NL Central 2016: Where Will the Cardinals Land?
First Place: Chicago Cubs
No, the Cubs will not tear through the NL Central and win every game against in-division opponents. Even the Brewers will steal games from the Northsiders. But the Cubs will win a lot of games, enough to win the division. They might not lead wire-to-wire, but they will lead the division a significant amount of time, and the division title will be wrapped up long before October comes.
Position Players
Every single move the Cubs have made this off season has been a direct upgrade. Shipping Starlin Castro to the Yankees? That’ll get you Andrew Warren. Free agent signings? Only Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, and John Lackey. That’s just the beginning. For a team that made the NLCS last year, the Cubs pulled no punches this off season. Jason Heyward is an obvious upgrade from Dexter Fowler, and Ben Zobrist will fill in nicely at shortstop. No numbers needed.
Pitching
Jake Arrieta will regress. Every pitcher would have regressed after one of the greatest post-All Star break stretches of all time. But he’ll still be a great pitcher; his projections have him at a 2.61 ERA and 9.0 SO/9. No matter how you slice it, an average of a strikeout per inning is impressive. Jon Lester will also be vital to the starting rotation; his 11-12 record and 3.34 ERA won’t cut it if the Cubs are going to go anywhere come October. John Lackey was signed as a solid #3, and can eat innings as well as both Arrieta and Lester. The Cubs kept their bullpen largely intact, keeping one of the more middling parts of the roster together. Trevor Cahill will have to close games this year, and turned down a starting offer from the Pirates to do so.
Will they make the playoffs?: Rather comfortably.
Do you agree with our predictions? Are we selling the Cardinals too short? Or are we overselling another team?