1. Milwaukee Brewers
2. Chicago Cubs
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. St Louis Cardinals
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Houston Astros

This is obviously a situation where it is hardest to stay objective. Last year, though, I had the Cubs by a couple of games over the Brewers and this year I see it the other way around. The bottom line on the Brewers, in my opinion, is that they addressed enough of their issues from last year, most glaringly the bullpen and the defense, to overtake the Cubs, who made fewer changes.

The Brewers will hit for a ton of power, that is a given. If they do a better job getting on base, they will score even more and be in the top tier in the NL offensively. The defense is going to be improved from last year, and that should help the rotation a lot. Giving starts that would have gone to Capuano and Vargas a year ago to guys like Villanueva, Parra and Gallardo is an upgrade in the rotation. The bullpen will benefit greatly from the veteran trio of Riske, Torres and Mota and should be able to survive some Gagne hiccups. The Cubs did address their most glaring need offensively of a left handed bat willing to walk in the person of Fukudome, and Soto should be an upgrade at the catcher position, at least offensively. The rest of the lineup returns mostly in tact, with the trio of Soriano, Lee and Ramirez figuring to carry the load power wise. They do have some holes in the lineup, and figure to have some trouble scoring runs, from time to time. The pitching staff  will be amongst the best in the league. The rotation is fronted by the solid trio of Zambrano, Lily and Hill and they have reasonable options after that. The bullpen is also a great strength. Ultimately, though, the Brewers will outscore Chicago by quite a bit and more than make up for the difference in pitching.

The Cincinatti Reds have a solid front line starter in Harang, and they have some interesting young pitchers rounding out the rotation. They improved their bullpen outlook with the addition of Cordero, though thier middle relief still figures to be shaky. The lineup is anchored by Dunn, Phillips and Griffey, and they have several top flight hitting prospects in Votto and Bruce. Ultimately, though, the rotation figures to be shaky at the back end which will expose the bullpen and Dusty Baker's ham handed management figure to cost them wins. The Cardinals are a team in transition at the moment. The rotation is solid, though it lacks real impact up front and the bullpen probably over-performed last year, though they're not bad. On offense, Albert Pujols health is key to them scoring runs. With him, they have a lineup that can function at a reasonable level. Without him, they'll struggle to score. Prospect Colby Rasmus could provide a boost, mid year if he is ready to go.

The Pittsburg Pirates desperately needed a new direction, and they cleaned house late last year and seem to have some new ideas. They have a talented, young rotation, top to bottom and the bullpen is solid. The big problem with the Pirates is that the lineup is centered around Bay, LaRoche and Sanchez, and they aren't really that good. After that, it gets downright scary. The Astros are a mess. After Roy Oswalt, they have next to nothing in the rotation. Their projected number 2 starter, Woody Williams was cut in spring training. The bullpen figures to be marginally better than last year, with the addition of Valverde, but the middle relief is going to get torched having to pitch so often. The lineup core of Pence, Berkman, Lee and Tejada is solid but aging fast on several counts and after that they've got some major holes. There will be days when Houston scores a good number of runs, but there will be many more when they allow a ton and score little. They should be rebuilding, but arrogance of the ownership won't allow it.