St Louis Cardinals

Despite injuries to key players, the Cards still finished the year with the best record in baseball (100-62) before a bizarre meltdown in the NLCS against Houston that cost them a deserved World Series berth.

Pitching

Even though Chris Carpenter has had two great seasons back-to-back I still can’t help but feel its only a matter of time until injury hits again. You only have to look at last years numbers to see how good he can be when healthy and he was the best pitcher in MLB last year and will be integral to the Cards push this year.

Mark Mulder has come under some criticism in recent years for being a bit brittle but he still managed to put together 205 innings. He’s still got the ability to be one of the best in the league and when you look at how much the Cards got out of Jason Marquis and Jeff Suppan you have to believe they can get more out of Mulder.

The big challenge will be what can the club get out of Sidney Ponson who has shown that he can be a good starter but doesn’t seem to have the dedication to his conditioning to make the most of his ability and add to that a series of off the field incidents you have to wonder what Walt Jockety had in mind when he signed him?

The key to much of the success of St Louis in recent years has been down to the bullpen where Tony La Russa goes to often. It is anchored by Jason Isringhausen who never seems to be given the credit he deserves. He is easily amongst the top three closers in the National League and the lefty righty combo of Ricardo Rincon and Braden Looper should get him the lead safely. Looper is a classic Jocketty pick up, a maligned player who was asked by one team to do one thing and then signed by St Louis to do what he is more suited to. He dominates right handers.

Defence

Scott Rolen is the best defensive third baseman since Mike Schmidt and as much as people want to criticise David Eckstein he is still a good shortstop and the left side of the infield will continue to be strong…that is unless Rolen gets injured again.

The right side of the infield will see a fight to play second during Spring Training between Aaron Miles and Junior Spivey and both are capable glovemen. There is an outside shot that Travis Hanson might break the line-up but he is still learning how to play second. Albert Pujols at first is the best player in the game and his D could earn him a Gold Glove in the not too distant future.

Jim Edmonds plays for the cameras but somehow manages to get away with it. He patrols centerfield with the best of them and he’s flanked to his right by the superb glove work of Juan Encarnacion. It is unsure who will play left but there are good options in So Taguchi and Larry Bigbie

The mid-west branch of the Molina catching group is the youngest and has every chance to be the best. He threw out base runners at a frightening rate last year and you can be sure less people will be trying their luck this year. As with all those Molinas (I wonder if Alfred has considered a career move?) he just does everything well back there.

Offence

Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball and his approach to hitting is simply incredible. He makes quick adjustments, his hands are as good as it gets, I could go on for hours on all the things that make this guy special. He even stole 16 bases last year. Best player in baseball.

David Eckstein will set the table and is a very smart ball player who knows all the tricks to get on base and make a nuisance of himself and once he’s on its not just Pujols the opposition needs to worry about. Ideally they’d have an extra left handed bat but when you have to go through Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen and Encarnacion that’s a tough ask for anyone.

Rookie Watch

Anthony Reyes had one start for St Louis last year after his call up and went 6 1/3 and allowed two hits…which isn’t bad I suppose. In fact he only allowed 6 hits in the full 13 innings he was up and struck out 12 and should have an inside track to the fifth spot in the rotation. He attacks hitters and has great control of some lively stuff and should give the Cards even more depth to an already deep staff.

Management

Tony La Russa has a reputation for being one of the best in the game and while I might dispute that I do have to admit he has had a great deal of success everywhere he goes. He plays the situational game as much as anyone and it always amazes me how well the Cards bullpen has been in recent years because he goes there so often that you’d think he’d burn them out. He did a great job with a bunch of bit players last year when injuries hit key players.

If there’s a move to be made then Walt Jocketty will make it. There are few other GM’s who seem to have the knack of picking up exactly the right player at exactly the right time but it has often come at the expense of the farm system where depth is a serious issue. They have managed to produce a few impact players (that Pujols guy is pretty good) but they have mishandled guys like Bud Smith and Rick Ankiel and very few role players seem to ever come from within.

Outlook

They are still the team to beat in the Central but competition will continue to be tougher than it has been. If they continue to make the most of their pitching and nothing happens to MVP-until-someone-does-something-about-it Pujols then they could again be on the path to the World Series.