This West may be wilder

As a franchise in its teenage years, the Florida Marlins don’t have much in the way of tradition. The color teal, perhaps. The voluntary demolition of a World Series champion, twice.

In the clubhouse, Dontrelle Willis enforces a tradition among the players. Throwback Friday, they call it. Wear an old-school jersey to work. Try on a Roberto Clemente for a day, or a Magic Johnson, or -- this is Miami, after all -- a Dan Marino.

The Marlins might trade Willis this summer, finally, after years of rumors. If the Dodgers get him, he can report to his new team in a Sandy Koufax jersey, or maybe a Claude Osteen.

With Willis, the Dodgers could have a throwback team. They have tradition, decades worth of tradition, Septembers and Octobers packed with 3-2 victories. They could spend their trade chips on strengthening their strength, going back to the future, lining up Willis, Brad Penny and Derek Lowe atop their rotation.

And, in the National League West, the Dodgers still might not have the best rotation. In the tightest division in the major leagues, pitching rules.

The second half starts today, and the tension builds from here. The division title was not decided until the final day last season. That could happen again this season, with the San Diego Padres leading the NL West by one game over the Dodgers and 3 1/2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“It will be a fun September,” Penny said. “I don’t think there’s one team in the division that’s much better than the other.”

The Dodgers lead the wild-card race, by two games over the Atlanta Braves and 2 1/2 over Arizona. The Colorado Rockies are sneaking up too, in fourth place but 4 1/2 games behind in the wild-card standings.

But the wild card is not broached in any clubhouse, at least not now. The division title is the preferred prize, and it’s up for grabs.

“It’s going to be a dogfight right until the end,” said Chris Young, the Padres’ All-Star pitcher. “The way the division is right now? It will be similar at the end of the season.”

It’s an arms race, disguised as a pennant race.

“The Western division has by far the best pitching staffs in all of baseball,” Arizona’s Brandon Webb said.

The last-place Giants were the only team in the division whose closer did not make the All-Star team, and they don’t really have one. The Dodgers have Takashi Saito, the Padres have Trevor Hoffman, the Diamondbacks have Jose Valverde. The Rockies have Brian Fuentes, although he lost his job after blowing four consecutive saves.

And the starters ...

“You come watch the Giants, they have Matt Cain,” Arizona second baseman Orlando Hudson said. “The Dodgers, you’ve got Penny and Derek Lowe. The Padres, Jake ‘the Snake’ Peavy and Chris Young. We’ve got Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson.”

All those names, and no mention of Barry Zito, or David Wells, or Greg Maddux.

“I can’t forget about Maddux,” Hudson interrupted. “That’s not even fair. Can you imagine Greg Maddux teaching Jake Peavy, with the velocity Jake Peavy has?”

Willis could help the Dodgers, or the Padres, or the Diamondbacks. He’s engaging, gregarious, the kind of character guy so beloved by Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti. All that, and he’s only 25, and he cannot become a free agent until 2009.

But he’s one of two name players on the Marlins, along with third baseman Miguel Cabrera. If the Marlins want to sell him as a two-time All-Star who won 22 games with a 2.63 earned-run average two years ago, and the Dodgers want to buy him as a guy who hasn’t won in a month, an innings-eater with a 4.72 ERA, the price of a trade would be difficult to negotiate.

The big bat remains the big target, in L.A. and in San Diego and Arizona. The Diamondbacks’ youngsters -- including outfielders Carlos Quentin and Chris Young, shortstop Stephen Drew and first baseman Conor Jackson -- have disappointed on offense. The Dodgers have hit fewer home runs than every major league team except the Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals.

The Padres are hitting .242, worst in the league. They recently imported catcher Michael Barrett and outfielder Milton Bradley, although Penny said he considered neither a big bat.

“They’re both proven hitters. I respect the way they play,” Penny said. “But they’re not going to hit 30 home runs.”

That leaves three teams in search of a bat big enough to swing the NL West one way.

“It would definitely help one of these teams,” Penny said. “I would rather it be mine.”

The biggest and best bat available is Texas Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira, who shredded his employers Wednesday. The Rangers will finish in the bottom half of the American League West for the eighth consecutive season.

“In 2003, they were rebuilding,” he told reporters in Texas. “In 2007, you still hear the same things.”

He added: “We’re a big-market team that’s playing like a small-market team.”

The Dodgers could give up first baseman James Loney and a pitcher to get him, but he can walk as a free agent after next season. Then again, he hit 33 home runs last season.

Carlos Lee hit 37, for the Milwaukee Brewers and Rangers. He dressed next to Penny at this week’s All-Star game, in the uniform of the Houston Astros. The Dodgers offered Lee a four-year contract last winter -- the Giants offered seven years -- before he signed with Houston, for six years and $100 million.

As Penny spoke, he nodded toward Lee.

“That,” he said, “would have been nice.”

bill.shaikin@latimes.com