There's no doubt: the Cubs are the most talented team in the National League Central

We've gone position-by-position around the National League Central Division this offseason, ranking each team's projected starter as we sized up the competition. If you missed any, you can catch up below (note: the RP article was written before Ryan Braiser joined the Cubs, the outfield piece before Reds added Tommy Pham, and the infield spots were done before the Reds acquired Gavin Lux; none would have changed rankings for me):

C | 1B |2B | SS | 3B | LF | CF | RF | DH | SP | RP

Before we aggregate the rankings to a team level, a few observations from reviewing the status of other teams.

First, as frustrated as Cubs fans have gotten at times with Jed Hoyer's lack of full commitment to playing in the deep end of the free-agent pool, it has to be even worse to be a fan of any other team in the division. The rest of the NL Central merely added around the fringes this year.

Next, there is an insane amount of speed and base stealing potential up and down the division. Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly are going to have their hands full. There's kind of a perfect storm brewing: not only is there tons of speed, but Amaya now has a track record of inadequacy behind the plate. I also think managers will be aggressive on the basepaths trying to keep up with the Cubs, who will presumably have the best hitting lineup in the division.

Alex Bregman would give the Cubs an almost insurmountable edge in talent over the division. Not only would it give them the best third baseman in the division, but it would also probably give the Cubs some starting pitching reinforcements through a potential Nico Hoerner trade or, at minimum, mean that Matt Shaw would fill in for Hoerner until he's ready to go at second. Go get him Jed!

With that, let's rank the teams based on their talent. Remember, these rankings stack rank the clubs based on each position being equally valuable and are not necessarily projected standings. For a first-place ranking, we'll assign the club five points. For a second-place ranking, the club will earn four points and there on down the line. I also included some quick-hit analysis of each roster.

1. Chicago Cubs, 43 Points

The Cubs being atop the talent rankings shouldn't be a surprise with other teams in contraction mode or not being willing to spend to augment their respective rosters. The North Siders topped the rankings at second, right and at DH. With a decently healthy season, I'd see the Cubs coming in somewhere shy of their PECOTA projection and above their Fangraphs total. This is a good team - not as good of a roster as Cubs fans might have hoped for, but definitively capable of winning a division.

Biggest Strength: Left Handed Slugging

The Cubs should maul right-handed pitching with Kyle Tucker, Ian Happ, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong all providing slug from the left side. PCA hasn't quite proven it at a Major League level but showed off his massive potential with his August .558 slugging percentage last year.

Biggest Weakness: Bench

The bench currently projects to some combination of Vidal Brujan, Gage Workman, Jon Berti, Alex Canario and Carson Kelly. Brujan, Workman and Canario have less than 600 at-bats in the majors combined (with very little success). The group hopefully is due for an upgrade before the season opens against the Dodgers.

Wildcard: Matt Shaw

Matt Shaw's ability to duplicate his success in the minors to the bigs could dictate whether the Cubs can overcome that 85-win mark. He ran up a .906 OPS in 156 games in the minors, plus he stole a ton of bags. Even 115 points lower in OPS could propel him to a 3.0 to 4.0 WAR season and have him in the heart of the Rookie of the Year conversation.