Chicago Cubs: Is the NL Central now the best division in baseball?

After dominating the National League Central for two seasons, the Chicago Cubs came up one short, succumbing to a late surge by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Though the Milwaukee Brewers may have taken the league by storm this past season, nobody in the MLB community will be surprised to see them thrive again in 2019. That includes the team they dispatched in a winner-take-all Game 163, the Chicago Cubs.

In fact, much like the 2015 season, it seems the National League Central Division could now have three legitimate contenders for the National League pennant. Cubs manager Joe Maddon noted as much at the winter meetings in Las Vegas, going so far as to say the Central was the best division in baseball.

Already this offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals ponied up and added Paul Goldschmidt to the mix. Milwaukee has long-term control over NL MVP Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, who turned in career-best numbers last season. And, believe it or not, the Reds and Pirates aren’t as far away as you might think.

So what is the outlook for the division this year, and how does it stack up against the rest of the league?