It's getting close, most of the rosters are set and optimism springs eternal across most fandoms. As usual, most of the talking heads see the Bucs fighting it out for last in the NL Central. Probably an accurate assessment since we haven't done anything in like, 18 years.

But let's take a look position by position at just where we stack up in the division. Starting with catcher, how would you rank the NL Central starters (as projected by MLB.com) or in general, what grade would you give each team at this position?

If you guys like this, I will post a rundown of the other positions over the next few weeks. Something to get the spring training water boiling.

Pittsburgh: Ryan Doumit (backup plan - Jason Jaramillo)

2009  (75 games) - 250/299/414 

Career (410 games) - 273/332/448

Best season  08  (116 games) - 318/357/501

My assessment - All about the health of Doumit. Perhaps I am blinded, but he could easily be the best in the division. Grade - B+

Cardinals: Yadier Molina (backup plan - Jason LaRue)

2009  (140 games) - 293/366/383

Career (669 games) - 269/327/365

Best season 08 (124 games) - 304/349/392

My assessment - If I wasn't blinded with Bucco fever, I'd have to put Molina at the top of the NL catching crew. Defensively, hands down. He's developed a nice bat also. Grade - B+

Cubs: Geovany Soto (backup plan - Koyie Hill)

2009 (102 games) - 218/321/381

Career (273 games) - 264/348/461

Best Season 08 (141 games) - 285/364/504

My assessment -What an awful 09 after Cubs fans thought they had an All-Star catcher on their hands. They still long for those Jody, Jody Davis days. Grade - C+

Reds: Ramon Hernandez (backup plan - Ryan Hanigan)

2009 (81 games) - 258/336/362

Career (1269 games) - 262/327/417

Best Season 04 (111 games) - 276/341/477

My assessment - Not much upside with this veteran catcher here in Cincy. Grade: C

Brewers: Gregg Zaun (backup plan - George Kottaras)

2009 (90 games) - 260/345/416

Career (1204 games) - 251/344/388

Best Season 06 (99 games) - 272/363/462

My assessment - Don't see that we will see much dropoff from Kendall, but not much more either. Grade: C

Astros: J.R. Towles (backup plan - Humberto Quintero)

2009 (16 games) - 188/250/354

Career (84 games) - 188/280/329

Best Season 07 (14 games) - 375/432/575

My assessment - I don't know much about this kid, but they seem to be high on him again after he failed to grab the job last spring. Grade - D