The Cubs were probably last season’s biggest surprise with 97 wins from a lineup heavy on young position players and experienced pitching. Looking to win 90 games again (a repeat Chicago last accomplished when Al Capone was the city’s most prominent citizen), Chicago has made some nice off-season moves that augur well for keeping the Northsiders at or near the top of the NL Central.

More after the jump.

Winning ball clubs require smart players who don’t beat themselves. Thus, it’s not a huge surprise that Chicago has parted company with some of its more undisciplined players, trading away shortstop Starlin Castro and electing (apparently) not to resign free agent outfielders Dexter Fowler and Austin Jackson. Those three, together with Cub catcher Miguel Montero, are four of the five players in the majors with 90 strikeouts and fewer than 20 home runs in each of the past 5 seasons (for Fowler, it’s been 7 straight years with that unenviable double, second only to Michael Bourn‘s 8 years and counting).

To replace Fowler, Chicago snagged a still young Jason Heyward, coming off two 6 WAR seasons and showing increased maturity in 2015 with career best marks in hits, doubles, stolen bases, batting average and strikeout rate (even better was getting Heyward from the division rival Cardinals). To fill the void created by Castro’s departure, the Cubs signed veteran Ben Zobrist, a Joe Maddon favorite from the Rays. Look for Chicago to move 22 year-old sophomore Addison Russell to short and play Zobrist at second.

On the mound, Chicago acquired John Lackey from St. Louis (again a big plus to take a player from your division rival) and Adam Warren from the Yankees. Lackey will be 37 this year, but showed no signs of slowing down in 2015, tying his career high in starts and posting his highest innings total since 2007 en route to a career best 2.77 ERA. Warren made a successful transition from the bullpen to the starting rotation in 2015 and could displace Kyle Hendricks or Jason Hammel as the number four man in the Cub rotation. If Lackey and Warren maintain their form from last season, those two plus Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester could make Chicago’s rotation among the best in the game. In reserve are projects Trevor Cahill, resigned by Chicago after being released by the Braves last season, and former high draft pick Jonathan Pettibone, still only 25 and looking to come back after two seasons lost to shoulder trouble.

The Cubs’ strong bullpen is returning mostly intact, losing only Jason Motte among their most frequently used relievers. To bolster the core group are several newly acquired veterans, including left-hander Rex Brothers from the Rockies and righties Brandon Gomes (whom Maddon knows from the Rays) and Jean Machi, who suffered a rough season last year but had two stellar campaigns for the Giants before that.

With proven veterans on the mound and developing youngsters in the field, look for Chicago to be a strong contender for the NL Central title. And, don’t be surprised if they do rack up 90 wins again, for the first time since 1929-30.