NL Central

You'll know President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein finally has the Chicago Cubs ready to make a run at ending their 106-year championship drought when he strikes a deal with an old associate of his: Jon Lester.

Granted, we're technically in the realm of "if" rather than "when." The Cubs aren't any more assured to sign the 30-year-old left-hander than any other club eyeing him in free agency.

For the first time in more than two decades, the Pittsburgh Pirates have made headlines for seemingly all the right reasons, going from perennial losers to championship contenders after making the postseason in each of the last two seasons.  

Can we properly say that the Pirates truly have been a legitimate contender for a World Series title though?  

The St. Louis Cardinals were escorted into the offseason short of winning their 12th World Series championship. Looking ahead, the core of the team remains intact, and the Cardinals will need to make some cost-effective adjustments to their roster this winter.

Big spending is out of the question. Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. hasn't operated like that since he took the reigns of the organization in 1996.

The Chicago Cubs got their man and their manager.

With one mantra during his introductory press conference on Monday as the new manager of the Chicago Cubs, Joe Maddon aptly summed up why he's the perfect man to lead a talented young team to prominence.    

"Don't ever permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure," Maddon said on MLB Network. "That's on the top of my lineup card every night."       

Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez has accepted the mutual option on his contract and will remain with the franchise for the 2015 MLB season.     

The Brewers’ official Twitter account announced the news Monday:

The St. Louis Cardinals didn't lose the National League Championship Series because of Mike Matheny. But the manager didn't exactly do the greatest job of preventing his club from losing—or even of putting it in position to beat the World Series-bound San Francisco Giants.

Red October has come to a crashing end. St. Louis fell short of reaching the World Series and a chance at the 12th title in franchise history. 

The Cardinals remain the model franchise of Major League Baseball, and 2014 should not be written off as a bust. The Cardinals captured their second straight division championship and advanced to their fourth consecutive league championship series. 

The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants will face off in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday with the series tied at two games apiece.

The matchup between the two Senior Circuit heavyweights figured to be an even one, and it’s lived up to that billing through two games so far.

While all eyes will be on the marquee players like Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner in Wednesday's National League Wild Card Game at PNC Park, there are a few players who may steal the spotlight and have huge games to help their team advance into the division series. 

One of them is Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison.