Ranking the NL Central by position

I saw this on the Milwaukee Brewers' message board, and I thought it would be fun to do myself. By position, I'll give my rankings for each position in the NL Central and maybe why (if I feel like it).

Pitcher (One ace from each team)

1. Carlos Zambrano (Cubs)
2. Adam Wainwright (Cardinals)
3. Roy Oswalt (Astros)
4. Edinson Volquez (Reds)
5. Yovanni Gallardo (Brewers)
6. Paul Malholm (Pirates)

It's tough to rank a Cubs pitcher first, but, lets face it, they have the best rotation in the NL Central. By far. Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden could both be considered aces on any of the other five teams in the Central. Sickening. To put Big Z in front of the other two Cubs' pitchers is for the sole fact that I hate it when he is pitching against the Cardinals, but I would love it if he pitched for the Cardinals. It's a lot of the feeling that Cubs fans get for Pujols.

Waino gets the slight edge over Oswalt for the second spot in my book mainly due to age. Oswalt isn't getting any younger, and I believe this is the beginning of the end for him. Wainwright, on the other hand, is young and has tremendous stuff to be considered at the top of this list. Why not Chris Carpenter, you ask? Yes, he may be considered an ace, but until he proves it again on the field, Adam Wainwright is the Cardinals' ace.

Volquez might be a sleeper pick within the Reds' starting rotation over Adam Harang, and I made this pick again due to age. Volquez is 26, while Harang is 31. Not to mention the fact that Volquez went 17-6 last year and Harang went 6-17! Volquez is the Reds' ace now and for the future. He quite easily could be an elite pitcher in the majors in the next few years.

Gallardo and Malholm round out the bottom of the list because: 1) The Brewers' lost both Sheets and CC and 2) Malholm pitches for the Pirates...

Catcher

1. Geovanny Soto (Cubs)
2. Yadier Molina (Cardinals)
3. Ryan Doumit (Pirates)
4. J.R. Towles (Astros)
5. Ramon Hernandez (Reds)
6. Jason Kendall (Brewers)

There is definitely a difference between the top three and the bottom three catchers in the NL Central. The easy top pick is last year's starting All-Star catcher for the National League. I was lucky enough to grab on to Soto in two of the thee Fantasy Baseball Leagues that I was in, and I was highly rewarded. Easily one of the best catchers in the National League.

The sole reason Yadi is in the number two spot is because he's a Cardinal. Yeah, I'll admit it. I really like Doumit: he's young, plays pretty good defense and hits the hell out of the ball. Again, in my Fantasy Leagues, I had Doumit on two of my three teams, and I was happy. Hopefully Yadi has a good 2009 and proves me right in placing him above Doumit.

The last three is a crapshoot. Kendall is obviously last due to his age and poor, poor offense. I put Towles over Hernandez simply for the fact that Towles will have his first year in the Majors this year, and I think that he might surprise some people.

First Base

1. Albert Pujols (Cardinals)
2. Prince Fielder (Brewers)
3. Lance Berkman (Astros)
4. Derek Lee (Cubs)
5. Joey Votto (Reds)
6. Adam LaRoche (Pirates)

I didn't realize how deep the NL Central was in first baseman! There are some really good players here, top to bottom. Pujols is definitely the best of the six, and the choice between Fielder and Berkman was really tough, so a coin flip settled it. Fielder won on tails because he has a fat ass. D-Lee is in fourth because I haven't seen him have a strong season in the last couple of years. Votto is going to be someone to watch for the future. He barely edged out LaRoche for the last spot, and I chose Votto mainly due to the fact that I think that Votto is going to be much better this year than LaRoche will be.

Second Base

1. Brandon Phillps (Reds)
2. Rickie Weeks (Brewers)
3. Freddy Sanchez (Pirates)
4. Kazuo Matsui (Astros)
5. Aaron Miles/Mike Fontenot (Cubs)
6. Brendan Ryan/Skip Shumaker/Brian Barden/Joe Thurston (Cardinals)

What a crapshoot here. Phillips is obvously the best in the NL Central, followed by a big shitpile of guys who think they can play baseball. Weeks and Sanchez get the second and third spots because they are going to be for sure starters for their ball clubs. Matsui got fourth since he can't hit worth a damn, and his defense isn't the greatest either. I'm not even touching the clusterfuck that is at the bottom of the list concering the Cubs and Cardinals' second basemen.

Third Base

1. Aramis Ramirez (Cubs)
2. Troy Glaus (Cardinals)
3. Edwin Encarnacion (Reds)
4. Bill Hall (Brewers)
5. Geoff Blum (Astros)
6. Andy LaRoche (Pirates)


Well, to start off, two of the six players above are injured as of right now (Glaus and Hall), but they will be back for the majority of the season, so they are still considered. At the top of the list is ARam and rightfully so. Looking at the rest of the list, he is number one by far. Glaus is the definite number two mostly due to his year last year, and the fact that he is a little more seasoned than the others. Encarnacion edges out Bill Hall due to Hall's poor offensive effort last year compared to his thunderous 2007 season. Blum falls behind Blum just because he had a very good year at the plate, but I am expecting Hall to return to form this year and he will be better than Blum. Andy LaRoche, Adam's little brother, rounds out the list because he is young and hasn't really seen much time in the majors.

Shortstop

1. J.J. Hardy (Brewers)
2. Ryan Theriot (Cubs)
3. Khalil Greene (Cardinals)
4. Miguel Tejada (Astros)
5. Alex Gonzalez (Reds)
6. Jack Wilson (Pirates)

Not much here either for the NL Central. I guess the middle infield is the weakest area for the whole division. Hardy is probably the best, even though he didn't have a great season last year. His potential to be an offensive threat is more valuable than any of the others can put up that are on the list. The Riot edges out Greene for second because of Greene's horrible year last year, and because I really like his name. Tejada is fourth because he just plead guilty to some shit that I don't really care about anymore. Gonzalez edges out Wilson for the fifth spot because he should be returning fully from his injury, and he has the chance to produce more at the plate.

Left Field

1. Carlos Lee (Astros)
2. Ryan Braun (Brewers)
3. Alfonso Soriano (Cubs)
4. Nyjer Morgan (Pirates)
5. Chris Duncan/Joe Mather (Cardinals)
6. Norris Hopper (Reds)

The top three are good, the bottom three aren't so much. Carlos Lee takes the first spot due to the Crawford Boxes, in my opinion. Playing 81 games at Minute Maid will help his stats, and he has less field to manage out there. Braun beats out Soriano due to the fact that I think we will never see Soriano used to his full potential until he is put in the second or seventh spot in the batting order. Morgan edges out whoever plays in the Cardinals left field because it just isn't fair for someone to lose out to a platoon ... unless you're Norris Hopper. Last year, Hopper hit just .200 for average and only played in 50 games. Anyone the Cardinals put out there should hopefully do better than that.

Center Field

1. Nate McLouth (Pirates)
2. Rick Ankiel (Cardinals)
3. Mike Cameron/Tony Gwynn Jr. (Brewers)
4. Michael Bourne/Darin Erstad (Astros)
5. Kosuke Fukudome/Reed Johnson (Cubs)
6. Willie Tavaras (Reds)

There looks like to be a lot of platooning in the center field position in the NL Central. I couldn't name a for sure starter for the Brewers, Cubs or Astros. Makes it hard to rank. The top two positions are easy. McLouth is the for sure number one guy in center in the Central, and Ankiel is for sure number two (if he can stay healthy). Following those two, I really don't know. I took Cameron and Gwynn Jr. at the third spot mainly because Cameron might be the offensive force we saw from him in 2007, and Gwynn Jr. is fun to watch. FUKuDOme and his crew took the fifth spot mainly because I hate the guy and I think the Cubs paid way too much to watch their center fielder miss at the plate. Although the Cubs could be happy that they aren't stuck with Willie Tavaras in center, like the Reds do. Ouch.

Right Field

1. Jay Bruce (Reds)
2. Ryan Ludwick (Cardinals)
3. Milton Bradley (Cubs)
4. Corey Hart (Brewers)
5. Hunter Pence (Astros)
6. Brandon Boss/Eric Hinske (Pirates)

Bruce and Ludwick was a tough one, but I went with Bruce due to his hype. Ludwick had a career year last year, and I don't think he can repeat to that extent. Bruce has the capabilities to produce like that for the rest of his career, and it's early in his career yet. Bradley took the third spot simply because he is better than who is left. Hart beats out Pence solely for the reason that I think Hunter Pence is a pussy-sounding name. Whoever is fielding right for the Pirates is last, cause they suck (the Pirates do, I mean).

For fun, I decided to see how each team did in my ranking system:

Astros - 3, 4, 3, 4, 5, 4, 1, 4, 5
Brewers - 5, 6, 2, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4
Cardinals - 2, 2, 1, 6, 2, 3, 5, 2, 2
Cubs - 1, 1, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 3
Pirates - 6, 3, 6, 3, 6, 6, 4, 1, 6
Reds - 4, 5, 5, 1, 3, 5, 5, 6, 1

I totaled all of these up to see how the standings would look if they were based on my player rankings (low score is first, high score is last):

1. Cubs - 25
2. Cardinals - 25
3. Brewers - 29
4. Astros - 33
5. Reds - 35
6. Pirates - 41

I'm giving the edge to the Cubs over the Cardinals because I am probably baised in some of my rankings. Either way it looks pretty much like i think the Division should run down this year.