Deadline Breakdown: NL Central

NL Central – The biggest division in baseball has only two viable contenders. Cincinnati and St. Louis are deadlocked atop the central division and it’s looking like the Reds are for real this season. All the other teams are sellers so this should prove to be one of the more active divisions in terms of both buying and selling this season.

1. St. Louis Cardinals – Their bats are fine in the outfield; however, with the exception of Pujols at first base, the Cards are very thin in the infield. Yadier Molina, Felipe Lopez, Skip Schumaker and Tyler Greene are all hitting below .270 and none of the other Cardinals hitters are buyable leadoff hitters (maybe Colby Rasmus but he’s better served further down the lineup or at the 2-spot). I look for them to back up their outstanding pitching staff with a reliable hitter for their middle infield who can possibly hit lead-off.
   Possible Players: SS/2B Julio Lugo (.255 avg. but he hit well for them last year), 2B Luis Castillo – New York Mets (a career .291 hitter with speed), INF Gordon Beckham – Chicago White Sox (price may be too high).
   
   
2. Cincinnati Reds – The Reds are in the opposite position of the Cardinals; their infield is hitting well, but they could use some help in the outfield. Jay Bruce and Johnny Gomes are solid, not great, in the outfield; however, Drew Stubbs is hitting only .235 with a .309 OBP. I could see them trying to find a replacement in the outfield, but I’m not sure that they will pursue a big name like Dunn or Corey Hart.
   Possible Players: OF David DeJesus – Kansas City Royals, OF Garrett Jones – Pittsburgh Pirates, OF Cody Ross – Florida Marlins.
   
   
3. Milwaukee Brewers – The Brewers are sellers this year (whether they want to believe it or not). There have been talks of trading Prince Fielder as well as Hart, and rebuilding the team around Yovanni Gallardo and Ryan Braun. I like the idea, and they should get a lot of major-league-ready prospects for them if/when they decide to go through with a trade.
   Possible Players: prospects, prospects, prospects. They are building for the future, not a playoff run this year; however, I do expect them to hold on to veteran 2B Rickie Weeks.
   
   
4. Chicago Cubs – Those poor Cubbies. This year will not be the end of their century-long World Series curse; however, they can dump some hefty contracts and retool for a run next year. I think they’ll keep Soriano, but I don’t know if any MLB team will bite on Carlos Zambrano. Big-Z just has too much baggage; but, if they could move him, it would definitely make their team better for next year.
   Possible Players: step one will be finding a buyer for Zambrano; the next step will be to try and find a manager to take over for Lou Piniella in 2011.
   
   
5. Houston Astros – Seems like the ‘Stros are going to send Roy Oswalt to the Phillies for J.A. Happ and 2 other prospects. That is a sign of more moves to come for a team in transition. I think they could be moving more guys – possibly Hunter Pence, Lance Berkman and/or Carlos Lee – by Saturday’s deadline.
   Possible Players: they’ve acquired Happ (if the aforementioned trade goes through) but that might be all their getting this year in terms of current big leaguers. I’m willing to bet the rest of their trades result in acquiring prospects from the minors for next year.
   
   
6. Pittsburgh Pirates – First off, I don’t know why they’re in the NL Central, Pennsylvania is on the east coast; but that’s an argument for another time. Pittsburgh has done a better job keeping its talent and building upon that each year. I don’t suspect many moves for them, other than trying to move Jones. It should be a relatively quiet deadline for the Bucs.
   Possible Players: whatever they can get for a middle-of-the-road player like Jones.