NL Central

Really?

Your article mentioned Wood and Fukudome as cornerstones of the Cubs and you think that's good?

What has either of them done in the past five years in the majors?

Milwaukee was way ahead before getting derailed with injuries last year. Braun is not going to get worse, he may even get better. Fielder is better than Lee offensively and Ramirez and Soriano are virtually a wash with Hardy and Hall (if all 4 stay healthy, which is unlikely) because AmRam the Sausage Slayer and his buddy fan way too much.

I think this one will come down to pitching, and I'll take Sheets, Gallardo, Paara and friends over whoever the Cubs try to stack behind Zambrano (who was possibly the most inconsistent ace in the majors last year). That includes the fact that Sheets will start about 25 games like usual.

The Brewers did nothing to improve themselves this year that I can recall, now i am biased and don;t follow the Brewers too much, but the Cubs should have a much better team this year than last year.

1) Catcher, there is a reason that Soto was league MVP in tripple A last year, because he is good. He is much better on D than Barrett any other catcher the Cubs had last year, and he has the ability to be a better hitter than last year.

2) Fukudome was a hot commodity and turned heads at the WBC and other events because he is good. But even if he is not up to what everyone is saying he will be, he is still going to be better than JJ ever was.

3) The Cubs still have pitching, the Brewers don't, nough said on that one.

4) Theriot as a darn good player last year, and his best spot avg. wise and on base wise as in the lead off, guess where he gets to hit this year? Thats right, lead off.

To be honest I think the Cubs are about 3 players away from being a WS team. 1 they need another lefty in the bullpen, Eyre is injured right now and he is still a question mark. 2 they need a center fielder, i don't think Pie is the answer, but then again he could improve quite a bit since he is young, also With Reed joining the Cubs and taking some of the AB's against the Lefties away from Pie  this might solve the issue as well 3) I would like to see another bench player, yeah we have Ward, but he is probally going to be a PH only most of the year, and a DH during the interleague games.

I'll take a healthy Sheets over Zambrano anyday, the rotations are a wash, it's the Cubs pen that can be better.

If offense was the only measyre, the Brewers are better than the Cubs.  The Cubs have better defense and pitching.  The bullpen is far superior and deeper. 

And, your SO information is off as well.  Aramis Ramirez, for a slugger, has a sterling 1 SO in every 7.6 AB.  Hart strikes out 1 in 5.1, Soriano 1 in 4.5, and Hall is at a dismal 1 in every 3.5.  So, who is it that strikes out too much? 

You and the rest of your Brewers fans are probably the only ones that would take Hardy and Hall over Aramis and Soriano. Id also take the Big Z over Sheets, I dont see Zambrano doing nearly as bad as he did last year.

I would also take the Cubs rotation over the Brewers rotation. Braun could very well get worse this year, its called a sophmore slump. Pitchers have seen more now and have tape on him, this year we will see if Braun can adjust. And if im not mistaken the Brewers have 0 closers (Counting on Gange and Turnbow will be a disaster) compared to the Cubs 2 closers(Marmol and Wood).

Now I say all this and im not even a Cubs fan.

Why did the Brewers lose their lead in the NL Central last year? DEFENSE and BULLPEN pitching. And what did they do in the off-season? Got 4 guys in Free Agency to improve their bullpen (Gange, Torres, Riske, and Mota) and upgraded their defense (Cameron in center and Kendall at catcher (not saying he's the best defensive catcher, but her calls games well, making the defense better), while moving Hall to 3rd (more natural position for him) and Braun to LF (to avoid his MLB league-leading errors at 3rd).

I agree pitching is a wash for both teams, but the Brewer's have more depth (but are also more unproven at pitching with young guys like Gallardo, Villanueva, and Parra). The cub's offensive line-up scares me, but if Fielder, Braun, and Hart continue to improve and Hardy, Weeks, and Hall have decent years, the Brewer's line-up can be just as intimidating top to bottom (minus only having one left-handed hitter in Fielder)

ok pkrs#1, saying that the starting rotations are equal is either bias, ignorance, or just plain stupidity. Lets take a look.

Starting lineups

Carlos Zambrano
IP: 216.1 w-L: 18-13 ERA: 3.95 K: 177 BB: 101

Ted Lilly
IP: 207   w-L: 15-8  ERA: 3.83 K: 174 BB: 55

Rich Hill
IP: 195   w-l: 11-8  ERA: 3.92 K: 183 BB: 63

Jason Marquis
IP: 191.2 w-L: 12-9  ERA: 4.60 k: 109 BB: 76

Ryan Dempster
Unknown for starter role, but rest assured we have plenty of options if he fails
marshall and leiber both of which I would take as my 5th starter anyday

Ben Sheets
IP: 141.1 w-L: 12-5 ERA: 3.82 K: 106 BB: 37

Jeff Suppan
IP: 206.2 w-L: 12-2 ERA: 4.62 K: 114 BB: 68

David Bush
IP: 186.1 w-L: 12-10 ERA:5.12 K: 134 BB: 44

Villy
IP: 114,1 w-L: 8-5 ERA: 3.94 K: 99 BB: 53

Manny Parra
Unknown for starter role, but not as deep in terms of options if he fails

Sheets vs Big Z, well i'd give you sheets based on last year if sheets didn't get hurt year in year out. Big Z however always seems to gurantee you a good 200plus inning a year, sheets, always guarantees you a DL stint somewhere during the seasons: Advantage Big Z

Lilly vs Suppan: Wow this is not even close. Suppan has a higher ERA than our 4th starter and gives up almost 1 more ER in a start than Lilly. But hey, atleast he is guaranteed to be healthy as opposed to sheets. He is also guaranteed to be your ace for about a month too, Yeah i want my ace to have a 4.6 ERA Advantage Lilly

Hill vs Bush once again, hill Hill our number 3 starter has a solid ERA and can pitch innings. Much better than Bush, gives up over 1 run less than your guy per start. I'll take him easily.

Marquis vs Villy: I gve this one to you guys, if and only if villy can give a good 200 innings, if not then i give it to Marquis. Expect Lieber to be here soon, should be darn good and probally better than villy, but i say for now, Advantage Villy

5th starter: For now unknown, but i still say we got a better back up plan than your guys

Bullpen: As you say the Cubs have a better pen, and that means if you want any chance, you better have better starters, I wouldn't expect too many teams scoring meaningingful runs in the 7th - 9th innings this year.

On a scale of 0 to 10 for pitching (0 being Brewers have a strong advantage, 5 being even, 10 cubs have a strong advantage) I'd say 8.5