Climbing the Ladder with the National League Central

Cubs, Brewers to contend for title

The NL Central has something that no other division in Major League Baseball boasts – six teams. One would expect that to induce a very competitive division.

But since 1995 the division title has belonged exclusively to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs. In 2006 and 2007 it took only 83 and 85 games, respectively, to win the division.

Two teams this year, the Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers, figure to change that. In 2007 the Brewers started hot and stood 10 games over .500 at the All-Star Break, only to fade and lose the division to the Cubs. The rest of the division finished under .500.

Since then neither the Cubs nor the Brewers made many roster moves, but both figure to benefit from the extra year of maturity.

Cubs fans have high hopes in their position players up the middle. Catcher Geovany Soto, middle infielders Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot and center fielder Felix Pie are all looking for breakout seasons.

At the corners are proven all-stars Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome, touted as a mix of Ichiro Suzuki’s and Hideki Matsui’s talents.

The big question mark for the Cubs for years has been the bullpen. Former closer Ryan Dempster has not satisfied management in recent years. Replacing him will be Carlos Marmol, Kerry Wood or Bob Howry, any of whom would constitute an improvement.

The Brewers, meanwhile, have a solid young core in Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart, who lifted the Crew to a strong start in 2007 but couldn’t keep it up.

If those hitters can improve, the Brewers will have no problem repeating their first winning season since 1992.

The Brewers will certainly miss Francisco Cordero, who didn’t allow a run until early May and carried a 0.36 ERA into early June without blowing a save. Eric Gagne, the sensation from 2002 to 2004, will succeed him, looking to bounce back from an abysmal second half with Boston.

Cordero, meanwhile, will pitch the ninth inning for the Cincinnati Reds, who, under Dusty Baker, are the most likely challengers of the rest of the pack.

Baker, three-time NL Manager of the Year, almost always led a division-contender in San Francisco and very nearly took the Cubs to the World Series in his first year in Chicago.

He will have two probable 15-game-winners to work with in Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo and young talent should he choose to tap into Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey. Josh Fogg, Matt Belisle and Jeremy Affeldt could earn rotation spots, as well.

At the plate the Reds will look very similar to their offense that finished in the middle of the pack in runs scored in 2007.

The Cardinals, the Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates find themselves in the bottom half of the division, probably not competing for the title.

Troy Glaus, Cesar Izturis and Skip Schumaker will have difficulty replacing Scott Rolen, David Eckstein and Jim Edmonds in the Cards’ lineup, and the pitching staff didn’t see much improvement, either.

The ’Stros made more improvements, picking up Kazuo Matusi, Miguel Tejada and Michael Bourn up the middle and Jose Valverde to close games, but they still need more to put it together.

Meanwhile the Bucs are going to look very similar to the only team in MLB to finish sixth in its division last year. They will likely extend their streak to 16 consecutive losing seasons.

In a division that defines mediocrity the Cubs and the Brewers should pull away from the pack.