NLCentral is starting to look winnable

[Shady]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

[JB2011]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

I think that it's way too early to say this.

[Shady]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

I think that it's way too early to say this.

At this time, I don't see a dominant team in the division,

[An Old Friend]

Starting to? It’s been that way throughout the offseason and spring training. You being aware now doesn’t mean that it just started.

[Jatalk]

We have played 16 games. A bit early.

[CardinalInNC]

We have played 16 games. A bit early.

For the record, he said "winnable", not "we will win it" to which I would say there is a big difference

Believe me, I definitely won't get ahead of my skis on this, and ultimately we will only know who's bound to take the NLC once we face off against MIL and CHC.

But both of those teams have shown big time vulnerability, and yes the Cubs not only lose their ace but got their butts kicked last night in SD. Now I'd feel better if we got Ivan and Masyn back, but if these bats of ours stay pretty consistent as they have, I do think those two teams to the northeast of us can be had.

[hugeCardfan]

We have played 16 games. A bit early.

For the record, he said "winnable", not "we will win it" to which I would say there is a big difference

Believe me, I definitely won't get ahead of my skis on this, and ultimately we will only know who's bound to take the NLC once we face off against MIL and CHC.

But both of those teams have shown big time vulnerability, and yes the Cubs not only lose their ace but got their butts kicked last night in SD. Now I'd feel better if we got Ivan and Masyn back, but if these bats of ours stay pretty consistent as they have, I do think those two teams to the northeast of us can be had.

I see it the same way. I've liked the Cardinal team more than some for a while now and the rotation is looking pretty solid. 4 or 5 bullpen guys look very good and the offense has been even better than I'd expected.... With Steele still in their rotation the Cubbies looked stronger than the rest of us, but that's a big loss for the Cubbies and should bring them back to the horde.

I like our chances. Some folks just don't like to admit that the Cards aren't as bad as they thought.

[11WSChamps]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

I think that it's way too early to say this.

At this time, I don't see a dominant team in the division,

There has never been a dominant team going into this season.

Any team can win this division given the right set of circumstances.

That's never been in question.

[Futuregm2]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

Starting to? It's looked winnable all offseason, spring training, and still is now.

[Shady]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

Starting to? It's looked winnable all offseason, spring training, and still is now.

Evidently. in the off season, Mo wasn't too sure the current Cardinals were a serious threat to win the division. ex, all his reset talk.

[Futuregm2]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

Starting to? It's looked winnable all offseason, spring training, and still is now.

Evidently. in the off season, Mo wasn't too sure the current Cardinals were a serious threat to win the division. ex, all his reset talk.

Doesn't mean the division wasn't winnable. It is a wide open division with no dominant team after the Brewers lost Adames. And with the Cubs highly likely only having Tucker for one season, it means the division is wide open both this year and beyond.

[An Old Friend]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

Starting to? It's looked winnable all offseason, spring training, and still is now.

Evidently. in the off season, Mo wasn't too sure the current Cardinals were a serious threat to win the division. ex, all his reset talk.

The reset was always about payroll. If you ever took a minute to pay attention, you might understand that.

Their aim has been to compete while resetting their payroll to a lower number.

[Shady]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

Starting to? It's looked winnable all offseason, spring training, and still is now.

Evidently. in the off season, Mo wasn't too sure the current Cardinals were a serious threat to win the division. ex, all his reset talk.

The reset was always about payroll. If you ever took a minute to pay attention, you might understand that.

Their aim has been to compete while resetting their payroll to a lower number.

So you don't think the "reset" speculation had anything to do with giving young guns like Gorman and Saggese more playing time? Get fricken' real.

[Shady]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

Starting to? It's looked winnable all offseason, spring training, and still is now.

Evidently. in the off season, Mo wasn't too sure the current Cardinals were a serious threat to win the division. ex, all his reset talk.

Doesn't mean the division wasn't winnable. It is a wide open division with no dominant team after the Brewers lost Adames. And with the Cubs highly likely only having Tucker for one season, it means the division is wide open both this year and beyond.

You are reaching. If Mo thought the the Cardinals were a serious contender to win the division, he would have tried harder to add talent. Don't you think?

[cardstatman]

IMHO the Cubs are pretty strong favorites in the NL Central.

The Cards, Brewers, Reds, Pirates all would need some significant improvements from a lot of players to compete with them... or the Cubs would need a lot of unexpected injuries and flops.

Upsets happen all the time, but the Cubs have to feel very confident.

[An Old Friend]

The Cubs got hit with a huge injury to an outstanding starting pitcher who is out for the season. The Cards hitting has been fairly consistent. The defense has been good. And the Cardinals starting pitching is looking formidable. They don't need blown saves like the one in Boston.

Starting to? It's looked winnable all offseason, spring training, and still is now.

Evidently. in the off season, Mo wasn't too sure the current Cardinals were a serious threat to win the division. ex, all his reset talk.

The reset was always about payroll. If you ever took a minute to pay attention, you might understand that.

Their aim has been to compete while resetting their payroll to a lower number.

So you don't think the "reset" speculation had anything to do with giving young guns like Gorman and Saggese more playing time? Get fricken' real.

There is no speculation regarding the reset. And I don't know why you'd make the rest of your statement as I never suggested anything akin to that.

John Mozeliak:

The word 'reset' can be interpreted a lot of different ways. Our business model has changed. There's less revenue on the TV side, we have less revenue on the ticket-sale side right now. We're trying to make adjustments as best we can. The one lever to pull is payroll when you're dealing with that.

How is that in any way "speculative"? And prior to opening day, we had this from John Denton:

Mozeliak is encouraged that the Cardinals can defy the relatively low expectations of the club and push for the playoffs despite him having the quietest offseason of his tenure. St. Louis signed just one player -- middle reliever Phil Maton late in training camp -- while trying to reset the roster and clean up the franchise’s financial commitments.

I realize that all of this requires that you pay closer to attention to what is said, written, spoken, and shared... and listening to anyone proves to be a real challenge for you.

But don't patronize me because you're not paying attention. That isn't my fault.