EXPOSED: Chicago Cubs Labeled “Favored” to Win NL Central-Brewers, Reds, and Pirates DISAGREE

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The Milwaukee Brewers will not.

I repeat, will not.

When the NL Central for a fourth straight season, right?

Right?

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And welcome into the NL Central season preview.

My name is JD Hafer and host of the 12th time Central Division Champion and 11th time

World Champion Lockdown Cardinals podcast.

Likely, the only time I will get to brag about anything on this episode.

So I apologize for nothing to any of you.

We are joined in order of the standings from last year because it's only right.

First, we've got Chuck from the Raining Division Champion Lockdown Brewers podcast.

Sam from Lockdown Cubs, Jeff from Lockdown Reds and Gary from Lockdown Pirates,

the NL Central 2026 season preview, being brought to you by Fandall.

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Today, we're going to get through a line.

We're going to be deciding which team could make a splash.

Who's going to be trash?

The off season move that changes a team's trajectory and we're going to start with the ending.

That's right.

Who wins the division?

That's what we want to know.

So we jump over to Fandall.

We go and we look at what the favorites are in this one and this is how Fandall's got

it rolled out.

Cubs are favorite to win the division.

Then it goes to Milwaukee, followed by the Reds, then the Pirates, and then the Cardinals.

Now Chuck, we're going to start with you since you guys

have won this thing the last few years.

Is this disrespect to your three-time defending champion, Brewers, or do you think someone

else is actually going to win this division in 2026?

With disrespect, how we started off this podcast, you say somebody else is going to win

the vision.

Jay, I thought we were buddies.

Geez.

We're so cool, man.

I'm going to be in last place.

Don't worry about what I say.

No, you know what?

The Brewers have never picked the win the division.

They're not, and I get that.

Because they keep losing an all-star or a star player every year, whether it's Adamus,

or Corbin Burns, or Devon Williams.

This past year, Freddie Peralta, they're ace.

They keep losing, but this young team keeps growing with its young players, losing players,

and filling in the holes.

They might have lost, but again, three-time division champs, Murphy managed the year two years

at a row.

That's saying he's going to win at three years at a row, but I got to pick the Brewers

to win the N.O. Central, guys.

Okay.

I feel like they've got the Cubs.

Fandals got the Cubs winning this one right or wrong.

Are you still into Milwaukee taking this thing until somebody meets them?

Well, I feel like this is like the third straight year we've all been doing this, and

I say the same thing, you know, the Cubs, the Cubs, they made a big splash, the guy-guy-like

pregnant, the on paper, they should win the division.

But I think last year was the first year where I really started to shift, and you know,

the Cubs won 92 baseball games last year.

I think all of us would have said that would have been good enough to win the division.

Sometimes, you got to tip your cap, and I think, you know, in boxing, we always use the

term pound for pound in baseball.

I like to use it dollar for dollar, right?

Brewers dollar for dollar are as good of any organization in the sport, and for them to

win 97 games last year and have 80 billion win streaks and everything they did, and

I think it is a little disrespect, the margin the Cubs are favored by, but at the same

time, I'm still picking the Cubs because I think they have to win the division this year

with the team that they've assembled.

Now, three of our teams in this division made the playoffs last year, Jeff, you're reds,

they were there too.

What do you think?

What do you think?

I mean, do you feel like you guys are getting disrespected by not being mentioned at the

top with the Cubs and the Brewers?

I don't think it's disrespect.

I think it's an overreaction to the Hunter Green injury, which we still don't know the

full extent of.

It's not been said that he's out for the rest of the season yet, albeit there's definitely

concern for that because when you talk about elbow stiffness and pitchers that usually

doesn't follow with, he's pitching tomorrow.

But when it comes to the NL Central, the Brewers are innocent until proven guilty, right?

Like I think you can win in December, but that doesn't mean you're going to win in September

because the Brewers haven't won December or January or November or anything like that.

For the last three years, four years, five years, whatever it is, and they're still at

the top of this division because they're just able to churn through talent through their

minor leagues.

They've got a great farm system, a great organizational set up, and then whatever happened, whenever

the Cardinals just said, hey, Mike Schilt wasn't good enough.

They relinquish their devil magic to Milwaukee and now Milwaukee's got it and there's just

something that everyone else here in the division, I don't know if we got to get together

and like light some candles or something, get rid of this thing.

But as it stands right now, it seems like whatever happens in the off season, there's still

that cloud hanging over what, well, Milwaukee knows how to win with guys like us on the field

as opposed to 50, 60 million dollar guys.

Gary, what do you think?

Pirates made some pretty cool moves this off season and people are excited in Pittsburgh

about what you guys have to offer, but are they a team that's going to be up there near

the top of the division or do you think it's still Milwaukee's to lose?

I have to say Milwaukee, Milwaukee until they prove me otherwise.

They just seem to push the right buttons and I mean, they have enough of a returning cast

this time that I don't think they're going to sneak up the way they have the last couple

of years.

It looks better on paper because we know some of these guys now.

Peralta's a huge loss, but I still have to put them there to come.

Sam's right on paper, yeah, they really should, but I felt that way a couple times now.

And the pirates earn their place in these things.

I mean, to see everything they did this off season and have the betting odds, think they're

going to win two more games than last year is kind of silly to me, but you know, I'm

not going to predict the division.

I don't think I deserve that yet.

No, you deserve it.

You're in the division, man.

You got to pick it.

So you're going to go in Milwaukee.

Yep.

All right.

Milwaukee, it is.

I find all of your answers incredibly boring.

You guys all pick Milwaukee.

So I did not.

I did not.

I did not.

I picked my team.

So you didn't say the cut.

I thought you said it was Milwaukee's until I said I still got it.

I still I got to respect what they're doing, but I got to take it up.

Okay.

All right.

Well, I'm actually rolling with the cubs.

I'm impressed.

Not so much by the pregnant move, but it's the refurbishing of the bullpen.

I really like the moves of the cubs made there.

Cabrera obviously could be huge if he's the guy that they thought he was going to be in

Miami at some point and Kate Ordin's awesome.

Like I just I'm very impressed with a lot of the little things that they did other than

the pregnant move.

So I'll go with the cubs this year.

I apologize to you, Cardinals fans that are listening because you can't believe I just

said that.

All right.

We're under wind totals.

Let's get into this.

Cubs 88 and a half.

Brewers at 84 and a half.

Reds 80 and a half.

Pirate 78 and a half, which is something you alluded to Gary.

And then the Cardinals at 69 and a half.

All right.

Very nice.

Let's start with your Cubs there.

Sammy 88 and a half.

Good or bad?

88 and a half.

I think it's the right number.

I think it's the right number.

I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but to me the the 84 and a half of the brewers,

which was 83 and a half is was the number that stood out to me.

They're going to that's 15 14 less wins than last year.

Cubs 88 and a half sounds right.

I it's kind of I feel a little bit like what Gary said about the pirates where it's like

I get it.

We lost Tucker.

But we added pregnant.

The goal is is for that to be like a like for like offensively.

You add a guy like Edward Cabrera, like you said, and then you're going to win four

less games.

I hope that's not the case, but I think it's the right number.

And I think they'll be right around high 80s, low 90s.

Looking at the numbers here, I think the reds 80 and a half might be the most shocking

number.

I don't think anybody is shocked by the cartels being where they are.

Gary, you mentioned the 78 and a half.

You think the the parents are going to be better, but 88 and a half for the reds.

Jeff, what do you think of that?

I did.

They're smashing the over.

I'm smashing the over.

They're 82 and a half before Hunter Green talked about.

Lauren Bodies and his elbow and the fact that his UCL is fine.

But I believe that they will smash the over on this.

I got them at 80, 384 and they've got the chance to really close their eyes and go really

go really hard and maybe even win a few more if they get lucky and some areas.

But I honestly think when you look at the over unders on all of these teams, I've got over

on everybody, but the Cubs.

I think the Cubs win 88 games.

I think that you go over on the brewers.

I think you go over on the reds, over on the pirates, and over on the cartels.

This division is going to be a lot of fun this year because I think that the top four

teams are going to be like within five games at each other.

You know, Jeff still has not sent me my postcard for the Cubs going into Cincinnati at the

end of the year and completely mailing it in and getting a four game sweep and getting

those red legs into the postseason.

And now he's taking the under on the Cubs.

I just I don't.

Pirates is saying a half Gary, you mentioned that you feel that's pretty low.

I didn't expect it to be better than 500 listen.

I think that's kind of, but I think they've they've earned a 500 as as where you would start.

I think that's what this team is on paper.

I think they can outperform that, but the lineup solid, they've got maybe two spots that

you might think are a little weak, but other than that, just but everybody can hit home

rounds.

I can't say that last year.

It's just a completely different team.

It has improved offensively, dramatically might have taken a little bit of a needle cruise

defensively.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Over.

Yeah.

Amazing.

Springs apart.

And then I obviously kind of Griffin, somebody that I wonder if that will move the needle

a little bit as far as the wind total goes if they decide to have him on the team early

on.

Brewers 84 and a half, are we really going from 97 to 84 because of Freddie Peralta?

Chuck makes sense of it.

It's like this every year.

The Brewers have a low wind total.

And I feel like even like seven of the last eight years since they've and they've made

the postseason.

The seven of those eight.

They always go over this projected total, usually like by mid September, you're sitting

back and you look at it at the ticket and say, man, what they were 80 and a half a cup

like last year.

Well over.

There's no doubt about it.

And they were six and a half behind the cubs at one point last year in June.

The Brewers were plus 1600 to win the NL Central rally to get that, get the job done there

on a massive underdog right there.

So I think over and in fact, I think all everybody in the division, I think it's going

to be over the totals.

And I can see three teams again from this division.

You know, the Brewers 197 games last year, but finished only five games ahead of the

cubs.

And so it's a good one point, 40 of 50 and you would have guessed with it seemed like

they won every game last year.

Still, they were only five games ahead of the cubs.

So this is going to be a great run.

This is going to be a great division.

I mean, I think there's never like a voice at that.

I think there's never a night off in this division.

That's a good segue into our next thing here, which is, what do we think playoff team

wise in this division?

We think three get in.

What do we think playoff team wise in this division?

You think three get in once again this year?

What do you think, Jeff?

I think two get in.

I just think that the wild card,

it missed the Atlanta Braves last year.

I can't imagine that the Mets are gonna do

what they did last year again.

Like if they do, I think that Steve Cohen's got a cell

and they got a move.

But when it comes to the Braves,

that's the one team that I think

that was out of the equation last year

that will be in the middle of it.

They could knock the Phillies down to be a wild card team

and the Braves could win that division.

And then you're talking about the Phillies, Braves,

most likely the Cubs, Brewers, Reds,

whoever's not up ahead of that one and the Pirates.

And then you've also got what's the Giants,

what's the Diamondbacks, what's the Padres.

I have a hard time saying that all three NL Central teams

that made the playoffs last year will do this

or that the Pirates will jump in there.

So I'm gonna be conserved among the NL Central teams

make the playoffs this year.

No, Gary, what do you think?

Two, three, one, what do you think?

I'm gonna go with two and I think it's gonna be

depth-related.

I think Milwaukee and the Pirates are probably

deeper than the other teams, honestly, including the Cubs.

I think they have some kids,

but kids they won't wanna dip into.

And if their pitching isn't good, if Cabrera isn't good,

or Ty on hits the wall, or whatever,

they don't have enough of a lot coming behind that.

I think the Pirates got waves coming.

I think Milwaukee has waves coming.

Reds did, they just took a big dent.

But I think three teams, I really do.

This is gonna be one of the strongest divisions

in baseball, I think.

Yeah, I agree with that.

Sam, what do you think?

Two or three.

Yeah, I probably more agree with Jeff.

There's just so much talent in the national league.

I'd probably say two.

I just, you know, you gotta remember the Braves and Mets

didn't make it last year.

I feel like one of those teams is gonna make it.

I never kind out AJ Preller and the Padres

from being relevant, they're always there.

I mean, that Cubs Padres series,

that was a real dog fight last year.

Obviously the Dodgers are a lot.

So I'd probably say two.

I like the upside of the Pirates.

I think they're gonna be good.

I think we'll probably talk about some players here soon.

So I'll save my ownel Cruz thing for that.

But yeah, I'll say two.

All right, all right.

I got two as well.

Yeah, I think things are a little bit tighter

in the East and in the West.

And I don't know which two we're gonna make it.

I think I would, if I had to save,

I'd have picked now, which is what we're doing.

We're pretty good.

And I'm gonna go ahead and give it to Chicago

and the Reds just because of the pitching staff.

But we don't know about Hunter Green obviously,

but I just think their pitching staffs

are pretty darn good enough for now.

For now, and so I'm gonna walk through.

Yeah, I hate the Brewers.

Deal.

Well, you would hate the Brewers.

Got it.

I have a lot of respect for him,

but eventually it's got to dry up, right?

It's got to dry up.

All right.

Well, you know what?

Well, come it up.

We've got the offseason moves that changed

the team's trajectory for 2026.

This is the NL Central Division MLB season preview.

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But we're going to talk about the best players

in the division.

We've talked about how much talent is here in this division.

We know there's a load of it, both offensively and pitching wise.

But if you had to select who you thought was the best player

overall in the division, one ring to rule them all,

who would it be?

Let's start with Gary from Pittsburgh,

who's got a lot of talent over there.

What do you think Gary?

Who's the best player?

Paul Skins.

Period.

Maybe it's pretty easy one.

I don't think that I can even play games with anybody else.

Yeah.

Agreed.

Yeah, Paul Skins.

In fact, there's a true that he's got that pull

where he didn't want to touch it on the team.

Is that what I hear?

That's what I'm hearing, man.

And I don't think it was about like him, the person, as much as,

I think you can improve more than that.

I heard it was like that.

I heard of the old and bring in the new,

that they were the past.

It was a polite way of saying,

basically, let's look forward.

Yeah.

Yeah, you have to go with Skins.

I think pitching wise and Skins.

I think position wise, it's Ellie.

I think Ellie finished the year in a way

that a lot of folks would say, OK, it's not,

he's not the best position player in this division,

but that's because he had one leg.

He had a quad injury for August and September.

He was on pace at the end of July

to finish the season with 28 bombs,

106 RBI's and 47 steals.

I still think that he's got 50 steel,

30 homer potential this season.

I wouldn't be shocked if he went 30, 60.

And I think that he's added the kind of muscle mass

and the way that he looks at spring training,

that I can buy into him doing whatever and not surprising me

when it comes to taking that step forward.

I think it's Ellie to the grooves outside of Paul Skins.

Yeah, and I respect Paul Skins.

I'm always that guy, though, that thinks about the guy

who's playing in the most games.

And I know Skins is going to get his 30 plus starts this year,

barring any sort of weird injury,

which we're not hoping for by any means.

But Ellie is out there, 155 games possibly this year.

That's what we want.

We don't want to 100 to 62.

He did the 162.

I don't want to do that again.

I don't want to do that again.

The Tito decides to let him rest this year.

Yeah, the sky's a limit there.

And I also love what I saw from PCA last year.

I don't know how many times I was hitting up Sam going,

there he is, man, I kind of told you.

He was kind of a sexy picture.

Yeah, you did.

I do some things.

And I just enjoy the combination of speed and power,

which both those guys have.

And the enthusiasm for the game that Ellie's got as well.

So I'm going to go with an everyday player.

So I'm picking Ellie on this one,

despite the defense being a subpar as it's been

so far at the short-stop position.

All right, let's talk off-season moves, boys.

Biggest off-season move in the division,

not necessarily just for your team.

But in the division, Chuck will start with you.

What do you got?

Why?

I got two, I think, and was done by the Rez.

But I'm going to go with Bregg been going to Chicago.

I think that was a big move.

I know they spent some money on him.

And I think feeling that third base spot with Bregg,

I thought they might do that a few years ago,

go that direction.

But I was kind of hoping he wasn't going to go to the Cubs

just like I was kind of hoping Suarez was not going to the Rez.

I think those were two great off-season pickups

from both of those teams.

Sam, what do you think?

Is it Breggman or is there something else you got

up your sleeve?

No, I think it's Breggman.

I mean, I think there's a few.

I mean, there's a lot of things that the pirates did

that just made me go, OK, they're taking it a little bit more

seriously.

But I think in terms of the impact of winning the division,

it probably has to be Breggman.

And in terms of impacting the Cubs, having A.U.

Hanyo Suarez back in the division is not something

I was very happy to see.

I think we could all agree with that one.

Jeff, you love the Gino move.

It was good to have him back, I'm sure.

Very happy to see him.

Very surprised that it happened, because I was expecting them.

Honestly, they signed Nathaniel Low on a minorly deal

with spring training.

In fact, I thought that was going to be their move.

And that they were going to be like, yeah, we got him.

We'll put him in the middle line up.

We'll be fine, because that's what this team has done

for the better part of my lifetime and tried

to sell us on that being the impactful move.

And I think for me, that's why I picked Gino over Breggman.

If you compare the men of vacuum,

Breggman is the better player.

But Breggman replaces Tucker.

Gino replaces Gavin Lux.

And Gavin Lux was a negative war player last year.

The Reds basically took a vacuum and filled it

with somebody that can actually make a difference.

And for me, that's the one move.

I think the biggest argument here is the one move

enough to outweigh the myriad of moves that Pittsburgh made.

Because I think Pittsburgh had the best quantity of season.

Whereas you had great quality with Breggman and Cabrera

in Chicago and Gino and the bullpen renaissance

that the Reds decided to undergo this off season as well.

But I think that when you compare Gino and Breggman,

I give the edge to Gino simply because of what the alternative was.

And then Gary, you've got, you know,

obviously the big tray would stamp a bay for your pirates,

which was obviously a huge thing for what you guys going on.

But was it bigger than what we're talking about here

when it comes to Gino and Breggman?

I think so, but first I gotta say how ridiculous it is

to put Gino in that conversation.

I'm sorry.

I love baby.

You know, I personally texted you how much I did not want

the pirates to get him.

I feared it.

I just thought you need one terrible move, right?

Power.

What a surprise.

What a surprise was so cheap though.

In reality, I probably think it's Breggman,

but I will say Ben Charington's move.

One player sending out Mike Burrow,

who I think is going to be a fantastic pitcher.

But he's probably a fourth or fifth this year.

He can grow, but that's where he is.

And they got Mason Montgomery, Brandon Lau, and Jake Mangum,

and all three of them are going to be big contributors this year.

Jake Mangum is going to be the new guy

that everyone in this division hates the way I hated

Colton Wong for years.

Oh, it was not expecting to hear that name today.

Who?

I gotta go.

What was the odds I had fanned over

for a Colton Wong mention in a 2026

and a central preview show?

It depends on the new I was on a podcast,

because he's my example for player I can't stand.

That's right.

Yeah, I'll be honest with you, Jake Mangum.

I was so upset that you guys were able to get him.

I thought that was going to be some cheap move

that maybe my cardinals could maybe pull out,

but did not happen.

But he was excellent in Tampa Bay last year.

Like you said, he's going to be a guy that's just

going to be a nuisance this year.

And I think people are going to hate him.

Pittsburgh is going to love him.

I do like, and here's the only thing

that I'll say over Gino as the number one move

is just because he's been there,

done that before with the Reds before.

And he's a huge boost to that clubhouse as well.

I don't know Alex Bregglin.

I don't know how well he's, he's, you know,

goes along with people inside the other clubhouses.

He's been on, haven't heard of any problem.

But I do know that the Reds absolutely love

a U.A. Neo Sora.

So I think that's going to be a monster

boost for them, come up in 2026.

How about you this?

Well, before you do that, let me ask you this.

Where do you rate the Cardinals actually picking a direction?

Because it feels like they finally picked a direction, right?

We're thrilled with it.

I'll speak for the entire fan base.

We are thrilled with it.

We know that this is not going to be a whole lot of fun

as far as win totals.

But we're excited that they finally picked a direction.

And they were hoping this would happen last year.

And they just, nobody would get traded.

They wouldn't leave.

Sunny Gray wouldn't leave.

Arnato wouldn't leave.

And they had to waste an entire year

of rebuilding and retooling to get to where they are this year.

So I'm excited for the youth that they've gotten.

I like to all the moves that they made as far as the amount

of talent they were able to get in return.

Obviously, the Arnato guy, nobody's even heard of them.

Nobody, that just was a salary dump.

But on the other ones, they were really good, you know?

They were able to re-boost and rebuild that farm system,

which was kind of back half of Major League Baseball

the last few years.

And now they're sitting up in the top five

and a lot of people's ranking.

So job well done, high and blue.

All right, worst offseason moves this year.

As far as the Cardinals go, I don't know if you can count any

of them as bad moves.

They were just going in a direction, getting rid of salary

and trying to go young again.

So you can make fun of them all you want.

But are there any other moves in the division?

Besides the Cardinals just giving up on 2026 already

that stand out to you guys.

Well, I think the big loss on paper

would be Freddie Peralta.

But I just think the brewers are disqualified

from making any bad moves.

I mean, they do this every year and every year, they win.

So I didn't understand their trade with Boston either

with the third base.

That's nothing I was going to bring up.

They loved you.

Yeah, Durbin, right, right, right.

Durbin, it looks to be a favorite,

was a favorite of Murphy, that Murphy, the manager,

was stunned that they traded Durbin, stunned it

because he fits the mold of what Murphy wants.

Hard-nosed, put your face in the dirt

and an improving player was up for Rookie of the Year

last year and the top four.

And the brewers obviously saw something in him where,

hey, you know what, this is as good as this guy's going to get.

Let's deal him while the stock is high,

we'll trade the boss and they got Harrison,

who's a really good, really going to be solid in their rotation.

So, but I just, if he goes on to Durbin to be,

you know, like a five-time all-star,

it's going to be a horrible trade.

But it could, if he just plateaued this year,

then it would turn out to be a great trade.

We'll see how that works.

Now, one thing I text with you, Chuck,

was when the Peralta trade was made

and I was like, ooh, you guys got Jeff Williams,

that's not bad.

And you're like, do we got a bunch of these little infielders?

And then the next trade went

and then it didn't seem so bad, did it?

Well, like their top prospects, their farm system,

their top four guys are all like five, seven,

middle infielders.

One guy is six, one, and that's a midday.

But even on this team, the corner of the market

and guys were five, seven, five, six, five, eight,

and all that, I don't know what it is,

but that's who fits in their organization,

hard-nosed guys who are gonna go out there

and do whatever it takes to win.

That's who, you know, guys who overachievers,

Bryce Tarrang, who's a first-round draft pick,

he's one of those guys.

He's five, nine or so, five, eight.

Listed at six, six, zero, he's not six, zero.

But he's going to go out there and give it them all.

They like those hard-working overachiever type guys.

I feel like I need some salt to throw on my shoulder,

just calling out the brewers.

So I got a fire sauce packer from Taco Bell

and I'm gonna do that and try and get rid of the bad,

Juju.

You call out the brewers, it feels like you're just opening

yourself up for some craziness here,

but it's like on paper, that was the one thing.

Whenever it said Caleb Durbin to Boston,

I'm like, why, what kind of a move was that?

That was a weird one, but it feels like the brewers

are going to be that team that in three years,

none of the guys that are currently on the field for them

are going to be on the field for them.

And yet, there's still going to be one of the teams

that are favored to win this division.

They seem to understand how to turn over talent

the way that Tampa Bay raised it.

I mean, I hear it every day when the brewers put up their line-up

and the fans will be on Twitter, just going crazy.

Well, here we are, we're not going for the sweep once again.

Durbin batting clean-up, this guy and not in the lineup,

the brewers are missing five starters

in the end of the day that he wins seven to one.

So it's just amazing how, like you said,

the magic that they have, their carpet ride is just unbelievable.

Every year, I think, okay, is it going to run out this year,

but it seems that it does seem to run out in October,

but not through the regular season.

Very true.

All right, well, coming up,

we're going to talk about which team could make a splash

or be trash and also is anybody

manager-wise on the hot seat in the division?

This is the NL Central 2026.

It will be a season preview.

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Hi, once again, we're doing our 2026

ethos central season preview.

We've got all five members of the Lockdown MLB central podcast

with us.

Do we fear any of our teams in this division?

Because we're expected.

Most of you guys are going to be good this year.

Is there any fear that something drastic happens

and you fall from where Fandals got you guys

as far as windtables go?

No, I don't have that fear here.

I think we have duplication of efforts

all around the diamond and in the starting rotation.

Our triple A team looks like they should win

the international division.

They really should.

They should win triple A.

It's going to be a bomb unit.

Probably guys that three or four guys

that could probably start on major league teams right now

will start in that triple A team in the rotation.

And I just think truthfully it's going to be

a war of attrition and the pirates are poised to do it.

And they have enough tradable assets still

that they can add if they want to.

Yeah, the green injury is something that's obviously

on the minds of all Reds fans.

And are you afraid that more injuries to somebody like

a Lodola who's suffered with some problems as well?

Is that going to tank you guys?

If Ali plays on one leg again, are you guys in big trouble?

I'm going to say I think that they're uniquely

positioned to weather more storms in the rotation.

I'll be it not a ton of storms.

But I think there's seven or eight deep in the rotation.

The question will be, how does the top end

of the bullpen really follow up last year?

Tony Santheon was one game away from literally pitching

every other day.

And I'm pretty sure there were a couple of games

that he actually warmed up in the bullpen

that he didn't pitch in.

And so he pretty much pitched every other day last year.

How does that arm hold up this year?

There's a little bit of mechanical tweaks

that are being reported out of spring training for him

that could help him out in the long run.

And obviously the moves that they made

bringing in Pierce Johnson, Caleb Ferguson, Brock Burke,

those guys are going to help him out

to where he doesn't have to pitch every other day.

But the top end of the bullpen, it kind of feels

like could fall apart.

And then you've really got to see some guy step up

that we're worried about guys like Zach Maxwell,

Luis May, Connor Phillips, that have high-end stuff

and very questionable control.

We all know what happens.

You have questionable control out of the bullpen.

So the bullpen's fragility worries me.

And then the lineup itself just needs to realize

who they are and not try to do too much.

If they continue to do too much,

if Noel remarked that he tries to hit 50 bombs,

if Matt McLean tries to hit 50 bombs,

then we're going to have trouble.

But it looks like early on, they're not doing that.

So if they can translate that,

I think it's going to happen.

I think they're probably the team

that has the widest range of outcomes.

I can see the reds winning the division

and I can see them finishing fourth.

I don't know that I could say that

about any of the other teams outside of the Cardinals,

although their variation is their either fifth

or their fifth.

So that's not really much of a variation.

No, it's not.

Sam, you guys played without steel last year

and everybody thought, oh, that, that they're in trouble.

And you guys were able to weather that storm.

Any fear that something drastic could happen

that would send you guys down a little bit.

Yeah, I mean, I could see us,

if it really were to go poorly being like the mid 80s,

but I don't, I don't see anything worse than that.

To me, the way I would look at this division,

honestly, if I had to over oversimplify it,

if it was like one of those exercise,

like in five sentences, summarizes central.

It'd be Cubs Brewers at the top.

And for Pittsburgh and Cincinnati,

assuming health, right?

Obviously, you can't have anything happen to schemes.

Can O'Neill Crews become a major league,

actual like everyday stud?

I mean, the body language stuff is just,

I had them on my fancy team last year.

It was a nightmare.

And then can Ellie figure out

how to consistently hit from the right side?

I mean, if O'Neill Crews takes a couple steps up

with all the talent they have,

and Ellie is the same guy on both sides of the plate,

now you could be talking about a 14 actual race.

But I think the Cubs and Brewers,

I don't see either team D in like less than 84 or 85 wins.

That's my take.

Last year, Chuck Quinn Priester came out of nowhere,

former Pirates farmhand,

but kind of came out of nowhere

with this amazing streak of winning games and whatnot,

was able to plug a hole with where Brandon Woodruff

was out, where are you guys that starting rotation wise

this year?

And is that something that is kind of the Achilles heel

now that you've moved on from Peralta

that could drop you down from where we saw you

in the 90 wins to 84, where Fandals got you?

Yeah, I don't think they're going to win 97,

but I still think they're going to get over 84.

But this rotation is going to be

one of the youngest rotations in baseball,

other than Woodruff, who's coming back,

didn't finish the season last year

because of a lad injury.

And he's had a history of shoulder injuries,

but he is going to be at the top of the rotation.

He may not be the opening day starter because of that.

He's still going through.

Preasters got a wrist injury.

He might not be in the opening day rotation.

So other than that, there's young guys.

We saw it, Ms. Ronsky can do.

Sprote they got in a trade, they really love him.

Harrison could be the lefty out of the,

in that starting rotation.

If the rotation doesn't hold its own,

now the brewers in the past have been rock solid.

And I think that's something that small markets,

usually sometimes you don't see that,

the small market pitching,

it takes money to buy some of these pitchers.

And the brewers leave their pitchers,

the great pitchers go and they try developing

and it's been working.

Can they keep it going pitching wise

and can the Freelix, the Terangs,

and the Cheerios keep getting better every year

and other X-Factor?

Yellow, it's just 34 years old.

In the twilight of his career,

Kenny continued to produce at 29 home runs,

103 RBIs last year.

And he continued to produce in the heart of the order.

Those things hold up.

Yeah, they could win the division,

but like I said at the top,

the margin of error for these guys every day is very small.

You gotta go out there and they gotta play

with a high baseball IQ, which they really have.

All right, wrapping things up here with bold predictions.

I don't know how everybody's turned out last year.

I had Wilson Contreras leading all first base

when in the division, hitting wise, that didn't happen.

That didn't work out so well.

He wasn't terrible, but he didn't come anywhere close

to doing all of the things that things like,

well, he did pretty darn good.

Bold prediction, I'll start with mine

and we'll go around the horn here.

I'm gonna go with JJ Weatherhole,

winning the NL Rookie of the Year award

because I don't know if Conor Griffin's gonna be up

early enough to take it from him, but he definitely could

because that man is impressive,

but I'll go with JJ Weatherhole.

It's been a prospect that his only been in the minors

for one full season and he was incredible last year.

He's just got this very veteran makeup about him.

He doesn't act like a rookie.

He doesn't go about his business like a rookie.

And I don't think the Cardinals have really had

any expectations for a rookie like this

since the late Oscar Tavarez.

So he could really be something special.

So I'll go with JJ Weatherhole.

If it's not him, I'll say Dustin May makes over 25 starts.

That's pretty freaking bold.

Oh, bold, bold, bold.

I'm gonna go bold too

and it's Rookie of the Year oriented as well.

I'm gonna say Conor Griffin and Boba Chandler

both finish in the top three for Rookie of the Year.

And I think Weatherhole would be that third.

My bold is, you guys kind of touched on it.

O'Neill Cruz, I saw him in the batting cage last year

and the ball was making a violent noise off his bat.

I mean, he was putting Rockets in the D'Epper deck

during batting practice.

The game showed up and the show was over.

And I'm like, God, this guy's, as you know, Gary

and we all seen him, he's a physical specimen.

How was this and not been able to put it together?

I think if he does and if he does,

he could be just amazing.

But man, watching him take BP last year

and then he said the show started and it was lights out.

But he could be, I'm gonna make that prediction right now.

I think O'Neill could take it at the next level.

I think he could too, and since Sam mentioned him too,

I'm just gonna tell you both.

The kid literally hired himself a left-handed pitcher

to live with him all off season.

I saw that on Twitter.

Quick O'Neill Cruz anecdote for me.

I was at a Cubs Pirates game two years ago with my mom

and O'Neill Cruz hit up, it should have been a long home run

but the wind was hollering in at Riggly what knew.

And but as he hit the ball, as she was walking back to her seat

and the sound was so violent,

she like docked and dropped everything,

all the stuff that she had.

That's how loud it was.

I'm not joking.

Sorry, real quick, my bold prediction.

This is kind of like maybe like a little Cubs nerdy,

but last year, Carson Kelly,

like a really big year for the Cubs.

For most of the year, I think Miguel Amaya

actually takes the catcher spot and runs with it by,

I would say June, July-ish.

Well, it did look like it was top three MVP finish.

I think that between the one leg being hurt

and his inconsistencies with his glove, he cleans that up

and he has two legs at the end of the season.

I think he's gonna be top three in the MVP.

I have a hard time saying he's gonna beat out

Shohei O'Tani.

I don't know who does.

I don't know that anyone can,

but I think that he finishes the top three.

That's a my try.

So those are our bold predictions.

And if you guys have any that you would like to add,

make sure you hit us up in the comments section down below.

Give us your thoughts on everything we've discussed here

about the NL Central.

Do you agree or disagree with some of the takes

that we had here today?

Let us know for all the division previews

for the 2026 MLBCs in preview.

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