Baseball

Milwaukee's lack of pitching proved to be too much for them to overcome in 2010.

Milwaukee ended the season third in the NL Central at 77-85. With the additions of Shaun Marcum and Zach Greinke this offseason, Milwaukee heads into this season with a ton of optimism.

The St. Louis Cardinals are coming off of a rather disappointing 2010 campaign that included giving up the lead in the NL Central over the final month of the season to miss the postseason.

While the Atlanta Braves didn’t win their division in the last year behind manager Bobby Cox, they were able to end the year second in the division and grab the wild card spot with a record of 91-71.

The 2011 MLB season was supposed to be a season filled with promise and potential for the St. Louis Cardinals. It was supposed to be a season the was to afford the Cardinals a bit of retribution after missing the playoffs in 2010, despite finishing 86-76—heck, even fantasy baseball fans were champing at the bit over the St. Louis Cardinals’ net fantasy baseball value in 2011.

The news officially broke this afternoon: Adam Wainwright will in fact undergo Tommy John surgery costing him the entire 2011 season (and, quite possibly, a good chunk of 2012 as well).

Miguel Cabrera was arrested last week and charged with suspicion of DUI and resisting officers without violence.  This is not the first time Cabrera has had an incident related to alcohol use.  The way the Tigers and MLB are handling the situation, it may not be the last. One thing is certain, Cabrera needs help.

It's that time of year again.  The time of year when you hear all the lines from players and managers about how good they can be this year, no matter what past history says.  You know, the "everybody starts out with the same record" or the always clever "we had a lot of injuries last year" excuse.

The Phillies staff this year—if they play the way sports commentators and analysts predict they will—will be great. I am not knocking on their 2011 pitching rotation. They have Roy Halladay (two Cy Young Awards), Cliff Lee (one Cy Young Award), Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels as their projected 1-2-3-4 starters.

If one of them does not win they Cy Young Award this year, then I will be shocked. They should be able to win many games and help the Phillies make the playoffs. 

With spring training knocking on the door and snow falling outside my window I can't help but dream of baseball. To get ready for the 2011 season I am going to break down each team in each division and give you my predictions for the winner, MVP, and breakout player from each division starting with the National League Central.

Cincinnati Reds

David Wright will set the tone for third basemen during the 2011 Fantasy Baseball season, but he'll have some competition for the top spot from Alex Rodriguez, Evan Longoria and Ryan Zimmerman.

The biggest story to watch is Jose Bautista. Can he repeat his Major League leading 54 home runs from 2010?

If he shows that last year wasn't a fluke, he'll vault into the ranks of the other "elite" third basemen.