NL Central

From 2002 to 2009, the Chicago Cubs won three division titles. The St. Louis Cardinals took the other five. The Cincinnati Reds never had a winning record during that stretch. Then, in 2010, they figured it all out.

Last year, the Cincinnati Reds had two young pitchers that burst onto the scene.

One of them was Mike Leake, who skipped the minor leagues and started in the majors instantly. He stole a spot in the Reds' rotation and ran away with it. He took the fantasy world by storm by going 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA in his first 11 starts.

For the past decade, Major League Baseball has witnessed a level of parity usually reserved for the NFL. From 2001 to 2010, the MLB crowned nine different World Series champions, and National League squads like the Florida Marlins and San Francisco Giants went from division cellar-dwellers to rulers of the roost. 

Numbers.  Fantasy Baseball is defined by them.  Standard 5x5 leagues use 10 of them.  These 10 numbers are probably the most important numbers you will think about from March to September.  But should they be?

Fantasy Baseball has come quite a ways in the last few years.  Nowadays sabermetrics have given us new numbers with acronyms like wOBA, BABIP, xFIP, and LOB percent.  These strange figures can be overwhelming to those who are unfamiliar with them. 

Yadier Molina was a tale of two players last year. In the first half of the season, he hit .223/.301/.294. In the second half, he hit .315/.368/.405. His end of the season splits ended up at .262/.329/.342. The big question arises. Which Molina will show up this year?

In the first half of last season, he was practically unusable. In the second half, he was a pretty solid option at catcher.

As a former boss of mine once said when I told him that I wanted a raise, "how does it feel to want"?

Well, Aramis Ramirez apparently wants something and that something is to swipe a few bags.

While I probably have a better chance of dating Keeley Hazell than Ramirez does of becoming a base stealer, it just goes to show you what passes for news in the spring.

The Cubs' 2010 season was so depressing that manager Lou Piniella retired six weeks early. No one pooped in the dugout this time around, but in all other ways the final chapter of Piniella's tenure mirrored that of Dusty Baker before him: Both men oversaw great teams their first season, equally great ones the second year, a mediocre squad for which much went wrong in their third year and a budget-saving fire sale in July of their final year after the team fell far from contention.

Before spring training started, some people had guarded optimism about this team heading into 2011. After trading away top stars Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt, they had a record above .500 and were playing pretty good baseball down the stretch. They had four rookies in their starting lineup and rotation and if these young players continued to develop, the Astros would be competitive this season.

Despite all the excitement and anticipation of the upcoming season for Milwaukee Brewer fans, there is still a sense of impending doom.

With the additions of Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum to the rotation, the Brewers have positioned themselves as a legitimate threat for the NL Central crown.

However, the 2011 season will also serve as Prince Fielder's last with the team.

At one time Brandon Phillips was considered among the cream of the crop of second basemen.  In 2007 he posted his only career 30/30 campaign.  In the two subsequent seasons he followed it up with 20/20 years, clearly keeping him among the elite at his position.

The 2010 season, however, saw him return to the leadoff spot to mixed results: