Check out the rest of Lenny's division by division 2011 MLB Previews: AL East | AL West | AL Central | NL Central | NL West .

1. Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central Odds: 19/10 | Odds to Win National League: 8/1 | World Series Odds: 14/1 | Futures Odds: 85.5 wins)

The Brew Crew have become a very trendy pick to win the National League Central thanks in large part to their surprising acquisition of former AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Grienke, who will start the season on the DL due to an injury sustained in a pickup basketball game. But Milwaukee didn’t stop there as they also acquired Toronto’s 2010 Opening Day starter Shaun Marcum. They should also have a potent offense.

That said this is a club coming off back to back losing seasons and they’ve only won more than 83 games once in the past five seasons, when they won the division thanks to CC Sabathia in 2008. This team lost money last year (-7.4 units) despite sending at least three players to the All Star Game for a fifth consecutive season.

With Yovanni Gallardo, Milwaukee has three pitchers in its rotation that started on Opening Day last season. Lefty Randy Wolf got off to a terrible start in 2010 and allowed the third most home runs by any NL pitcher. The bullpen is going to be better as Trevor Hoffman finally retired and John Axford, who set a Brewers rookie record with 24 saves, takes over the closer duties.

The offense is going to be very strong anchored by Prince Fielder, who also led MLB in walks last season. Ryan Braun had the third best batting average (.336) in road games in the National League. If 2B Rickie Weeks, RF Corey Hart and 3B Casey McGehee can come close to last year’s production, watch out. Prediction: 87 wins.

2. Cincinnati Reds (NL Central Odds: 2/1 | Odds to Win National League: 12/1 | World Series Odds: 25/1 | Futures Odds: 85 wins)

As you can tell from the betting odds, it’s going to be a tight race all season long in the NL Central between the Brewers and Reds. Cincinnati was our NL sleeper last year and the Reds did not disappoint, ending a 15-year playoff hiatus and winning the division. They pretty much stayed pat in the offseason, choosing to go with the same cast of characters that brought home the pennant. This is a team that feasted on a weak division and got swept in the playoffs by the Phillies.

The starting rotation is young with four arms all at 24 years of age or younger. Edinson Volquez got rocked in the NLDS and Johnny Cueto gave up fewer hits than innings pitched for the first time in his three year career. The future is Aroldis Chapman, who debuted his 105 MPH fastball last August. Chapman is an eventual ace, but will likely be the team’s closer first ala David Price in Tampa Bay. Volquez pitched just 62 innings last season coming off Tommy John surgery and given manager Dusty Baker’s penchant for wearing out young arms (paging Mark Prior!), there is cause for concern.

Offensively, the Reds have one of the best players in the game in 1B Joey Votto, who finished in the top three of 11 offensive statistical categories in the NL. Votto did not hit a single infield popup last year despite a career high 547 at bats. Last May, the offense homered in 18 consecutive games. They were tied for the most pinch hit homers in MLB with 10. Second baseman Brandon Phillips was one of only three players in MLB with at least 100 runs, 33 doubles, 18 HR’s and 16 steals. Scott Rolen must recover from a dreadful postseason performance.

The more we think about it, the more this team was probably a one-year aberration. They did turn a profit (+11.5 units), but they also got exposed in the playoffs and had a losing record vs. winning teams. Prediction: 85 wins.

3. St. Louis Cardinals (NL Central Odds: 3/1 | Odds to Win National League: 12/1 | World Series Odds: 22/1 | Futures Odds: 83.5 wins)

This is going to be a down year in the Gateway to the West. Spring training started off in disastrous fashion for the Redbirds when Adam Wainwright, the 2010 Cy Young runner up, was lost for the season (elbow). The team didn’t really improve itself in any measurable way in the offseason and keep in mind that they have actually missed the postseason three of the last four years while never winning more than 91 games in any of the previous five. That surprised us.

With Wainwright gone, Chris Carpenter is back to being the ace. Last year was the first season since ’04 that the Cards got at least 25 starts from Carpenter and did NOT make the postseason. His winning percentage of .718 in 160 career starts is the highest of any St. Louis starter since 1900! The loss of Wainwright though cannot be overstated as his 2.68 ERA in 102 starts since July ’07 was the best in baseball. Jamie Garcia finished 3rd in LY’s Rookie of the Year balloting with 13 wins and the fourth lowest ERA in the NL.

Albert Pujols is the best hitter in baseball and obviously keys the offense. Still, even he may not be able to carry this group. The left side of the infield combined to hit a collective .242, second worst only to Arizona. LF Matt Holiday did finish in the Top 15 in every Triple Crown category.

This team killed its backers last season finishing -21.5 units. Manager Tony La Russa used 147 different lineups last season, again the most in MLB for the third time in four seasons. He’ll need perhaps his best effort yet to coax a playoff berth with this team. Prediction: 83 wins.

4. Chicago Cubs (NL Central Odds: 9/2 | Odds to Win National League: 16/1 | World Series Odds: 35/1 | Futures Odds: 81.5 wins)

It looks pretty clear to us that the Cubbies are destined to finish fourth in the division and thus it will be 103 years and counting with no World Series title for the lovable losers from the North Side. Although with the Cardinals’ expected struggles, we wouldn’t be shocked to see a third place finish. Following the abrupt retirement of Lou Piniella mid-season, the team did finish 24-13 for Mike Quade after going just 54-71 under Sweet Lou. At no point last season were the Cubs above .500, something that had not happened since 2002.

Starting with a 16-5 Opening Day loss, it was just a bizarre all around season in the Friendly Confines. The team went just 3-12 in Wrigley Field in the month of August, then went out and compiled an 8-1 road trip, the franchise’s best win percentage on a road trip of nine games or more ever. Carlos Zambrano was atrocious on Opening Day, allowing eight runs in just 1.1 IP, but finished 8-0 with a 1.41 ERA. Closer Carlos Marmol had the most strikeouts and walks of any reliever in MLB. Overall, Cubs relievers closed the season on a 28 inning scoreless streak. Kerry Wood returns after doing well with the Yankees

There was one key arm added in the offseason and that was Matt Garza from Tampa Bay. Swapping out Derrek Lee for Carlos Pena at first base is an improvement. Like we said, we can see this time finishing above St. Louis, but they certainly won’t finish any worse than fourth. After setting fire to their backers money early in the season, the Cubs finished -17.4 units. Prediction: 82 wins.

5. Houston Astros (NL Central Odds: 25/1 | Odds to Win National League: 40/1 | World Series Odds: 80/1 | Futures Odds: 71.5 wins)

This is a bad team and there is going to be a sizable gap between the bottom two and the rest of the division in the NL Central similar to what you’ll see in the American League Central. The Astros enter 2011 off back to back losing seasons for the first time in two decades. Eleven rookies saw time last year. Still there is room for optimism as the club’s 59 wins from June 1 to the end of the season was the second most in the division, though that can be attributed to the fact that the division was in a major down year.

The starting rotation posted a 3.24 ERA after the All Star Break last year. Brett Myers has gone at least six innings in 32 consecutive starts. The staff’s home ERA was 2.80 after June 22nd, which was the best in the league. The closer role will be assumed by Brandon Lyon, who had 20 saves in 22 chances last season.

Michael Bourn has led the NL in steals in consecutive seasons, the first Houston player to do so ever. Chris Johnson led all rookies with a minimum of 300 at bats with a .308 batting average.

This team made money for its backers last year at +10.3 units. We really just don’t like this group though. Prediction: 72 wins

6. Pittsburgh Pirates (NL Central Odds: 40/1 | Odds to Win National League: 100/1 | World Series Odds: 200/1 | Futures Odds: 67.5 wins)

The betting odds call for the Bucs to be the worst team in baseball yet again and considering that this franchise has suffered through 18 consecutive losing seasons, including last year’s 57-102 disaster, this should come as no surprise. This team stinks. It was the third most losses in franchise history last year and the 18 consecutive losing seasons is a record in North American sports.

This team was a hideous 17-64 away from home last season, including a 17-game road losing streak in June. That also means that this was a near .500 team at home, so there could be some value there. That said this team finished -22.6 units a year ago.

The Pirates have some of the worst pitching in all of baseball. Alleged ace Paul Maholm was second in the NL in losses, runs allowed and hits. Kevin Correia finished just 10-10 with San Diego last year despite being the one pitcher on the Padres staff to receive good run support. James McDonald actually posted a 2.31 ERA in his final six starts. Ross Ohlendorf can’t do any worse than 1-11, and is probably due for a big leap considering he had a 2.68 ERA his final 11 starts. Closer Joel Hanrahan struck out 100 hitters in 69.2 IP. Overall, Pittsburgh pitching ranked dead last in every major statistical category last season.

The hitting wasn’t much better as the offense finished 27th or worse in every major statistical category. They compiled an abhorrent -279 run differential and scored the fewest runs in any year since 1994 (strike shortened season) with 587.

You have to think that it can’t get any worse than last season, but this remains the worst outfit in baseball. Still, after seeing their win total decrease each of the last seasons, that should change this year, if only slightly. Prediction: 62 wins.

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