NL Central Preview

1st Place, St. Louis Cardinals Lineup: SS David Eckstein LF Chris Duncan CF Jim Edmonds 1B Albert Pujols 3B Scott Rolen RF Juan Encarnacion 2B Adam Kennedy C Yadier Molina

Rotation: RHP Chris Carpentar RHP Anthony Reyes RHP Kip Wells RHP Adam Wainright RHP Ryan Franklin Closer: Jason Isringhausen

The reigning world champs are going to have to out-slug everybody else again this year with all their questions regarding their pitching. Carpentar, Reyes and Wainright should be solid, but Wells and Franklin will leave a lot to be desired. Jason Isringhausen has to be healthy or else Wainright goes back to the pen and the rotation gets even weaker. If Carpentar goes down for any length of time the Cards are in trouble. The best thing they have going for them is their weak division.

2nd Place, Houston Astros Lineup: CF Chris Burke 2B Craig Biggio 1B Lance Berkman LF Carlos Lee 3B Morgan Ensberg RF Luke Scott/Jason Lane SS Adam Everett C Brad Ausmus

Rotation: RHP Roy Oswalt RHP Jason Jennings RHP Woody Williams RHP Fenrnando Nieve LHP Wendy Rodriguez Closer: Brad Lidge

If Lidge rebounds, Clemens joins the team in June, and Brandon Backe makes it back this season and can contribute, the Astros will jump ahead of the Cards and win this division. Those are a lot of question marks, but they are very realistic possibilities. Adding Carlos Lee allows them to be able to match up offensively with the Cardinals, it will come down to who has the better pitching. Oswalt should once again battle for a cy young award.

3rd Place, Millwauke Brewers Lineup: 2B Rickie Weeks SS J.J. Hardy CF Bill Hall 1B Prince Fielder LF Geoff Jenkins 3B Corey Koskie C Johnny Estrada RF Corey Hart

Rotation: RHP Ben Sheets LHP Chris Capuano RHP Jeff Suppan RHP Dave Bush RHP Claudio Vargas Closer: Francisco Cordero

The Brew Crew should once again be average in 2007. Their front end of their rotation is solid with Capuano and Sheets, but they overpaid to get a mediocre pitcher in Jeff Suppan. The lineup should be good enough to put up some runs, but they are going to miss the big anchor in the middle, Carlos Lee. Rickie Weeks is going to breakout and have an all-star year. This will be an Alfonso Soriano type with better defense.

4th Place, Chicago Cubs Lineup: RF Alfonso Soriano 3B Mark DeRosa 1B Derek Lee 3B Aramis Ramirez CF Jacque Jones C Michael Barrett LF Matt Murton/Cliff Floyd SS Ronny Cedeno

Rotation: RHP Carlos Zambrano LHP Ted Lilly RHP Jason Marquis LHP Shawn Hill RHP Mark Prior/Wade Miller Closer: Ryan Dempster

The Cubs hope that the addition of Soriano will help jump start them after a few off-years, but the most important thing they need is health in their pitching staff. If they can get anything out of Prior and Wood this year it would be a plus. The Cubs got desperate for starting pithing this winter and blew close to 70 million dollars on 2 average pitchers (Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis). I also have my doubts about Dempster as a closer.

5th Place, Cincinnati Reds Lineup: RF Ryan Freel 1B Scott Hatteberg CF Ken Griffey Jr. LF Adam Dunn 3B Edwin Encarnacion C David Ross 2B Brandon Phillips SS Alex Gonzalez

Rotation: RHP Bronson Arroyo RHP Aaron Harang LHP Eric Milton RHP Kyle Lohse RHP Matt Belisle Closer: Mike Stanton

The Reds will always be a high powered offensive team in the ballpark they play so their question is always about pitching. They are actually entering the year with more the same rotation they ended last year with so they could be on the right track. Their bullpen is still a mess as it looks like it will once again be closer by committee for Jerry Narron.

6th Place, Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup: CF Chris Duffy SS Jack Wilson 3B Freddy Sanchez 1b Adam LaRoche LF Jason Bay RF Xavier Nady C Ronny Paulino 2B Jose Castillo

Rotation: LHP Zach Duke RHP Ian Snell LHP Paul Maholm LHP Tom Gorzelanny RHP Shawn Chacon Closer: Salmon Torres

The Pirates are on their way up, although they still have a long way to go. They made some moves to improve their offense this winter, and their young starting rotation has another year under it's belt so they should be better than they were in '06. They lost their best reliever in Mike Gonzalez, but I think it was a good move for them in the long run. Sanchez-LaRoche-Bay should provide a young, dynamic 3-4-5 trio in Pittsburgh for years.

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