Preview of the NL Central

1. St. Louis Cardinals- The rich get richer and the St. Louis Cardinals were winners in the free agency market. Pitcher Sidney Ponson, second baseman Aaron Miles, and outfield Juan Encarnacion are just a few of the spare parts picked up to supplement the talented 2005 squad that blitzed through the MLB regular season. Albert Pujols is a hitting machine and other fielders around him, including Junior Spivey, Jim Edmonds, and Larry Bigbie, will get better as pitchers work around Pujols for another season. The pitching staff gets another year better, as Chris Carpenter looks to repeat his outstanding season, Mark Mulder looks to chow down on more innings while staying as the 1A to Carpenters top spot, and Jason Isringhausen looks to shut down more batters in the ninth. The St. Louis Cardinals will improve slightly on their win total and should be the favorite for the NL crown in the post season.

2. Chicago Cubs- The Chicago Cubs have a decent shot of breaking out this year, if they get past the “if…” game. The last couple of years, Chicago Cubs fans have witnessed the promotion of Mark Prior’s health and obfuscation over the health of many other players within the organization. The Chicago Cubs lineup is extremely strong when all the pieces are together. Derek Lee had a fantastic season in 2005 and should provide a solid performance at the least this year. Juan Pierre and Jacque Jones bring speed on the base paths and experience in big games that will be invaluable to the franchise. Young players Matt Murton and Ronny Cedeno will step up to fill vital roles on the team and learn from some of the great players on this squad. The Chicago Cubs curse will still remain this year, but they will be a player during the regular season and a threat in the NL wild card race.

3. Houston Astros- The Houston Astros, only an offseason away from the World Series, are rapidly aging beyond being a strong veteran team. Roger Clemens’ secrecy on what he plans to do this season is somewhat disconcerting to Astros fans but they still have a solid pitching staff in the hands of Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt. The real concern is that they won’t produce any more runs than they had last season and will leave the pitching staff in the lurch. Lance Berkman, Morgan Ensberg, and Jason Lane need to step up and produce enough runs to make the great performances of the rotation over the last few years worthwhile. Closer Brad Lidge has great stuff but needs to get over his poor performance in the World Series to avoid falling into the problem of many fallen closers.

4. Milwaukee Brewers- The Milwaukee Brewers are a popular pick for a dark horse team this season by many prognosticators. Perhaps it is their recent history that makes an ascension to the top of the NL Central Division unlikely. The Milwaukee Brewers have a potentially lethal batting order with the first baseman Prince Fielder, second baseman Rickie Weeks and short stop J.J. Hardy promising a great future infield for the Milwaukee Brewers. But it is important the Carlos Lee and Geoff Jenkins provide consistent power numbers in order to spread the hittable balls throughout the lineup. If this does not happen and the Milwaukee Brewers are well out of the race at the All Star break, you may see Jenkins, Lee, and others traded to gain better and younger pitching. Ben Sheets, Doug Davis, and Chris Capuano need to be reliable double digit winners in order to protect their young lineup. Closer Derek Turnbow needs to prove that his performance in 2005 was not a fluke and that he can provide reliable late game performances.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates- New manager Jim Tracy, too easily shuffled out of Los Angeles for his team’s failure, will provide the patient leadership necessary for a young and promising team. The addition of Sean Casey and Jeremy Burnitz to the Pirates will provide valuable leadership and some pop to the lineup. The young players in their batting order will sink or swim quickly in the majors and promising fielders Chris Duffy and Jason Duffy need to provide early numbers to keep the Pittsburgh Pirates from falling deep into the NL Central abyss. The pitching rotation should be fairly strong, as young ace Zach Duke and young starters Oliver Perez and Paul Maholm have the potential to be extremely strong for the next decade. The Pittsburgh Pirates fans need to be patient with Tracy and his staff or they will have another decade without a winning team.

6. Cincinnati Reds- The Cincinnati Reds organization is not in need of rebuilding; it is in need of demolition and resurrection as a team from the 1970s. In lieu of that, Cincinnati Reds fans need to hope that their pitching staff exceeds expectations, the team stays away from selling off its remaining parts, and that Ken Griffey finds a time machine to go back a decade. Short of time travel, a good training staff could keep this team from record-breaking futility. Ken Griffey had a resurgent season in 2005 but he has been too unreliable to count him in for a full season. Pitcher Eric Milton would be great in the rotation but his injury problems will effect his durability in 2006. Adam Dunn would be a big hitter if he didn’t swing at everything within range of his bat. These and many more weighty question marks prevent the Reds from having any chance at moving up in the NL Central division for years to come.