NL Central

As the New Year rings in, the St. Louis Cardinals have a lot to look forward to.

They are stocked up on talent at almost every position, are coming off a trip to the World Series and are poised to contend against the National League Central, all with a lower payroll.

Yeah, times are pretty good. But every team has room for improvement and the Cardinals are no exception.

Here are some New Years' resolutions for the birds from St. Louis.

The Cincinnati Reds lost top free agent Shin-Soo Choo over the weekend, meaning center field prospect Billy Hamilton's timeline just sped up. Can the fastest man in baseball keep pace?

For Cubs fans, the last few years have been rough. Well, let's be honest, the past century has been pretty tough for the Cubby faithful. 2013 was another season that saw the team lose more than 90 games, but hope is on the horizon. 

A year ago, the Chicago Cubs bullpen was a weak point. That's saying something. Slowly but surely, the unit got better in the second half of the season, and now with some new additions to the 'pen, it looks like the team actually might be able to secure some wins for its starting pitchers. 

With the 29th annual Cubs Convention just around the corner and Spring Training on the horizon, there are still some things the Cubs need to get figured out before they break camp.

It's clear that the Cubs aren't going to get big players on the free-agent market, but there are subtle moves both on and off the field that need to be made by late February.

This is a look at five changes the Cubs need to make in order to make 2014, and more importantly the future, more successful.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher, and current ESPN baseball analyst, Mark Mulder announced he is attempting a return to baseball, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.

Mulder retired in 2009 after two surgeries on his left shoulder and after having realized he couldn't pitch at a high level again:

As St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak heads into his second day of the baseball winter meetings, it must be a nice feeling to hold all of the cards, so to speak.  He doesn't have to make a move but can if he sees a great opportunity.

There are no more holes to fill in the everyday lineup and the pitching cupboard is overflowing with arms.  Mozeliak has built this team to contend not only in 2014, but well beyond that as well.

This MLB offseason marks the third that Theo Epstein and company have been at the reins of the Chicago Cubs, and to this point, it has been a relatively quiet winter on the North Side.

That's not a big change from the past two years, as the new front office staff has been methodical in its approach towards rebuilding the franchise from the ground up and putting its stamp on the organization.

As Chicago prepares itself for its first major snowstorm of the season, members of the Ricketts family and the front office prepare to make the trip to Orlando for next week's winter meetings.

Jealous much? Thought so.

Many topics will be addressed and decided on at the meetings, from the future of instant replay to the fate of free agents around the league.

For a Chicago Cubs team that will be continuing their rebuild in 2014, the starting lineup presents a major question mark at several different positions. While prospects will be coming up sporadically through the minor leagues this season and next, the Opening Day lineup figures to be full of fill-in players or players looking to bounce back from last season.