Brewer Nation SPS '08: St. Louis Cardinals

By: Big Rygg

St. Louis Cardinals
 2007 Record: 78-84
3rd place in the NL Central

2007 Review

If you ask a lot of people about the 2007 St. Louis Cardinals, "overachieving" is a common theme that you'll be answered with. They lost their ace pitcher Chris Carpenter after one start to season ending surgery, Mark Mulder never really came back to form after his 2006 injury, team MVP Albert Pujols had an injury of his own that he played through, but it affected his numbers a bit, their offense got very old, very quickly in certain places and nothing seemed to click. Couple all that with the team having to deal with the tragedy of one of their own passing away...well, it's a true testament to Tony LaRussa's managerial skills that he was able to coax 78 wins and a 3rd place finish out of this ballclub.

That's not to say LaRussa didn't add to the distractions himself at all. He was arrested for DUI after being found passed out behind the wheel of his running SUV which, thankfully, happened to be stopped at a red light.

After all that, to be within 4 games of .500....wow. 

Comings and Goings

The most notable deal, (again, in my opinion) was the one that swapped third basemen Scott Rolen and Troy Glaus between the Cardinals and the Toronto Blue Jays. Rolen had well-documented issues with LaRussa that couldn't have not caused some sort of distraction of their own. Glaus brings plenty of oomph when healthy, despite falling quite short of Rolen's multi-Gold Glove defense. Regardless, the Hot Corner could be key this year for the redbirds.

The Rest of the Additions...

Matt Clement - SP
Cesar Izturis - SS
D'Angelo Jimenez - 2B
Jason LaRue - C
Kyle Lohse - SP
Josh Phelps - 1B
Ron Villone - SP
John Wasdin - SP

Those that left:

Gary Bennett - C
Russell Branyan - 3B
Miguel Cairo - 2B
Andy Cavazos - RP
David Eckstein - SS
Jim Edmonds - CF
Brian Falkenborg - RP
Randy Keisler - RP
Troy Percival - RP
John Rodriguez - OF
Kelly Stinnett - C
So Taguchi - OF
Kip Wells - SP
Preston Wilson - OF

25 Man Roster

Click here to see the Cardinals' 25 Man Roster. This will save space and reading time if you don't care.

Potential Starters

Here's the way I see the starting eight and five-man rotation as of opening day this season. This is not in batting order by any means.

C - Yadier Molina
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Adam Kennedy
3B - Troy Glaus
SS - Cesar Izturis
LF - Chris Duncan
CF - Rick Ankiel
RF - Skip Schumaker
P - Adam Wainwright
P - Kyle Lohse
P - Braeden Looper
P - Todd Wellemeyer
P - Brad Thompson

Extras on Players

Albert Pujols has a legitimate elbow injury, one that medical experts say will eventually require surgery. Pujols, however, apparently doesn't listen to medical experts. The guy has been going absolutely crazy this spring so far. He's batting over .400 and showing plenty of power as well. With a healthy Glaus and a healthy-enough Pujols in the middle of the order, there may be some runs to score after all.

X-Factor

Trying to pick one X-Factor for the Cardinals was too tough for me. Could it be Pujols' elbow? How about Carpenter's on-going rehab and hopeful return mid-season? How about whether or not Jason Isringhausen has another solid year left in him? Can the middle infield of Izturis and Kennedy properly compliment the corners? How will the team react to the loss of human ShopVac Jim Edmonds in CF? Is there any residual tension in the locker room with LaRussa?

See my problem?

2008 Predictions

Record: 79-83
 

Final Thoughts

I believe that the Cardinals will hang tough in the Central for a lot of the season, but any injury to Pujols or the further thinning out of an already weak rotation, and this team could be in for a VERY long summer. There are only so many tricks in LaRussa's bag at the end of the day. Assuming everyone stays (and comes back) healthy, I think the Cardinals probably hang around for a while in the division, but key losses down the stretch will hurt them the most.

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Agree/Disagree? As always, feel encouraged to leave comments.