CUBBIES NUMBER 1!

Without Soriano the Cubs actually extend their division lead over St. Louis. Milwaukee was read hot this month and is still 6 games back. Cub Nation keeps rolling along!

"That is the difference between being the best team in baseball and merely the midseason leaders of a down year in your division."

That says it all! Even in a relatively weak NL, the NL Central may be one of the best in baseball, boasting 3 of the top 5 records in the NL and without a league doormat like many of the other divisions have.

Go Cubs Go. Go Cubs Go!

Hey Chicago, whaddaya say? The Cubs are gonna win today...

CORRECTION:

I even UNDERESTIMATED the NL Central. As of today, the Cubs/Cards/Brewers hold the 3 best records in the entire National League!!!

Don't get me wrong, the Cubs are a very good team and have played well without Soriano.  The part you're leaving out is that during that same stretch, the Cardinals haven't had Albert Pujols or Adam Wainwright either.  Granted, the pitching staff has made up for the loss of Wainwright, but Albert's absence has had an effect on the lineup and his loss hurts St. Louis more than Soriano's loss hurts the Cubs.  All that being said, as of today the Cubs are up by 3 1/2 games.  That means they've only extended the lead by a game or so.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not discrediting what Chicago has done.  They're leading what is obviously the best division in baseball.  I'm just saying you need to realize St. Louis and Milwaukee are for real too (actually I think you do).  All three teams are proving to be resilient.

With that out of the way, I was saying the NL Central was the best division in the MLB months ago.  If you look past the top three teams, Pittsburgh and Houston are fourth and fifth respectively, and either one would be in second in the highly-projected NL West.  Even the Reds (in sixth) would be third in that division.