The Cardinals didn’t pout and lick their wounds from losing John Lackey and Jason Heyward to the Cubs. They signed one of the top starting pitchers in free agency, Mike Leake. Also, let’s not forget that they get ace Adam Wainwright back this year.
The NL Central race will be cutthroat this season. Do the Cardinals veterans like Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina and Matt Holliday have enough left in the tank for another run?
Here is the 2016 MLB season preview for the St Louis Cardinals.
The Cardinals had a rough offseason. They had to mourn the death of Oscar Taveras while trying to conduct business. They didn’t sign any high-priced free agents, but they did make a big trade with the Braves (which I’ll discuss later).
The Cardinals have a nice mix of veterans and youth. Matt Holliday, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina are the leaders in the clubhouse while Kolten Wong, Michael Wacha and Matt Adams are the future of the franchise. St. Louis looks set to contend for the next decade. They never seem to be in rebuilding mode. They just retool and win championships.
Can St. Louis hold off Pittsburgh and win their third-straight NL Central division title?
Here is the 2015 MLB season preview for the St. Louis Cardinals.
As a Cubs fan, I really hate seeing the St. Louis Cardinals do well. They’re so stacked and seem to have a bottomless pool of elite pitchers they can call up from the minors.
Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha could both be at the top of the rotation for the next decade. Also, Matt Adams, Kolten Wong & Oscar Tavares could all be future All-Stars. They pick at the bottom of first-round in every MLB Draft. How do they always have one of the best farm systems?
The NL Central will be one of the most competitive divisions in the Majors. The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates both have playoff-caliber teams. Can either team knock off St. Louis?
Here is the 2014 MLB season preview for the St. Louis Cardinals
Mark Buehrle has been a workhorse for the Chicago White Sox. He is a feast or famine type of pitcher, but when he has his control, the guy is non-stop. The White Sox are now tied for the AL Central lead with the Tigers, but the momentum is on their side. On the other side of town, the Cubs are struggling to score runs and put together a consistent line-up card. Buehrle’s perfect game has put added pressure on the Cubs to make a move. The White Sox and the Cubs aren’t in the same league, but they always feel the heat when the other team is controlling the headlines. When you add in that St. Louis is trying to get Roy Halladay from Toronto and Matt Holliday from Oakland, the North Side of Chicago is starting to feel like a sauna.
The Cubs need a few more pieces to compete in the NL Central. They only have the salary flexibility to add a middle reliever. There are rumors that they are trying to pry away Freddy Sanchez from Pittsburgh and George Sherrill from Baltimore. I’m okay with acquiring Sanchez, since he is a consistent .300 hitter and can get on base. I am not okay with acquiring Sherrill. If they get the Baltimore reliever, the Cubs would have three former closers in charge of the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. That normally would be a good thing, but it seems like the only club that the Cubs trade with is Baltimore. Andy MacPhail, Baltimore’s president of baseball operations, used to be the president of the Chicago Cubs. He was GM Jim Hendry’s boss in Chicago and they seem to be buddies. I am okay with having friends on other teams, but Hendry needs to call a few different numbers. Unless they want to trade us Brian Roberts or Adam Jones, don’t answer the phone with MacPhail calls you. Sherrill would be a better option than Chad Qualls or Juan Cruz, but I just don’t like how the Cubs conduct business with Baltimore.
If Milwaukee or St. Louis get Roy Halladay, I’m throwing in the towel as a Cubs fan. The Brewers obtained C.C. Sabathia last season and they could barely hold them off. This season, every team, except the Pirates, are in this race and we won’t be able to keep pace with everyone. The Chicago Tribune really screwed the Cubs over. The newspaper business has been in the toilet for the last decade and they should have sold off the club years ago. The uncertainty of the owner situation, made the Cubs stagnant this off-season. They had to trade away Mark DeRosa for table scraps and it barely saved them any money. They have had to rely on picking up guys like Ryan Freel and Jeff Baker on the cheap, just to fill out the batting order. I am not even going to discuss the Cardinals possibly getting Matt Holliday from Oakland for Brett Wallace. I am just praying that that doesn’t happen. They will only have him for the rest of the season, but this season could be won before the July 31st trade deadline. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they will be doing very little.
I don’t have any news on Jenn Sterger, but I think I need some more eye candy on this site. She’s a Cubs fan, which I like, plus she is a blog icon. She is in the Sports Blog Hall of Fame with Erin Andrews, Allison Stoke, Jenny Finch, and Maria Sharapova. Anyways, I am going to a rundown of some of the latest news and rumors concerning some teams in Major League Baseball.
Will the Cincinnati Reds be buyers at the trading deadline? They should be in the market for a bat, since Jay Bruce has power, but no average. They like to trade with the Washington Nationals, but at this point, would you trade with a team as bad as they are? Josh Willingham is a rumor that could happen, he’s a cheaper option than Matt Holliday. They would have to give up their top prospects to get Holliday in Cincinnati. The Reds are deep with minor-league pitching prospects and could part with last year’s 1st round pick, first baseman, Yonder Alonso. Joey Votto should be the franchise’s 1st baseman for a long time, so Alonso could be a trade chip to get a major-league ready bat.
Will the San Diego Padres sell off everybody this year? Jake Peavy was already shopped around with no team able to take on his salary. The Padres ownership aren’t shying away from trade talks, but their two best trading chips at this point, Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell, may not be moved. The owners would never hear the end if they ship off their best two players, flirt with trading Peavy all off-season, and letting Trevor Hoffman leave in the same calendar year. The Padres are a long way from being a contender and that ballpark is scaring any big-time hitter from playing there.
Will the Cubs trade Josh Vitters? The injury to Aramis Ramirez might have put a scare in the upper management of the Chicago Cubs. When they were in pursuit of Jake Peavy, Vitters was a big piece of the deal. Vitters was the first round pick of the Chicago Cubs in 2008, but with Ramirez scheduled to be at that position in the future, he could be moved to get back help at other positions. The Cubs aren’t have a great season, but they feel that once they get Ramirez back, they could make a run. After the All-Star break, if the Cubs slip deeper into the NL Central, look for them to keep Vitters.
Does any team want Vernon Wells or Alex Rios? Toronto would love to get rid of the contracts of Wells and Rios, but what teams could take on the extra payroll. The short answer is none, but wait a few weeks. If a team is desperate enough to make a move, maybe it could happen. If a division, let’s say the NL East, is very active making trades, a team that is in contention may try to make a splash and keep up with the rest of the division. Rios will be easier to move than Wells, since he’s cheaper and seems to have better 2nd halves of seasons in his career.
Will Lastings Milledge ever live up to his potential? Yahoo! is reporting that the Washington Nationals are offering Lastings Milledge straight-up for the Pittsburgh’s Nyjer Morgan. The Pirates are looking for a second player in return for Morgan, but I could see them pulling the trigger on this deal. Milledge is 24 and has the potential to hit for power and average, but he’s currently in the minor-leagues due to some behavior problems and ineffectiveness in the pros. Morgan is 29 and is clearly at his peak, you know what you have with Morgan, but not with Milledge. The unknown with Milledge could be great or a complete bust. The Nationals need a defensive outfielder and more character guys, Morgan fits the bill. An outfield with Andrew McCutcheon and Lastings Milledge could be too enticing for Pittsburgh’s GM, Neal Huntington, to pass up.