B Garret Atkins and outfielder Matt Holliday fight it out for jobs. Dustan Mohr, former fourth outfielder for the Twins and Giants, is probably the most prominent of the players scrapping for jobs, which gives you an idea of the sort of thing we’re talking about.

Things aren’t much better on the pitching side. Aside from the amazing Joe Kennedy, who posted a legendary 3.66 ERA while starting 27 games for the Rockies last year, various homegrown Rockies like Jason Jennings, Aaron Cook, and Shawn Chacon are joined in camp by the likes of Darren Oliver.

I have no idea how the Rockies will do this year; I don’t even know who will be on the team. There’s nothing old-fashioned about purple uniforms and broken-bat home runs, but it’s comforting to know that at least one team is running spring training like a varsity tryout.

This is the third in a six-part series on baseball’s divisions. Next week, the American League.