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By charliewilmoth | at
Email a copy of 'Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals' to a friend
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cardfan2011
Cardinals will always have a fighting chance. And yes, their offense is not very potent, but with that pitching staff, they’ll give you a chance to win every game. Winning the NL Central is earned, not won on paper, whether that be the Cubs, Cardinals or Pirates. No doubt, it’ll be a fun year of baseball. Go Cards!
Lanidrac
I agree that their stupendous pitching should still give them a decent shot at another division title, and even their offense is improved overall (even despite losing two months of Peralta) now that Holliday, Grichuk, and Adams are healthy alongside a full year of Piscotty and another year of development for Wong.
Niekro
I don’t think they should be overly concerned with OF they won 90 games the season before heyward with negative war players like Craig and a young Tavares playing a lot of games. Their OF might have even more depth now. I think they will compete for the NL central as usual.
thecoffinnail
They did run Tavares out quite a bit in 2014 (80 games) but they also had Jon Jay play in 140 games with a .372 obp and 112 ops+. For them to contend they are going to need Peralta to return quickly and hit like he did in 2014 (ops+ 117) as opposed to his slight decline last year (ops+ 102) and they really need Holliday to stay healthy and produce his usual strong numbers. Piscotty is going to be their wildcard. The Cardinals’ year is going to basically come down to health. If they can keep their few big bats and strong pitching staff healthy they should be fine. If Peralta is out for an extended time and Holliday falls to the injury bug again they will have a tough time contending, Their farm is fairly strong though, so a midseason upgrade could help them if they are contending at the deadline. Regardless, the NL Central is going to be fun to watch and should produce a couple of the best teams in baseball. They will also produce two of the worst.
Kyle M.
They extended Kolten Wong this spring if that counts as an extension.
charliewilmoth
It definitely does, and that should be in there. Thanks, I’ll fix.
southi
No poll this time?
strike4
Tigers fan – living in Chicago surrounded by Cub fans. Not one of them are counting their chickens (so to speak). The majority are nervous and understand how good the Cards and Pirates are.
Until someone knocks off the Cards…They seem to always find a way to win despite extremely challenging circumstances.
Batter up, already!
Lance
It’s not a sexy off season, but signing Leake was a much better deal than re-signing Heyward. IMO, they’ll consider themselves lucky in the long run for Heyward going somewhere else like Pujols at that kind of money. OF COURSE it’s doubtful they’ll win 100 games. It’s doubtful any team will win 100 this year. A lot of luck is associated with that. (luck=injuries/replacements). We’ll just have to see how Grichuck and Piscotty do. I trust in Mo and Mike…..their track record is pretty darn good when it comes to talent evaluation.
thetruth 2
Agreed.
MannyBeingMVP
1.) I felt Heyward was an overpay, Piscotty and Grichuk are fine, Holliday is serviceable if healthy. If Holliday gets injured, Pham deserves further looks.
2.) Lackey is well replaced with Leake. Plus, Garcia and Wainwright will both be top 20 N.L. pitchers if they stay healthy.
3.) I would not have picked up Broxton, but the price for him was market-rate.
4.) I rate the off-season overall as a B+, if money saved is available for a mid-season pick-up.
5.) Key concern for me: Yadier Molina’s health. Pena was a nice cheap pickup, but without Yadier, it will be a lot tougher for Cards.
dhaab
Good Cardinals review, but why is there just a minor comment on Tommy Pham? He could potentially be a huge part of the outfield mix and he’s probably the most gifted overall outfielder currently on the roster.
t_o__n_y
Pham definitely has potential, but as of right now on the Cardinals depth chart he is second for every outfield position. Given that Holliday will miss 20-30 games due to injuries, Pham should get a decent amount of playing time. As for the most gifted outfielder, I disagree. That’s why Grichuk and Piscotty are starting over him.
thechiguy
Solid B! The Cards will be the Cards, they will find a way to win 90+ games and nobody will remember how they missed the big fish this offseason. The Cardinals are the only team in baseball that can survive losing 2 major pieces directly to their arch rivals and still look good everyday and exceed expectations. No way the Cards take a step back, somewhere in Baseball heaven, the Cards continue to receive blessings of prosperity and fortune and will be major players in the NL Central.