NL Central

There's a smoldering question in Reds' country.  Who will be the No. 5 guy in the rotation? 

Coming back from Goodyear to the Queen City, the first four are set.  We've got Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, and Aaron Harang.  

Sorry traditionalists, but modern ball dictates that teams need a fifth.  Check the rule book. It's just under the "keep all pitch counts under 100" section.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the most storied franchises in all of baseball. A whole generation of baseball fans are unaware of that fact, thanks largely in part to 17- straight losing seasons.

2010 will very likely be the 18th-straight season of losing for the Pirates and their fans.

However, it finally appears the team is done retooling and is heading toward respectability.

No player embodies the youth movement of the team more so than Andrew McCutchen.

Carlos Villanueva is in a very similar position to Manny Parra.

Both have the talent to be successful pitchers in the majors, but both are held back by either mental or physical roadblocks.

Part of Villanueva's problem has come from the rest of the pitching staff. He has bounced between the bullpen and starting rotation in each of his four seasons with the Brewers due to either injury orthe ineffectiveness of others.

The Astros are full of players that had a huge fantasy impact in the past, unfortunately it seems that the impact is fading.  Oswalt, Berkman, and Carlos Lee have been early round picks for years, but last year they each showed some signs that their numbers are past their peak.  So how should we approach these players this year? Here is what you can expect from the Astros' core this season.

Roy Oswalt

How important is Manny Parra to the Milwaukee Brewers?

To many fans, he is nothing more than an erratic left-hander that will be lucky to make the starting rotation in 2010.

His 2009 stats bare that out to be true: Parra finished the season 11-11 with a 6.36 ERA in 140 innings, spending time in the minors due to ineffectiveness.

In three seasons with the Brewers, Parra has become the ultimate underachiever.

No one will argue with the talent the 27-year-old possesses, but he has yet to put together any significant stretches of success.

Will 2010 be the last season for Derrek Lee as a Cub? Perhaps, but it looks like there is mutual interest on both sides:

"The last time Derrek Lee was up for a new contract, he signed a five-year extension at the outset of the 2006 season and suffered a season-changing wrist injury a couple of weeks later.

Imagine a Pirates rotation with the 2007 ("star") versions of pitchers Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny, together with Paul Maholm and Zach Duke at their later (2008-2009) selves.

Imagine that the fifth starter is actually better than fifth starter-caliber.

That's what the Pirates may finally have in 2010.

Old Pirate standbys Maholm and Duke are (slightly) better than league average pitchers (by half a game or so). They don't look that way because they've had less than league average run support.

Well after the first week of spring training, the position players start reporting for spring training. And now that the position players are in Bradenton, the main focus of spring training is focused most of team chemistry. I will also go over anymore position battles that are arising.

The St. Louis Cardinals will look to repeat as National League Central champions in 2010. But to do that, it won’t be easy.

The Cardinals weren’t the only team in the Central to make moves acquire and key free agent signings this off-season.

The Brewers, Cubs, Astros and even the Reds made noise this off-season, all in hopes of chasing the Cardinals for the top spot in the division.

Below is how I see the NL Central shaping up, at least as we stand a little over a week before the first official spring game.

Filed:February 25th, 2010