NL Central Preview: Are the Cardinals and Cubs the leaders in the toss-up division?

As we get closer to the start of the season for every team not named the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, the Baseball Bar-B-Cast guys take their 2024 division preview series to the NL Central. There isn’t necessarily a clear-cut favorite to take the crown this year and perhaps a shift could be happening after multiple offseason moves. One of the biggest changes in the division is former Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell taking his talents to the Chicago Cubs. Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman wonder if that move is big enough to give the Cubbies a slight advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals, who are coming off of an embarrassing 2023 season. However, there is reason to believe that maybe the Cincinnati Reds and their slew of sophomore stars can find a way to take the next step and compete for the crown in the central. Also in the division, the Pittsburgh Pirates are excited to get back Oneil Cruz after missing the majority of 2023, with hopes that he can become a core player that they can lean on moving forward. The guys also discuss the first game of the 2024 MLB season in Seoul, the San Francisco Giants signing Blake Snell & the drama unfolding with the MLB Players Association. 1:54 Dodgers-Padres opener 8:12 Giants sign Blake Snell 11:40 MLBPA drama 13:26 Pittsburgh Pirates 21:57 Milwaukee Brewers 34:17 Cincinatti Reds 47:43 Chicago Cubs 59:45 St. Louis Cardinals 1:15:27 Baseball Bar-B-Cast fantasy league [ Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2024 MLB season ] Follow the show on X at @CespedesBBQ Follow Jake @Jake_Mintz Follow Jordan @J_Shusterman_ 🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts Subscribe to Baseball Bar-B-Cast on your favorite podcast app: 🎧 Apple Podcasts 🎧 Spotify 🖥️ YouTube 📢 Check out the Yahoo Sports podcast network or yahoosports.tv And check out Jake, Jordan & the show on X or Instagram: 🌤️ @CespedesBBQ: https://bsky.app/profile/cespedesbbq.bsky.social 🐦 @CespedesBBQ: https://x.com/CespedesBBQ 📷 @CespedesBBQ: https://www.instagram.com/cespedesbbq ⚾ @Jake_Mintz: https://x.com/Jake_Mintz 🧢 @J_Shusterman: https://x.com/j_shusterman_