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

4. St. Louis Cardinals, 29 Points

The St. Louis Cardinals are finally opening up space for all of their young guys to get extended strings of at-bats together and are entering a youth movement for the first time in a long time.

Biggest Strength: Lineup Depth

Particularly if Nolan Arenado stays, you can squint your eyes and see a scary and power-laden lineup if the chips fall correctly. Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbar all have had periods where they showcased All-Star-type talent. If you mix in Willson Contreras and a strengthening Masyn Wynn and you could really have something.

Biggest Weakness: Starting Pitching

The gray hairs are showing on the Cardinals' projected starting five, and their potential in-house replacements don't stir much excitement. Sonny Gray could be an interesting trade chip at the deadline to restock their system.

Wildcard: Lars Nootbar

Nootbar kind of looks like an All-Star-caliber player entering his age-28 season and his Statcast numbers back him up. If his power numbers juice up a bit, Nootbar could be a lethal mix of slug and contact.

5. Cincinnati Reds, 25 Points

Again, these are rankings of talent and not projected standings. I think the Reds are pretty likely to not finish in the cellar with the depth of hitting talent they have and with Terry Francona at the helm. Despite that, they have a lot of issues. They gave Jeimer Candelario a lot of money to potentially sit on the bench if he doesn't have marked improvement in every hitting metric. Nick Martinez was really good last year, but the $21 million being spent on him after he accepted the Reds' qualifying offer probably could have been spent on better areas.

Biggest Strength: Elly de la Cruz

Elly is a transcendent player - one of the few in baseball that constitute must-see TV. He's a golden ticket that hopefully will not be wasted (as Skenes will almost assuredly be with the Pirates) with a Reds organization that roped in Francona to manage this year.

Biggest Weakness: Bullpen

The days of Alexis Diaz being elite seem to be over, and the Reds built a weird combination of soft tossers and question marks in the pen for 2025. Fangraphs doesn't love their big addition of Taylor Rogers in 2025 and their best bullpen arm from last year, Nick Martinez, will be in the rotation full-time this year.

Wildcard: Matt McClain

Matt McClain was unexpectedly a 3.7 WAR player in under 90 games in his 2023 rookie season. He's a power and speed combo with the potential to play multiple positions. A healthy McClain recreating that type of season could portend a power shift in the division and align with a Reds ascension towards the top of the division.