2010 MLB Preview Part 5: NL Central

Winding down a bit here... 2 more divisions (starting with this one) and a final Part 7 wrap with postseason predictions/awards/etc.... To the Central...

1. St. Louis Cardinals (89-73) - The best 1/2 punch pitching-wise in the NL with apologies to Halladay and Hamels... Matt Holliday with a full season to murder NL pitching along with youth and professional hitters covering the lineup... The question mark is the back end of the rotation but I actually like Kyle Lohse... and really, they still have that Pujols guy... done and done
2. Milwaukee Brewers (80-82) - Bit of a leap of faith here... they have the big boppers (Braun and Fielder), a legit stopper in the rotation (the wildly underrated Yovani Gallardo), and a professional/hall of fame closer in Trevor Hoffman... there are some issues in the back-end of the rotation (cough, Manny Parra), and a big question mark in Rickie Weeks at the top of the order... but I like them enough to be the "best of the rest" here
3. Cincinnati Reds (79-83) - Seeing Aroldis Chapman's numbers in the Spring probably bumped them 2 wins... at any rate, Aaron Harang was the unluckiest pitcher in the majors last year statistically (too complicated for this, so trust me), and the lineup is littered with talent from the stars (Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto), to underappreciated vets (Orlando Cabrera, Scott Rolen)... and Francisco Cordero is a better-than-average late-game option.. I like this team... in another year or so, when the starting pitching catches up... they'll compete heavily
4. Chicago Cubs (78-84) - When looking at the Cubs roster, it surprised me how down I was... they count WAY too heavily on an outfield of Soriano, Marlon Byrd, and Fukudome (yikes), and need impeccable health from Derrek Lee and Carlos Zambrano to even get to 78 wins IMO... the rotation is decent, but they are saddled with Carlos Silva's corpse (whom they had to take back for Milton Bradley), and the bullpen is still shaky at best...
5. Houston Astros (75-87) - Lots of guys I like... lots of guys I don't.... story of the 2010 Astros... they utterly refuse to rebuild apparently, and guys like Berkman (older, injured) and Oswalt are guys I trust, but aren't at their peaks anymore most likely... Pencil Carlos Lee in for 30 and 100, and Hunter Pence is underrated... but Michael Bourn, Kaz Matsui, and Pedro Feliz? Get outta here with that.... I do love Wandy Rodriguez though... dude can pitch...
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (69-93) - I'm dead serious when I say that the typical sports fan may not know one player on the Pirates... they have some pretty good young talent in the lineup (McCutcheon, Garrett Jones, Lastings Milledge), but too much youth, and too many holes... the pitching is fairly woeful (although I like their "Number 1" in Paul Maholm), and their closer is Octavio Dotel... you gotta be kidding me....

Pretty mediocre/bad after the Cards... surprisingly so after looking through the talent on each club... and the Pirates may not have a winning season for 17 more years.... it's a joke really.... Part 6 on the way fairly soon with my very own NL East... and for the Braves fans who have been asking... I'll still be a doing a preview like this for the East, but I'll give you your own in-depth Braves rundown in a separate column... Until then...