NL Central

Coming off of a 65-game PED suspension that ended his 2013 season prematurely, there were legitimate questions as to what kind of player Ryan Braun would be for the Milwaukee Brewers this season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates were dealt a blow Monday when Tom Singer of MLB.com reported that pitching prospect Jameson Taillon opted to have Tommy John surgery on his injured throwing arm.

While perusing this list of the top MLB salaries in 2014, you have to travel down 22 spots before seeing the first St. Louis Cardinals player. Adam Wainwright checks in there with his $19.5 million payday this season.

A year after winning 94 games and reaching the postseason for the first time since 1992, the Pittsburgh Pirates rewarded the architect of the team, general manager Neal Huntington, and manager Clint Hurdle with three-year contract extensions.

From the Pirates' official website:

When the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired pitching prospect Stolmy Pimentel via a trade with the Boston Red Sox in 2012, they felt they were getting a special talent. 

At 6'3" and 230 pounds, the 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic stands tall on the mound, and he is not afraid to go right after batters in any opposing lineup. 

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha never wanted to be called “Wacha Flocka Flame.”

“I guess it’s just something I have to get used to,” he said on Friday before the Cardinals played the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It's only a week into the regular season in major league and minor league baseball, but the Cubs' top 10 prospects have all changed their stock in some way. It could be minor or major (no pun intended), but many are either moving closer or further from the major leagues. 

Based on how they've performed in spring training and the minor leagues so far, here is how the stock of each of the club's top 10 prospects has changed.

It took two extra-inning games, but the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Chicago Cubs twice in their first three games of the 2014 regular season. 

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams, by most accounts, had a solid opening series against the Cincinnati Reds. He produced with the bat, proved that a defensive shift will not always work against him and played adequate defense. Then he tried to catch a foul ball as it flew into the stands down the right field line.

That play seems to be all anyone can talk about now.

The St. Louis Cardinals were tabbed by Baseball America in 2013 as the top minor league system in Major League Baseball. That marked a massive turnaround for an organization that had been consistently ranked near the bottom over the past 15 years.