Kuzul

In baseball, divisions can be won or lost based on what a team does in the winter months, and perhaps more so than any other division, the NL Central could be decided by a few key off season moves.

The division looks to be a three team race between the Cardinals, Reds, and Cubs. The Brewers are also capable of making some noise, while the Astros and Pirates are in the middle of rebuilding and could see marked improvement in the years to come.

What follows are the ten moves that could be the difference in the NL Central this coming season, whether it is by strengthening one of the front runners or improving one of the divisions bottom teams and making for a tougher division top to bottom.

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Brad Penny, a veteran right-handed pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2010, is engaged to the stunning Karina Smirnoff, a professional dancer on Dancing With the Stars.

According to People Magazine, the two have been engaged since Oct. 4, the day after the end of baseball’s regular season.

Smirnoff, 32, who has gained popularity on the hit ABC show, is a native of Ukraine. This season, she was paired with Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of Jersey Shore fame, and the duo was recently eliminated from the competition.

Penny, also 32, went 3-4 with a 3.23 ERA for the Cardinals this past season—after also having spent time with the Marlins, Dodgers, Red Sox and Giants over the course of his 11 years in the bigs—and struggled with an injury to his back. He is a free agent this winter.

But given Smirnoff’s beauty—not to mention her moves on the dance floor—Penny probably isn’t minding spending a little extra time off the field.

In fact, Smirnoff is just one of the beauties the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Penny has been lucky enough to shack up with.

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As the Philadelphia Phillies’ season came to an abrupt end against the Giants in the NLCS, the offseason went about itself the next day.

We have already seen J.C. Romero’s $4.5 million option not picked up and heard from Jayson Werth about him testing the free agent waters. All odds are pointing toward him not being in a Philadelphia uniform in 2011. With that being said, there are definitely some needs that this Phillies team has to address, and the most likely way to address that is through free agency.

We don’t have any major flaws and we don’t have much payroll that were going to want to add, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be aggressive in the free agent market for the positions that we need to address.

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Coming into the 2010 baseball season, there was no clearer choice than the St. Louis Cardinals as National League Central Division champs.

They had Albert Pujols, the best player in baseball, and possibly the best 3-4 combination in Pujols and Matt Holliday.

Their starting rotation, led by co-aces Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, was thought to be one of the best in baseball.

However, even after a win against Cincinnati on Friday night, the Cardinals trail the division leading Reds by seven games, and are looking more and more like a team struggling to stay in the Wild Card race, where they trail the Phillies by five games.

So how did such a promising season get to this point? Here are 10 reasons it’s gotten this way.

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Hello and welcome to today’s MLB Rumor Mill!

I haven’t done a rumor mill for Major League Baseball in a couple of days, so now here is one today!

Is there a possibility that Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt could go to the New York Yankees or Washington Nationals? It could be possible.

More on that and other rumors on today’s rumor mill for the MLB!

So sit back, relax, and read today’s MLB rumor mill.

Hope you enjoy it!

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Underrated. Players like Alex Rodriguez, Jason Heyward, and Stephen Strasburg have never really known that assignation.

Yet as highly touted as any one player may be, there are just as many, if not more, that prove better in the long run.

Just ask Dustin Pedroia and his five and a half foot frame.

Underrated is a fantasy baseball player’s dream.

Finding that diamond in the rough that others have discarded makes one’s draft.

It’s the same for real General Managers.

The joy of watching that first round pick fall apart while your supplemental pick flourishes.

Must be amazing.

In any case, I’ve taken it upon myself to rank the top 10 most underrated players in Major League Baseball.

Some are old, some are young.

All deserve more respect.

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