Reaping the rewards: a deep farm system and deeper pockets have the Cubs on the verge of something big in the N.L. Central--this season and for the near future.(Baseball)

Baseball players always balk at making predictions, and when the Astros' Jeff Bagwell is asked to pick the winner of the National League Central, he's too flummoxed to venture guess. "As weird as this division has been," Bagwell says, "you don't know what's going to happen."

The best way to form a powerhouse in the Central would be to combine the Cubs' starting pitchers with the Astros' relievers and Cardinals' position players. The division is so weak, the stripped-down Reds and Pirates began the week closer to first place than two big-spending teams in the N.L. West, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.

It's weird, all right--so weird, the future actually is ...