Baseball players should hope to be drafted by the Cardinals coming out of high school or college. No team is better at developing their own players and competing for a playoff spot year in and year out. Manager Mike Matheny was an interesting hire to say the least, but like usual, the Cardinals were in it but lost to WS Champs the Giants in the NLCS. The Cardinals might have the classiest fan base in the league and like always, a deep farm system and a team which competes year in and year out. Let's take a look:
Starting Lineup
SS Rafael Furcal
RF Carlos Beltran
LF Matt Holliday
1B Allen Craig
3B David Freese
C Yadier Molina
2B Matt Carpenter
CF Jon Jay
The Cardinals do not have a typical 'leadoff' hitter-type. Jon Jay could fill it in the future once Furcal gets replaced or if he gets hurt again. Furcal's history as a top of the order hitter suits him well here. Beltran gets the #2 slot for now, he and Holliday provide veteran OF bats. Craig and Freese are crucial to the teams success. Freese finally stayed healthy - it's time for Craig to. Both potential 30 HR bats. Yadier Molina is solid all the way around in the 6 hole. I'm giving Carpenter the second base job - his bat is too good to keep out for Daniel Descalso. He will be the #2 hitter in 2014, I predict. A solid lineup through and through. No worries and a solid bench and farm system to work off of.
Starting Rotation
SP Adam Wainwright
SP Jaime Garcia
SP Lance Lynn
SP Jake Westbrook
SP Joe Kelly
Wainwright went back to being Wainwright in the second half of 2012. Jaime Garcia just went backwards. Lance Lynn started off well but fizzled in the second half. Jake Westbrook got hurt. Sounds bad, right? Not to worry. Wainwright is healthy and will return to form. Lynn lost weight and better conditioned himself to start for the whole year. Garcia and Westbrook should be fine as well. The good thing is they have 3 young starters in Kelly, Trevor Rosenthal and Shelby Miller ready to go. Kelly gets the nod after pitching well last year.
Bullpen
CL Jason Motte
SU Mitchell Boggs
LHS Randy Choate
SU Edward Mujica
SU Mark Rzepczynski
SU Fernando Salas
SU Eduardo Sanchez
This is if they carry a deep, 7 man pen. Nothing to worry about here. Motte was solid as a full, first year closer. Choate and Rzepczynski are solid lefties. Boggs, Mujica, Salas and Sanchez are good set-up men.
A solid team through and through. I worry about injuries, though. They'll be neck and neck with the Reds, but I will say the Cardinals slightly squeak out one more win for the division champions.
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