Cubs win the division, but lose again in the NLCS. Can't get to the World Series because of the Curse of the Billy Goat. In all honesty though, they're just heavily inexperienced. Trying to recreate the 2013 Red Sox doesn't guarantee success (Lester, Lackey, Ross). That team won one amazing year that never would have happened any other year. People still overrate Jon Lester- great pitcher, but not the greatest as people hyped about him in 2014.
This is going to be a tight race, and I see both wild cards coming out of this division yet again. Pirates are great, and the Cardinals are just relentless (I call them the Yankees of the NL).
The Cubs will find themselves having to the bolster the roto or bust again. I cannot call the Cubs my WS pick but there's a lot to like with so many young, power bats in the lineup. The Pirates will string together another solid season and challenge Chicago for the division. The Cards are aging quick and injury concerns have been an issue all Spring. I think this is a season we don't see we don't see St. Louis in October. The Brewers finish ahead of the Reds only b/c they still have Lucroy and Braun on the roster for part of the year. Cincy projects to be atrocious for the next few years, at least.
Cubs are just too good to lose the division at this point. Pirates will be good too, however one place I see a fall is the Cardinals. I'm honestly not sure how they won 100 games last year aside from their dominant staff of low 3 ERA players, however, with an aging offense and little improvements to turn this around I see them closer to the .500 mark than the 100 mark. Brewers don't seem to have much hope obviously, and the Reds don't either, so not much debate over those two.
Cubs -- they have quite the young offense and some pitching to go with it. Their bullpen isn't as good as some, but should be OK. Not sure about the back of the rotation, but the top 3 should be good.
Pirates -- McCutcheon, Marte, Harrison should be good enough to carry the offense. Cole should be as good as anyone not named Kershaw, Arrietta or pitching for the Mets this year. They are in the middle of their window where they should compete every year.
Cardinals -- regardless of the losses the team had this off season, they will still be competitive because of Yadi. They have an emerging star in Kolton Wong at 2B and Carpenter has turned into a very good 3B.
Milwaukee has Braun, LuCroy and a lot of question marks. Their pen is OK, but I can't say their starters are worth much.
The Reds have Votto, Phillips and more question marks. They have young guys in their rotation and pen that may be OK in a couple of years, but aren't there yet.