Hudson sees growing rivalry in West

Jimmy Rollins would have called his shot. Orlando Hudson would have none of it.

Rollins told the world two years ago his Philadelphia Phillies were the team to beat in the National League East, stoking a rivalry with the New York Mets.

Hudson could have called the Dodgers the team to beat in the NL West this season, in a blossoming rivalry with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I’m not going to have me in the paper saying we’re going to win the division,” Hudson said. “That’s all I need.”

Rollins took the abuse from New York fans. We’re not sure what abuse Hudson might possibly endure from Arizona fans -- water splashed upon him from the swimming pool beyond right field, perhaps -- but he kindly asked that we handle the predictions.

Too bad, for the Dodgers and Diamondbacks deserve some attention. The division race ought to go down to the final week once again, with both teams stocked with some of the brightest young talent in the game.

Hudson knows the enemy. He was the enemy, as the Diamondbacks’ second baseman for the last three years.

“It’s a great little rivalry,” Hudson said. “It’s been building up for the last couple years. It’s going to be going for a long time.

“Hopefully, one day it will be more like the American League East, where you’ve got Boston and New York -- and now Tampa Bay.”

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks could sustain this rivalry for a few years, without nuclear spending. The Dodgers committed $25 million to Manny Ramirez for this season, but otherwise no player in L.A. or Arizona makes even half that much.

The young talent overflows. Some of these players are budding stars and some are already stars, but none is older than 26: infielders Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds, outfielders Justin Upton and Chris Young and pitcher Max Scherzer for the Diamondbacks; infielder James Loney, outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, catcher Russell Martin and pitchers Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton and Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers.

We had, of course, asked Hudson about this year, not the next few years.

“Pitching,” he said, “is going to be the key.”

That’s strike one and strike two against the Dodgers. Strike one is Brandon Webb, strike two is Dan Haren, and we’d take either guy over any of the Dodgers’ starters.

Webb won 22 games last year, finishing second to Tim Lincecum in the Cy Young Award voting and making his third consecutive All-Star appearance. Haren won 16, making his second consecutive All-Star appearance.

“When we face Haren and Webb, we’ll have to scratch out a win,” Hudson said. “We know that.”

The Dodgers said as much last year, then blew out Haren and Webb on back-to-back weekends in September, jumping over Arizona and into first place for good. And Billingsley posted a better earned-run average than both of the Arizona stars.

So the Dodgers can counter Webb with Billingsley, Haren with Hiroki Kuroda. The teams can match what Hudson calls the “two kids with electric stuff,” Kershaw and Scherzer, and what Hudson calls the “two crafty lefties,” Randy Wolf here and Doug Davis there. The Diamondbacks get innings from Jon Garland, the Dodgers get hope from rookie James McDonald.

The Dodgers did not plan this. They envisioned McDonald in their bullpen, then pushed him into the rotation after Jason Schmidt, Claudio Vargas, Eric Milton, Shawn Estes and Eric Stults each flunked his audition.

Teams do not live on five starters alone. No team used fewer than seven starters last season. Yet, with McDonald already in the rotation, the next guy in might be Jeff Weaver.

So we’re betting the NL West comes down to this: In this economy, veteran pitchers will become available to any team willing to pick up a big contract. The Dodgers won’t be stocking up on players for free this summer.

The Dodgers can get the reinforcements they almost certainly will need for the starting rotation, if they’re willing to pay for them. Until then, we’ll pick the Diamondbacks.

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