This outfield stands apart from rest of NL West

The specter of Mookie Betts looms large over the National League West's outfield projections right now. The Padres are still very interested in a trade for the Red Sox slugger, and the Dodgers are another obvious fit.

Already this week, Arizona has landed Starling Marte in a deal with Pittsburgh. Yet, it remains a possibility that we see another major shakeup in an NL West outfield before the regular season begins.

With that in mind, here's an early look at the five outfields in the division as they stand right now -- a group that includes a reigning MVP in Cody Bellinger, a batting champ and four-time All-Star in Charlie Blackmon and an on-base machine in newcomer Tommy Pham.

The best: Dodgers
Start in center field with an MVP, and that's a pretty good foundation. Bellinger won a Gold Glove in right field, and he might have at first base. Now he's in center, where he'll be flanked by Joc Pederson and AJ Pollock in the corners. The former fought off trade rumors (so far) for a second consecutive offseason despite the most successful platoon season (36 homers) in club history. The latter, again, was hounded by injuries (limited to 86 games), then had a nightmare of a postseason (0-for-13 with 11 K's). The Dodgers haven't pried Betts from Boston yet, so Alex Verdugo is still around and could wind up in either corner, if his back holds up. Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor provide versatile depth, while Kyle Garlick and DJ Peters appear to be victims of the numbers game.

The rest (listed alphabetically)

D-backs
Turns out a Marte will play center field for Arizona after all. Just not the Marte the D-backs had been planning for all winter. The acquisition of Starling Marte moves Ketel Marte into a permanent second-base role, after he'd moved between the two positions last season. Starling is coming off a season in which he batted .295/.342/.503 with 23 home runs for Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, left fielder David Peralta won a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove Award last year, earning him a three-year contract extension this winter. The key for Peralta is staying healthy after a right shoulder injury limited him at the plate. Taking over in right field is free-agent signing Kole Calhoun. Look for Tim Locastro to see some time in the outfield, and Josh Rojas, who came over in the Zack Greinke trade last year, to get more reps after doing a nice job filling in for Peralta in left. The top three D-backs prospects, per MLB Pipeline -- Alek Thomas, Kristian Robinson and Corbin Carroll -- are all outfielders, and while they’re still a couple of years away, they make for a bright future at the position.

Giants
After non-tendering the team's 2019 co-home run leader Kevin Pillar earlier this offseason, the Giants are poised to enter the '20 season with a stable of young, largely unproven outfielders. Mike Yastrzemski, who enjoyed a breakout campaign as a 28-year-old rookie last year, could replace Pillar in center field, but he’ll have to prove that his success in the Majors wasn’t a fluke. Steven Duggar will also be in the mix to play center, though he struggled offensively and appeared in only 73 games after suffering a season-ending left shoulder injury in August. Alex Dickerson emerged as a key offensive catalyst last year, but the Giants will have to be careful with his workload given his lengthy injury history. Austin Slater, Jaylin Davis, Chris Shaw and Joe McCarthy will also compete for spots this spring and could benefit from the club’s new commitment to development at the Major League level. The Giants could still add a power-hitting corner outfielder, but they missed on top free agents Nick Castellanos and Marcell Ozuna, who landed with the Reds and Braves, respectively. Former Dodgers nemesis Yasiel Puig remains available, though.

Padres
Even with Pham's arrival, the San Diego outfield remains a mystery. The Padres have a seven-deep group of options, yet Pham is the only projected everyday starter. If he anchors left field, that leaves right and center open, and the Padres might platoon at those spots. Righties Wil Myers and Manuel Margot have had plenty of success against left-handed pitchers. Opposite them, the Padres have a deep group of lefty bats, including Trent Grisham, Franchy Cordero, Josh Naylor and Taylor Trammell. Myers and Margot are probably roster locks, though it's possible the Padres deal one or both of them before the season. Cordero has serious upside, but he's only played 49 games over the past two seasons because of injuries. Grisham and Naylor should hit eventually, too, but they're both entering their age-23 seasons and have yet to prove it in the big leagues. Trammell, who ranks No. 57 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects, could arrive midseason. In short: There's lots of upside but lots of uncertainty in San Diego. Of course, the arrival of a certain former MVP from Boston would clear up the outfield picture significantly.

Rockies
Right fielder Blackmon and center fielder David Dahl were two of the team's top four offensive producers last season. Blackmon was second with a 123 OPS+ (to go with 32 homers and 86 RBIs), while Dahl recorded a 109 OPS+ in just 100 games. Dahl prefers center but may have to play some right field, too, since the Rockies will monitor Blackmon's playing time to keep him fresh. Left field could be a platoon. Right-handed hitting Ian Desmond, miscast in center before switching with Dahl, has a .977 OPS against left-handed pitching. Raimel Tapia was actually slightly better left-on-left (.733 OPS) than against righties (.694), but his numbers were stronger all around when he was playing regularly. Lefty-hitting Sam Hilliard, who can play all three spots, was exciting in his late-season callup and is an explosive runner at 6-foot-5 and around 240 pounds. Versatile infielder Garrett Hampson showed solid range in center, while Yonathan Daza is among the best defensive outfield prospects, but he must translate his Triple-A production to the Majors.