We Hit Dingers: NL Central Preview

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Projected Standings

The Cubs have the best roster in the majors this season and should be the favorites to win the N.L. Pennant and probably the World Series in 2017. They return basically the same roster as the one that won the World Series last season plus their young players should have developed further over the offseason. They have no real question marks on their roster as long as their pitching rotation stays relatively healthy. If that happens, they should run away with the division and the first seed in the National League.

The team's offseason moves made their roster better for this season but the injury to Alex Reyes could significantly hurt their chances to make the playoffs. Their rotation was already questionable with Reyes in it and now that he will miss all of 2017, their rotation lacks depth. I think that they will stay in the playoff hunt all season long but narrowly miss out on the second Wild Card spot at the end.

The Pirates were thought to possibly be taking a small step back this offseason before going all-in over the course of the next few seasons. It appeared that they were going to move Andrew McCutchen but no teams were willing to meet their asking price for him. Don't consider this discussion to be close right now, however, and if McCutchen gets off to a nice start, trade conversations could heat right back up. I think that the Pirates will be better in 2017 than they were last season but I don't think that they have much of a chance at making the playoffs this season and that they have just too many question marks. They need to re-tool their farm system on the fly and build around Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Gregory Polanco, Starling Marte, and Austin Meadows when the Cubs have potentially lost Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester.

In the middle of a rebuild, the Brewers probably won't be very competitive this season. They have a lot of young offensive pieces that will begin to get playing time in the majors this season but they need help in their rotation. Look for them to possibly trade Ryan Braun this season.

The Reds are similar to the Brewers but they are a few years behind. They should have torn down and rebuilt their roster a few seasons ago but waited it out. Their roster is among the worst in the majors and their farm system isn't where it should be at this point. They will compete for the number one overall pick in next year's draft.