NL Central

OH were do we start in this Division? Well what we have here is a Division in a Division. There has been for many years the top tier teams and the bottom feeders. This is the largest Division in all of Baseball with 6 teams Viding for the Division championship. The Division consists of particularly 3 top teams that compete and 3 lower teams that say they are competing. Heres how they play out.

The St. Louis Cardinals the team that is looking down on the Division year after year and is the only winner of the World Series in the past 20 years. The Pitching is spot on with the best Pitching coach in Dave Duncan. The rotation is solid and incorperating anyone in under Duncans eyes become Cy Young contenders. Oh did I forget to mention the best Player in Baseball is on this team in Albert Pujols. Oh yeah a game changer is you pitch to him. He has some protection around him so he can get some at bats with Holiday and Jay, Freese, and now Berkman. Yadier Molina is the best all around catcher in the game handles a Pitching staff like no other. I see them being there at the end for the Division once again. They may come up short with other clubs having upgraded their rosters.

Speaking of upgrades to rosters the Millwauke Brewers made some drastic upheaval to their roster. The Pitching rotation and Bullpen have been retooled to compete and sight of winning the Division. With the Trades and Free Agents this staff will do it. You really can't complain with Greinke, Marcum, Gallardo, and Wolf starting and Hawkins, Saito, and Axford finishing games. They have a tough middle relief pitchers also in Parra, Loe, and McClendon. The Bats do come alive with this Brew Crew. They have a Prince on fisrt and some Braun in the Outfield mix in Weeks, McGehee, Gamel, Gomez, and Betancourt you have pretty solid team and hard to beat in a Series. This team has it all and just may win it all in the end.

Moving down south a bit we have the oldest Professional ball club in the Cincinnati Reds. Yeah the Division Champs and that's it. These guys made giant leaps and bounds last year with a bunch of veterans helping the young guys get it together and win. And win they did, but they couldn't get over the hump out of the Division. The pitching is solid and have good young lively arms. With Votto, Phillips and Rolen and few up and comers in Bruce and Stubbs pounding the leather off the ball make a very good hitting team. Kind of reminds you of the old Red Machine from the 70's. I can't see them making the playoffs this season, but I do see them giving it a great shot at it. They do have all the potential of making the Division more tough and anything can happen. This Division is top loaded and The Reds have as good as any chance as any of the other top teams. The Pitching with this team is young and seasoned. Arroyo leading the rotation and having a career year helps these young arms. Volquez, Cueto, Bailey, Leake all have the skills and been through the rough patches of injuries and disappointment in games to now overcome and win. Winning is what this club did last year most one run games wins in all of MLB. The Bullpen is stacked with young lightning arms with some filthy stuff and with Coco Cordero closing it out makes the reds pretty tough to beat in a series. Watch out NL Central the Reds are contenders now.

Oh boy now here come the Cubbies, the longest drought World Series winners. They haven't seen the trophy since 1908 man that is a long time. The Chicago Cubs have as good a chance as the other three mentioned before with line up changes and Bullpen help added and oh Kerry Wood is a Cub once again. His veteran leadership out there makes everyone better even Carlos. Carlos who? well Carlos the nasty big stink'n filthy cheese of a slider Marmol, The closer. If this guy stays healthy and Woods in front of him they will win more games than they will lose. The starting rotation is pretty solid with the bull Zambrano leading the club with a nicer approach to pumping up his team. Dempster, Silva, Cashner and Wells ( who are fighting it out for the 5th spot) hold their own on the mound it's going to be a long season for the other clubs in the Division. Oh no I didn't forget the big acquisition of Matt Garza this is a great piece added to the starting rotation this guy is nasty and adds so much. the big question is is Wrigley going to jinx him and have the wind blow out with all his home starts. we'll see. The hitting and defense is solid and getting better from last season. They have Byrd and Fukodome catching and holding runners in place, and Soriano who is focused on returning to his numbers that got him that contract. The Outfield is going to be pretty good if one of them wants a day off they have one hell of a hitter in Tyler Colvin. This kid can hit and the ball goes very far, one has said to reach the south side of Chi-Town. With Blake Dewitt, Castro, Baker sealing up the middle makes it hard to hit and not hit into a double play. Anchoring the left at Third Base is Fan Favorite Aramis Ramirez, This guy is looking at a pain free season and helping out the club with his power and defense. I think with him a Soriano have their way the baseball needs to be very scared. getting back to his Rookie number is Soto this kid can bring the hits and on base percentage. Geovany Soto is no slouch to RBI's this guy can bring you home if your on, that is the premise of this club getting on base and rounding third. As far as finishing in the top three of the Division it is very debatable on who can hold it all together come October.

As for the remainder of the Division we have the Pittsburg Pirates and Houston Astros it is going to be a tough race on who is not coming in last. Both these teams are in rebuilding year and well the Pirates have been there since 1980. The Astros are in a better position to not to hold that title of finishing last. They have better talent and a good front office. With Hunter Pence and Wandy Rodriguez they can make a good run at it. This small lower Division is relatively home to the Pirates this clubs front office is horrible and ownership needs to sell to a owner that will put a great product on the field and keep it there for years to come. They now have Clint Hurdle managing on the field, but you can only do so much with a triple A club. There it is the NL Central and all its Historic Glory. This is my take on it, What is your?