Lil Red Machine

The NL central, as a whole, is one of the weakest division in baseball.  You have the Cubs, you have a few teams that might push .500, and then you have dreck such as the Pirates.  I would be shocked if the wildcard were to come from this divsion.  Without further ado, here are my thought and predictions for the NL central *drumroll please*

1.  Cubs–They are the team to beat.  Everyone knows it, and I’m not going to try to pick someone else and be “trendy.”  They have a quality lineup with good veterans, they got another bat in the form of Milton Bradley, and their pitching staff is lead by a true horse in Carlos Zambrano, and they have the arms behind him that can handle the rigors of a 162 game season.  I remember a few years ago when they went out in free agency and spent a lot of money.  People thought that they were crazy, but that spending, plus the overall talent of the team, has kept them right in the thick of things.  They made good investments.  I guess my only concerns are that the lineup has some age issues (Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano) and they have an unproven closer in Carlos Marmol.  Also, there is talk of Zambrano showing some chinks in the armor.  In this division, though, those blemishes will be easy to overcome.  As for October, though………..

2.  Cardinals–I can never go against a team led by Tony LaRussa, and features the greatest player in the game by a country mile in the form of Albert Pujols.  With that said, this team could go either way.  Their older vets may have another run left in them, or they could age rapidly.  I’m not liking the middle of the infield pairing of Adam Kennedy and Khalil Greene.  The rotation is also very questionable.  Will Chris Carpenter be able to recover from recent injuries?  Kyle Lohse and Branden Looper are good enough to be major league starters, but I’m thinking that the Cardinals will be asking too much out of these guys.  I list all these concerns, but I pick them so high because they are always one swing away from winning a ballgame with the mighty bat of Pujols

3.  Reds–My team got younger, cheaper, and faster.  All the talk in spring training is that the group is showing an energy that prior Reds teams haven’t shown.  They need another power bat, and the organization needs to start emphasizing OBP more.  A lot of free swingers on here.  You guys already know my thought about them (read my Reds preview).  I just think that they are a year away, once some of those young guys mature and get better.

4.  Brewers–Losing C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets is a killer, but it’s hard to say that they will be THIS bad.  When the Twins lost Johan Santana, everyone expected doom and gloom, but the organizational depth that those guys have kept them relevant.  Maybe the same is true for the Brewers, but I think that losing quality arms like that will really hurt them.  They have some legit stars in Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, but guys like Ricke Weeks, and Bill Hall are question marks.  Getting Trevor Hoffman is a temporary bandaid, even though he’s not what he used to be.  This team is hard to pinpoint.  Will be be the NL version of the Twins, or completely disband like the Marlins?

5.  Astros–These guys got extremely lucky last year.  They pulled a rare trick in having a winning record, but getting outscored by the opposition.  This team just isn’t very good, and not only that, but the lineup is old, and outside of Roy Oswalt, the rotation is in shambles.  They need to rebuild in the worst way, but owner Drayton McClane keeps putting that off.  Arguably noone in the starting lineup is still in their prime, perhaps Lance Berkman being the exception.  Either that, or there are guys who just aren’t that good to begin with.  It’s gonna be a long year for Houston-and yes, you DO have a problem

5.  Pirates–Awful, awful team.  Their best players in the starting lineup (Nate McClouth and Ryan Doumit) would be complimentary players on just about any other team.  That’s not a knock on them.  They are fine players, but if they are your feature guys, you are in trouble.  Outside of Adam LaRoche, the entire starting infield is awful (and even LaRoche isn’t that great).  Same with the other outfielders that flank McClouth.  Reinforcements for the lineup are down in the minors and on their way, but they won’t take care of the present problem.  The pitching staff, outside of Paul Maholm, is terrible, and the bullpen is passable, but doesnt’ scare anyone.  This is probably the worst team in major league baseball.