NL Central

1. Cardnals

2. Brewers

3. Cubs

4. Reds

5. Astros

6. Pirates

The Cards are going to win the division if they can keep their starting pitching healthy again. Carpenter and Wainwright are a deadly duo, but have been slapped around a bit this spring. The same goes for Albert Pujols, who has sat quite a few games, they will need him to go anywhere. The Cards are just a step ahead of the Brewers and two ahead of the Cubs.

The Brewers will contend for the title, but they might fall short at the end of the year due to pitching. Who knows who will make up the end of our rotation, hopefully it won’t include Suppan. Melvin is a stubborn bastard, so he’ll likely be in the picture. Our offense will do fine, as long as Braun and Fielder are healthy. We have more speed on the base paths this year, but can Gomez avoid dumb mistakes running bases? He hasn’t shown much improvement. I think the Crew has a good shot at the wild card if not the division.

The Cubs were mediocre last year and their window of opportunity to make a run is closing fast. They have some stars that are not what they used to be (Soriano and Lee) and some young guys who are over rated (Theriot, Fukodome, Fontenot) and a headcase pitcher (Zambrano), that will likely keep them out of the playoffs again. They made some weak offseason moves to help the team that will get them nowhere. I almost put them lower in the rankings.

The Reds beat out the Astros in a coin flip. The Reds have some young guys that will really turn some heads this year. Joey Votto is an all star in the making, who should bounce back after a rough personal year. Jay Bruce should bounce back some too. The pitching is a question mark though; they will need good years from Harang, Arroyo and Cueto. Who knows when Aroldis Chapman will make it up, but it will be sometime this summer. Coco can still close games too.

The Astros aren’t what they used to be. They let Tejada go in free agency but still have some pop in the bat. Guys like Pence, Lee and Berkman are all great, but won’t carry the team past the rough pitching they will struggle through. Oswalt isn’t what he used to be, Wandy is the ace in the making and after these two is lacking big time. Losing Hawkins in the pen hurt too, will Matt Lindstrom fill in? I don’t think so.

And coming in last again is the Pirates. Don’t worry Pirates fans, you’ll get there some day, or you’ll trade away all your talent for younger talent. It’s a shitty cycle to be caught in, but eventually it’ll end. At least you have McClutchen to watch in awe of.