When it comes to the quality of off-season player moves, nobody in the National League Central Division has come close to competing with the Reds and General Manager Jim Bowden — and Tuesday's trade for slugger Greg Vaughn is the prime example.

NL CENTRAL '98

Team W L Pct. GB Houston 102 60 .630 Chicago 90 73 .552 12 1/2 St. Louis 83 79 .512 25 Cincinnati 77 85 .475 25 Milwaukee 74 88 .457 28 Pittsburgh 69 93 .426 33

        Are the Reds ready to contend in the Central? That remains to be seen, and two-time defending champion Houston must remain the favorite entering the season.

        But in terms of off-season trades and signings, the Reds have improved more and faster than anyone in the division.

        The Houston Astros are still pursuing power pitcher Roger Clemens, but have not been able to entice Toronto with the right offer for the two-time defending Cy Young winner. But the Astros, who have preferred to make complementary moves this winter, also failed convince free agent pitcher Randy Johnson to stay there after trading for him last July.

        “I'm pretty comfortable with our ballclub,” Houston General Manager Gerry Hunsicker said. “We did win 102 games last year. That doesn't mean we can rest on our laurels, but we're going to have a solid lineup, we're going to score a lot of runs, and our starting pitching did a fine job for us even without Randy Johnson.”

        And Hunsicker makes a convincing argument: “Even without Randy Johnson, we were in a position to win our division.”

        But now the Reds have narrowed the gap.

        The Chicago Cubs, fresh off their wacky wild card season, have primarily re-signed old free agents. The St. Louis Cardinals made several moves, including trading Ron Gant and picking up shortstop Edgar Renteria, but none carried the thunder of the Reds' Vaughn or Denny Neagle trades.

        Pittsburgh has improved its offense, but still falls near the bottom in payroll. Milwaukee, waiting to move into its new park in 2000, looks as stale as old gouda.

        Meanwhile, the Reds added 50-home run hitter Vaughn, left-hander Denny Neagle (36 wins in 1997-98), left-hander Steve Avery, outfielder Michael Tucker, catcher Brian Johnson and center fielder Mike Cameron, improving their team power, speed, defense and starting pitching.

        “I think the Central Division is probably the division that may produce the most surprises,” Hunsicker said. “There are a number of teams in our division that have the ability to play better than they may appear on paper, and Cincinnati is probably one of them.

        “I think Cincinnati has made improvement,” Hunsicker said. “Clearly they have the starting pitching that has the ability to keep them in a lot of ballgames, and if they can keep them in games they have a chance to win.”

        Key off-season moves for the other Central Division clubs:

Houston
        Key addition: 3B Ken Caminiti (free agent)

        Key subtractions: LHP Randy Johnson (free agent, signed with Arizona), 3B Sean Berry (free agent, Milwaukee), C Brad Ausmus (trade with Detroit)

        Prognosis: They did win 102 games last year and still have the best top-to-bottom lineup in the division with the Killer Bees (Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Derek Bell) plus the addition of Caminiti's former MVP bat. At 35, Caminiti is a little broken down, but still trumps most third baseman in the division.

        In short, the Astros must still be considered the favorites. They have dominated the last two seasons, and their strong pitching staff (headlined by 18-game winner Shane Reynolds) remains intact, sans rent-an-arm Johnson. And they have a proven closer in Billy Wagner.

Chicago
        Key additions: RHP Jon Lieber (trade from Pittsburgh for OF Brant Brown), C Benito Santiago (free agent)

        Re-signed: 3B Gary Gaetti, LF Henry Rodriguez, OF Glenallen Hill, LHP Terry Mulholland

        Key subtractions: OF/1B Brant Brown, RHP Mark Clark

        Prognosis: The Cubs improved their rotation with Lieber, but can they count on 41-year old Gaetti? Mostly, the Cubs have done little to improve a club that made the playoffs but still finished 12 games back in the division.

St. Louis
        Key additions: SS Edgar Renteria (trade with Florida), OF Eric Davis (free agent), RHP Ricky Bottalico (trade with Philadelphia for OF Ron Gant), 2B Carlos Baerga (free agent), LHP Scott Radinsky (free agent), OF Darren Bragg (free agent)

        Key losses: OF Brian Jordan (free agent), OF Ron Gant (trade with Philadelphia)

        Prognosis: McGwire packs the power and J.D. Drew is ready to take over in center field, and Davis and Renteria are nice pickups.

Pittsburgh
        Key additions: OF Brian Giles (trade with Cleveland) OF/1B Brant Brown (trade with Cubs), LHP Pete Schourek (free agent), 3B Ed Sprague (free agent)

        Lost: RHP Jon Lieber (trade with Cubs), RHP Ricardo Rincon (trade with Cleveland)

        Prognosis: The Pirates look better than they were in '98. But while they added 16-homer man Giles, the Reds got 50-homer slugger Vaughn.

Milwaukee
        Key additions: 3B Sean Berry (free agent), OF Rich Becker (free agent), LHP Jim Abbott (free agent), OF Alex Ochoa (trade from Minnesota)

        Key losses: 1B John Jaha (free agent)

        Prognosis: Berry gives them more offense, but their rotation now ranks as perhaps the division's worst.

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