Rox, D-backs could shake up NL West in 2017

The Dodgers have been busy this offseason retaining the core members of their roster.

The Giants filled their biggest void, signing free-agent closer Mark Melancon. The Dodgers and Giants are looking to maintain their two-team stranglehold on the National League West.

But it won’t be that easy. The Rockies and D-backs won’t be favorites coming into the season, but don’t discount their ability to crash what has been a West Coast party the past five seasons, in which L.A. (four) and S.F. (three) have earned seven postseason appearances combined. No other NL West team has made the postseason in that span.

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It has been seven years since the Rockies last played a meaningful game in October, five years for the D-backs and 10 years for the Padres.

The Padres are in a holding pattern right now, looking to regroup after embarking on a plan to contend two years ago. After seeing 84 players wear a San Diego uniform in those two years, the club is now committed to a major rebuild.

Neither the Rockies nor the D-backs have been a factor in recent divisional races, but both teams feel that with a little offseason tinkering, they could give their fans a summer to remember in 2017.

Yes, the Rockies have sustained six consecutive losing seasons. But they know that they have one of the better offensive and defensive lineups in baseball, are sold on the young arms in their rotation and recognize the bullpen as their biggest obstacle to contending.

Rockies management made its expectations known in the offseason by replacing manager Walt Weiss with former Padres manager Bud Black and signing Ian Desmond to the biggest free-agent contract …

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