Last year was a surprising year in the NL Central thanks to the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates. The Central placed three teams in the post-season, with the Reds falling to the Pirates in the one-game Wild Card playoff game. Placing three teams in the playoffs for a second consecutive season will be a difficult feat.
Will the Pirates be able to repeat their success? Will the Reds be able continue their long success of contention now that they have cut ties with manager Dusty Baker? Will the Brewers make some noise now that Ryan Braun is back in the mix? And what about those Cubs?
Here is how I predict they will finish in the NL Central in 2014.
1. St. Louis Cardinals - This is not a homer pick. There are plenty who believe that the Cardinals are the class of the NL Central and could easily be better then they were a year ago. The lineup is stacked, with Matt Holliday serving as the focal point and the defense is improved thanks to the addition of Peter Bourjos in center field.
Oh, and Yadier Molina is pretty good too.
The strength of this roster figures to lie in the starting rotation though. Adam Wainwright will lead the charge, but it is the talented depth with the likes of Michael Wacha, Shelby Miller and Lance Lynn that truly make this club dangerous and positioned for yet another long post-season run if all the youngsters can stay healthy.
2. Milwaukee Brewers - The Pirates were the surprise in 2013 and I think the Brewers pull off the same type of surprise in 2014.
Ryan Braun will be looking to prove the naysayers wrong. He will put up a monster year even without the artificial help and he now has a running mate with Carlos Gomez that makes the Brewers offense a dangerous club.
The offensive talent does not stop there though. Jonathan Lucroy is one of the most underrated catchers in baseball and Jean Segura is a dangerous running threat at the top of the Milwaukee lineup.
The rotation is solid, but not spectacular, which is often important during regular season play. Yovanni Gallardo, Matt Garza and Kyle Lohse all will eat a lot of innings and should help keep the bullpen fresh.
The Brewers will be dangerous in 2014.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates - The Pirates, coming off the highs of 2013, failed to really make themselves better this past off-season and if anything, may be worst after the departures of A.J. Burnett and Justin Morneau via free agency.
That being said, the Pirates still figure to be very good. The staff will be spear headed by Francisco Liriano, who owns the Cardinals, and young stud Gerritt Cole, who may be the best young starter in baseball.
Of course, the Pirates also have the luxury of putting Andrew McCutchen in center field every day and by the end of May he will be flanked by Starling Marte, who emerged as dynamite player in 2013, and Gregor Polanco, who is among the top prospects in all of baseball.
The Pirates may have the best all-around outfield in baseball, but it will not be enough to keep pace with the Cardinals and Brewers.
4. Cincinnati Reds - Talk about a team that did not make itself better, the Reds lost a heap of talent this off-season while adding very little in return.
Of course, Skip Schumaker has now joined former Cardinals general manager Walt Jockety in Cincinnati, but he will start the year on the disabled list along with a bevy of other important contributors.
The injuries will be too much for the Reds to overcome early in the season and they will fall way too far back. And dare I say, they may even miss Dusty Baker.
5. Chicago Cubs - I am not sure I really need to justify why I think this team will finish in last place. They have a lot of young and promising talent, but it feels like it may be five years before anybody can take the Cubs seriously again.
Isn't it hard to believe that in a city like Chicago that a guy with a profile like Theo Epstein would be given that long of a leash by the fans and media?
There you have it. I think the Cardinals win this division by five or six games with the Brewers and Pirates finishing very close in the standings.
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