From the back fields and press box at Sloan Park, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball Derrick Goold and Cincinnati Enquirer baseball writer Gordon Wittenmyer survey the National League Central and discuss ballpark factors, dead zones, and whether any of these teams is actually going to win the division, or will it be won by default?

A long-time baseball writer who has been on both the Cubs and Reds beat, Wittenmyer is skeptical of the Cardinals' pitching additions and the Cubs bringing back the same team, while he sees a wide bandwidth for possibilities with the upstart Reds.

The volatility of talented youth could mean anywhere from 75 wins to 95 wins. And just how many wins will it take to claim the National League Central? Could it be 84 or less? The two baseball writers discuss building a team based on the home ballpark -- something both the Reds and Cardinals are doing this season from opposite directions.

They also touch on the state of the game going into the 2024 season and if the quality of play has been enhanced by new rules. If the game is finally letting its talent play at full pace, is it possible that a division loaded with parity and no real big-spending juggernaut becomes ... dramatic.

Talk a plot twist. What if, while all of the attention is on the coasts and the titans, the worst division in the National League is actually the most entertaining division in the National League? Wouldn't be the first time for fly-over country.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, brought to you by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Welcome to the mosh pit of parity: Some team (by rule) must win the NL Central, so how? 41:00 Share

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Welcome to the mosh pit of parity: Some team (by rule) must win the NL Central, so how?