NL Central

The Chicago Cubs' System Check video offers a quick overview of the team's farm system, addressing its strengths and weaknesses and how it can improve moving forward. The video also breaks down the Cubs’ top prospects for 2014—Javier Baez, Albert Almora and Kris Bryant—including each player's ETA in the major leagues and potential long-term role within the organization.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The St. Louis Cardinals have always reveled in the underdog role.

They were the underdog against the Texas Rangers in the 2011 World Series. They were the underdog against the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year's playoffs. They’ve been the underdog against just about everyone in past Octobers.

Except for this year.

Traditionally, Cubs fans don't have a lot to look forward to with each new season. At least that has been the case on the north side for several years now and fans surely want to find some solace in different aspects of this year's team. Unlike in the past few years, they can actually find a few things to give them comfort about the year to come and the next couple years of Cubs baseball.

There has never been a book that chronicled the entire history of a baseball park by the year. That is, not until now. Author Sam Pathy spent the last 25 years of his life researching for Wrigley Field Year by Year, spending between 10,000 and 12,000 hours on it. His passion for the project matches the passion that so many devoted Cubs fans have for the magical ballpark. 

The St. Louis Cardinals have a reputation for getting the most out of their players, especially rookies.

From the time Weeghman Park, the park that would eventually become Wrigley Field, opened and the time the Cubs played their first game there, two full years would pass. Even though Weeghman Park opened on April 23, 1914, it housed the Chicago Federals of the Federal League; the Cubs didn't play a game there until April 20, 1916. The unlikely story of how the Cubs became housed in what is now viewed as a baseball and national landmark is the subject of this book by The Sporting News writer Sean Deveney.

The team St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny plans to take north to Cincinnati for Opening Day is almost set.

The St. Louis Cardinals came to spring training with very few roster decisions to make.  Most of those decisions have been reached in the last few days. 

Trade rumors begin to swirl as spring training nears completion in Major League Baseball.  As Opening Day draws near, teams begin to identify their needs as well as their surpluses.  The St. Louis Cardinals, who have found themselves actively involved in the market for shortstops around the league over the last few seasons, suddenly find themselves with a player to offer to the market.

While the Cubs don't have a whole lot of decisions to make this spring, there are still a couple of spring position battles that have played out over the course of the last month. Even though there's a small sample size for most players, the numbers for each player speak for themselves. How well they've passed the "eye test" and how their numbers stack up against each other is how each player will be judged.