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The
Cardinals V. 2008
What can I say
about the Cardinals that has not already been said.
Honestly, not much.
Last season really did not surprise me.
I was disappointed but when mid July hit, I knew what
was happening. If
you think about it, the 2006 and 2007 Cardinals were not
that different from one another, except the 2006 Cardinals
caught some breaks and the 2007 Cardinal were unlucky.
So, here we
go. Spring
training will be starting soon and we are going to see a
different team. Here
is what we know:
- Scott
Rolen is gone, replaced by Troy Glaus.
This means that defense on the left side will not
be as good, but there should be more pop coming from the
third baseman
- Jim
Edmonds is now a Padre.
We are not sure who will get his job, but Colby
Rasmus can easily inherit the job if he shows the right
stuff during spring training.
- Matt
Clement is a legitimate #3 guy who should work well with
the team. I
look at him as a Jeff Suppan type of pitcher who will
give you more wins.
The only question is how well will his arm hold
up.
- Mulder
will not be ready for prime time till late spring at the
earliest. Carpenter
is throwing right now, but will not be ready till at
least the All Star break.
This means that the starting rotation will be
hobbled together for the beginning of the season.
- With
the loss of Eckstein, the Cardinals are without a
leadoff hitter with solid defense.
We go into this season with these questions and with the
knowledge that the Brewers and the Cubs have some serious
talent and made some upgrades to their systems.
I know you may be thinking, hey, we are talking about
the Cubs, but they will be a force to be reckoned with.
The Brewers are going to be a tough team too.
Having said all of that, the unknowns could work for the
Cards. While
this can’t be completely called a rebuilding year, there
is a lot of maintenance going on.
Wainwright should have a very good season and could
solidify his status as a #1 or #2 starter.
The starting outfield should be full of young/younger
pups that have some pop in their bat and speed to field
(Duncan, Ankiel, Rasmus, Ludwick, Schumaker).
Now I do not know if this will be an outfield by
platoon or what, but it should be interesting.
The area where I am really worried is the infield.
Right now we are looking at Kennedy and Izturis at 2nd
and Shortstop. While
Itzturis is supposed be good defensively, I will miss
Eckstein’s OBP and Kennedy is just a wash.
Maybe Tony will put Kennedy in so he can fail and
then put Ryan in, I do not know.
That is the thing that has me very nervous.
I still
expect the Cardinals to make one more pickup.
Will it be Juan Gonzales as a platoon player, maybe?
Will it be a major trade or signing, probably not?
There are a lot of free agents that are still
available, nothing great though.
So, with
all of that said, do I have any predictions.
Sure do. I
am going with this, The Cardinals will come out of the gate
and do relatively well in the beginning of the season and
stay competitive up till June.
After June, they will go on a slide and stay at the
middle of the division up till the return of Carpenter after
the All Star Break. With
the return of Carpenter, I look for the Cardinals to resurge
and fight for a wild card spot that they will lose to the
Phillies. Of
course, this is assuming no major injuries or acquisitions
and much like my wife, I hold the right to change my mind.
Well
that’s all I have for now.
I promise to keep everything more up to date.
Joe |
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