NL Central

When you are the Chicago Cubs, maybe the most cursed, endearing and followed team in Major League Baseball, there is no hiding. When you are this popular and have lost this ugly for this long, you cannot duck great hope.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been successful by almost any standard. The team has consistently found itself in the postseason. It has managed to develop talent at most key positions on the field. It has often been the blueprint by which other teams hope to do business.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been blessed with the gift of pitching over the last few seasons. So much so that Trevor Rosenthal, once viewed as having a future in the starting rotation, has seemingly settled in to his role as the team's closer. He pitched well there at times last season, but he still has a plan to improve in 2015.

The Chicago Cubs made what is likely their last major offseason move when they sent infielder Luis Valbuena and pitcher Dan Straily to the Houston Astros for outfielder and leadoff man Dexter Fowler. He gives the team some speed, the ability to get on base and a solid glove in the outfield.

Hopefully, Luis Valbuena will look back at his time at the 2015 Cubs Convention with fond memories. He may or may not have known at the time, but it was his last hurrah in a Chicago Cubs uniform.

The Chicago Cubs made several big moves this offseason to help them in 2015 and beyond. For the first time in a while, they should be relatively competitive this upcoming season. However, they didn't sign these players just to be good in 2015, they signed them to be good through the life of their contract.

After winning the bidding for South Korean infielder Jung-ho Kang, the Pittsburgh Pirates reached an agreement on a contract with the 27-year-old. 

The Pirates made the deal official Friday, Jan. 16:

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports divulged some financial details:

The Chicago Cubs haven't won a World Series in over a century and haven't lost any fewer than 87 games in five years, and we're supposed to believe they're going to contend in 2015?

So they say. And you know something? Their chances of at least contending for a wild-card spot deserve to be taken seriously.

It's put up or shut up time for Anthony Rizzo.

Oh, sure, it's January, a long, cold, soggy month of all talk and no action in MLB. But Rizzo's the one who decided to open his yapper and guarantee the Chicago Cubs, one season removed from a last-place finish, would win the National League Central in 2015.

Here's the quote in question, per David Schuster of WSCR Chicago:

The St.