NL Central

Sadly, the most exciting portion of the Chicago Cubs' season over the past couple years has been the trade deadline as the team adds to its already-loaded farm system. It's actually become almost as exciting for the Cubby faithful to follow what hot prospects they acquire at the deadline as it is for fans of winning teams to follow what missing piece their front offices will add in late July.

Obviously, Cubs fans would still prefer the latter scenario, but the former will have to do for now. 

Grab a pen and mark this down: Friday, June 13, 2014, at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. That's the date and the venue of Gregory Polanco's coming-out party.

Oh, and the other two members of the Pittsburgh Pirates' homegrown outfield also showed up.

It's hard to blame Chicago Cubs fans, really.

The Cincinnati Reds' top 10 prospects had a pretty mediocre week as a whole. The bats of Yorman Rodriguez and Tucker Barnhart were particularly cold.

One would think Barnhart's year could not get any worse, but he continues in a downward spiral. He finished the week off at just 1-for-14.

However, there were some positive results as well. Jesse Winker continued to swing the hottest bat in the Reds farm system—launching three more home runs.

The Pittsburgh Pirates already have two homegrown talents in their outfield in Starling Marte and 2013 National League MVP Andrew McCutchen.

Now here comes a third. At long last, the Pirates are calling super-prospect Gregory Polanco to The Show.

The news was first reported by Polanco himself, who sent the word out via Twitter:

It's already the first week of June, but Mat Latos has yet to throw a pitch for the Cincinnati Reds this season. Although the rotation has held its own during his absence, his return will have some effects on the entire pitching staff.

The sky is blue, and Harry Caray guzzled beer—these are not revelations.

What does come as news is the recent discovery of one of Caray's diaries, which allegedly contains a wealth of information concerning his superhuman barhopping habits.

The Cincinnati Reds should trade Johnny Cueto. There, I said it. It's like taking a Band-Aid off. Do it quickly, and it doesn't sting as much.

For St. Louis Cardinals fans, it's been a long wait to see top prospect Oscar Taveras in action. The 21-year-old Dominican Republic outfielder was ranked as the No.

The working title for this column was simply "Oscar Taveras: 'Bout Damn Time."