By virtue of the St. Louis Cardinals finally committing to a rebuild for the first time this century, the NL Central figures to be a four-horse race in 2026.
The Milwaukee Brewers are the established power. They've won four of the last five division titles, led all of MLB in regular season wins in 2025 with 97, and field one of the deepest rosters in the sport. And yet, they've done nothing of note all offseason, save for trading their erstwhile ace Freddy Peralta to the Mets.
The Chicago Cubs have been aggressive in amending their roster, adding Alex Bregman and Edward Cabrera to a team that won 92 games a year ago.