NL Central Preview

The NL Central will certainly miss the Houston Astros. Here's how the teams stack up entering 2013:

Class of the Central: Cincinnati Reds
The Reds have won two of the last three division titles and seem poised to win another as the season begins. The Reds acquired Shin-Soo Choo from the Indians to bolster their lineup. He will make the move from RF to CF for the first time in his career. The rest of the lineup is the same young core- Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, Zack Cozart- with MVP candidate Joey Votto and all-star Brandon Phillips. The Reds made the decision to keep the "Cuban Missile" Aroldis Chapman in the bullpen as their closer. As a result, they enter 2013 with the same rotation as last season- Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey, and Mike Leake. The Reds performed impressively without Votto last season, which means this team certainly has the potential for 100 wins if they can stay healthy.

Model of Consistency: St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals continue to play baseball at a high level no matter what lineup they throw out on the field. The Cardinals will be without Chris Carpenter (injury) and Kyle Lohse (free agency) in their rotation. However, St. Louis is continuing to reload rather than rebuild, with young studs Jon Jay, Allen Craig, Matt Carpenter, Pete Kozma, and NLDS hero Daniel Descalso. Highly touted prospect Oscar Tavares will likely join the roster after the all-star break as well. The Cardinals will have to deal with inconsistent pitching (especially from their bullpen) and will rely heavily on Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, and Jaime Garcia to carry them on a playoff run. This team could challenge the Reds for the title if its pieces together, but this seems more like a wild card team than a division winner.

Outside looking in: Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee was able to muster 83 wins in their first season without Prince Fielder. The Brewers will start this season without Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum in their rotation. However, they signed Kyle Lohse to replace Greinke and have a young repertoire of young pitching with Marco Estrada, Chris Narveson, and Mike Fiers anchoring their underrated rotation. Milwaukee's bullpen was miserable last season and blew many games in the late innings. Francisco Rodriguez (3 for 10 in save oppurtunities) was allowed to walk but John Axford (35 for 44) will return as the closer after a disappointing season (5-8, 4.67 ERA). A big storyline that could impact the success of the Brewers this season is the status of their star LF and 2011 MVP Ryan Braun. If Braun is suspended, this team is not deep enough to overcome his loss. The Brewers will start the season without Corey Hart and will have SS Alex Gonzalez playing 1B in his absence. This is a solid under the radar team that may find itself in the playoff hunt come September, but it seems like a lot has to go their way for that to happen.

Is this the year?- Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh almost ended their streak of losing seasons, but a late season collapse had them sitting at 79-83. This year, Pittsburgh will try to get on the winning side behind superstar CF Andrew McCutchen. The Pirates brought in veteran C Russell Martin to work with their new rotation. The Pirates have an interesting rotation of A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, James McDonald, Jeff Locke, and Jonathan Sanchez. If each pitcher performs at a top level, this team is good enough to win 82 games this year. Contributions from Neil Walker, Garrett Jones, and Pedro Alvarez in help of McCutchen are also critical. However, it seems like too much needs to go right for Pittsburgh and they may be headed toward a 21st consecutive season without an above .500 win percentage.

Is this THE year?- Chicago Cubs
The lovable losers from the north side of Chicago have not won a world series since 1908. 105 years later, is this team ready to compete for a title? Quick answer- no. The Cubs have a lot of work to do in all facets of their game. The good news for the Cubs is they did not lose any significant players from last season. However, this team had 61 wins last season. Anthony Rizzo needs a huge season for the Cubs to move in the right direction. Barring a trade, Rizzo will be protected by Alfonso Soriano, who seemed to had made some good adjustments to his swing last season, tallying over 100 RBI from the cleanup spot. The Cubs brought in 4 starting pitchers to add depth to their rotation, the biggest name being Edwin Jackson. I doubt this team does much damage in this division, but the Cubs appear to be heading in the right direction with the way that their prospects played in spring training. This team is still a few years away.