Following yesterday’s 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals, a few things became crystal clear for the St. Louis Cardinals.

- Adam Wainwright is one of the best pitchers in baseball and has been since he came in as the closer for the World Champion 2006 team.  With his 16th win he leads the Majors in wins and has now gone 13 consecutive starts giving up 2 runs or less.  He also gives quality starts, going 26 consecutive starts now with at least 6 innings.  Combine those two stats (he doesn’t give up runs and he goes deep into games) and it is a lot to handle.  Point blank, he’s unhittable right now and his command is on a level that makes him very difficult to handle.

- They did exactly what they were supposed to in August; beat the lowly teams they needed to in order to extend their lead in the NL Central and make a statement.  Sunday’s win finished a 3 game sweep of the cellar dwelling Nationals, and capped off an incredible 20-6 August.  Right now they have a double digit lead over the Cubs, who have been falling backwards for weeks now, and again the Cardinals are the team to beat in the NL Central.

- Ryan Franklin is a consistent and clutch closer.  He didn’t give up a run all August, and with 35 saves out of 37 opportunities, he leads the NL in saves.  With the 9th approaching and a slim lead, Tony La Russa can call upon his All-Star closer to finish the job.

- 24-9 since July 24, the day the Cardinals had a happy Holliday (get the joke?).  That record leads the majors, and helped turn what was once a close division race into what could develop into a blowout.

Some more quick stats on the Cards – Since July 1, when Carpenter, Wainwright or Pinero take the mound the Cardinals are an astounding 28-4.  They’ve won 5 out of their last 6, and each of them have been decided by a run.

Last year’s problems have stayed in the 2008 season.  With a dominating starting 3 and now the addition of John Smoltz to bolster an already thriving rotation, the bullpen is not fatigued or injured.  Ryan Franklin is providing the Cardinals with the exact opposite of what they possessed last year; an inept bullpen that cost them any chance of going to the playoffs.  And finally Albert Pujols does not have to carry the team on his back.  He has ample help, and with Troy Glaus expected to return in September, the Cardinals have poised themselves for a strong run into October.

Earlier today, John Smoltz dominated the San Diego Padres in his Cardinals debut, striking out 9 (which included 7 straight), and getting the win after a strong 5 innings.  Why people don’t pay more attention to the current lineup of the Cardinals is beyond me, and I would consider them a World Series favorite.  This is the year where GM Mozeliak has certainly opened up the purse strings and made the signings and trades necessary to make a championship team for the 2009 season.

In case you missed it – Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter currently are the best 1-2 punch in the NL;

- All-Star closer Ryan Franklin is now 32 of 34 in saves;

-Albert Pujols has 40 HRs for the 5th time in his career;

-Yadier Molina is well-known as the best defensive catcher in the majors as well as a great game caller;

-Matt Holliday has been a true shot in the arm for the Redbirds due to the down year of Rick Ankiel;

-Julio Lugo has been a great pickup for both the defense and the bat he possesses;

- Joel Pineiro has done a good job as the 3 man in the rotation

-And now John Smoltz is the 5th starter, who can also become an overwhelming setup man if needed.

Let’s not forget about the best pitching coach in the MLB, Dave Duncan, who has been long known to turn average staffs into good ones, good ones into great ones, and he gets the most out of his pitchers.  The Redbirds have taken 5 of 7 from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have been the NL sexy pick since the beginning of the season, and have done their job in recent weeks – beat up on the teams with bad records to extend their lead in the division, which is now at 8 games over the Cubs.

The Cardinals, beyond a horrible final 30 games, will make the postseason as the NL Central representative, and they have a great shot at being the top team in the NL.  They haven’t made a Yankee-esque push since they hosted the All-Star Game, but have been playing good ball and winning series.  I’ve been waiting for the reason the Cardinals might falter, and so far Mozeliak, Duncan and Tony La Russa have masterfully dodged nearly every possible pitfall or issue that could force the team to succumb.  If ever there was a push for a winner, 2009 has been that year for the St. Louis Cardinals.  All that’s left to see is where they lie when the dust settles.

Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa finally received what they’ve asked for:  protection for the best hitter in the majors.  Matt Holliday was traded from the Oakland A’s to the Cardinals within the last few hours in exchange for top prospect Brett Wallace (3B), the Birds first round pick a year ago from Arizona State.  Also in the deal the Cardinals send Shane Spencer (OF) and Clayton Mortensen (P).  The A’s will reportedly pay $1.5 of the $6 million left on Holliday’s contract this season.

Holliday struggled out of the gate this year with the Oakland but has been on a tear over the last month.  He makes the Cardinals lineup instantly better and will have plenty of RBI opportunities hitting cleanup behind Pujols.  You might remember the Cardinals almost sent a package of Ryan Ludwick and Skip Schumaker to Colorado in exchange for Holliday before he was traded to Oakland.

My biggest question?  Can the Cardinals resign Holliday?  He turned down a four-year $72 million extension with the Colorado Rockies.  Albert Pujols still has two years remaining on his contract, but would he accept not being the highest paid player on the team?  Probably not… the Cardinals would likely have to tear up the current contract and work on the much anticipated extension.

Currently, the Cardinals are the clear favorite to take the NL Central crown, but do they have enough to challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies?  The Holliday trade comes just in time for a tough seven game stretch for the Cards beginning tonight at Citizens Bank Park in Philly.  Then the Cardinals return home for four games against the Dodgers.

Earlier this week the Cardinals traded OF Chris Duncan (son of Cards pitching coach Dave Duncan) to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for SS Julio Lugo and cash considerations.  Duncan never got a fair shake in St. Louis.  He was also ragged on whether he did well or performed poorly.  For that reason I’m happy that he will have a chance to play in the American League.  He was always known in St. Louis as Dave’s son and many thought he was only here because of his dad.  Chris had two seasons of 20+ homers and has battled injuries.  2006 was one of the seasons where Duncan was a big producer and the Cardinals just so happened to win the World Series.  Duncan by nature is not a LF, the position he played in St. Louis since first base is occupied by some player named Pujols.  Duncan fits in much better as a 1B/DH.  Best of luck to Chris in Boston.

Projected Cardinals lineup with addition of Matt Holliday:

2B Skip Schumaker

CF Colby Rasmus

1B Albert Pujols

LF Matt Holliday

RF Ryan Ludwick

3B Mark DeRosa

C Yadi Molina

Pitcher

SS Brendan Ryan

Looks pretty good to me…

A Cubs fans worst nightmare has come true.  After regretting the off season trade that landed Mark DeRosa in a Cleveland Indians uniform, the Cleveland Indians shipped DeRosa to the Cardinals Saturday night.

DeRosa is the player I’ve coveted for a while.  He’s an ideal #2 hitter in the Cardinals lineup to get on base in front of Albert Pujols and he’s sure to see a good number of fastballs in the strike zone.  DeRosa can also play four positions very well (3B, 2B, LF and RF) and it seems as if he’ll get the most playing time at 3B.

Although he’s not your typical cleanup hitter, I’d like to see Tony LaRussa experiment with hitting DeRosa in the four slot against lefties.  The Cardinals cleanup hitters are last in the majors this season with an average hovering around .200.

The Cardinals sent Chris Perez and a player to be named later to the Indians.  Perez who is about to turn 24 has a tremendous amount of upside especially once he gets more command of the strike zone.  The player to be named later is where this gets interesting… hopefully it’s not a top pitching prospect.  The talent level might depend on whether DeRosa resigns with the Cardinals.

With a month remaining until the MLB Trade Deadline, I like how the Cardinals didn’t wait it out for DeRosa or another bat.  They knew DeRosa was a hot commodity and as many as six other teams were rumored to have a lot of interest.  The Cubs apparently were at the top of the list trying to reacquire DeRosa.

Cardinals’ ownership has always made it clear that they would add payroll if the right situation came along.  Here it was on June 27 and they took advantage of it.  LaRussa has been publicly asking for another bat in his lineup since last off season when he expressed his interest in Colorado Rockies outfield Matt Holliday, who wound up being traded to Oakland.  Taking on Holliday’s salary and then negotiating with Scott Boras doesn’t make sense for the Cardinals.  The last thing they need to do is pay Matt Holliday more money than Albert Pujols.  Holliday rejected a four-year $72 million contract from Colorado after the 2008 season.  Pujols still has two years remaining on a seven-year $100 million contract.

While general manager John Mozeliak and ownership take a lot of heat, they deserve some credit for this move – one that puts the Cardinals one step closer to a NL Central title.

He’s the first player to have 30 or more homeruns in his first eight seasons.  No one had ever started their career with more than four.  Pujols’ numbers in his first eight seasons speak for themselves…

• .334 average
• 319 home runs
• 977 RBIs
• 947 runs

Pujols is often compared to Ted Williams, but statistically speaking Jimmie Fox might be the most comparable.  Fox had some terrific seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, and reached 500 home runs at age 32, a feat which will be tough to reach for Pujols.

I remember it as if it were yesterday, when Albert Pujols made his debut with the redbirds.  Bobby Bonilla had a hamstring injury forcing the Cardinals to have Pujols on the major league club when he came up as a third baseman.  It wasn’t long before Pujols started to make a name for himself.  In his first week with the club Pujols smashed a homerun and had a couple of doubles along with eight RBIs in a game against Arizona.

It’s been a privilege to watch Albert play for the last eight seasons, and hopefully the Cardinals will put the pieces around Pujols making him want to stay a Cardinal for the rest of his career.  Pujols has made one thing clear, he just wants to win.

Speaking of LaRussa… have we finally seen the end of the pitcher batting 8th?  The Cardinals are on a four game winning streak with the pitcher batting ninth.

However, the real key to this season will be the health of Carpenter and Wainwright?  Can the redbirds get 30+ starts out of both?  Will Lohse live up to the expectations that come with the big money extension he signed during the off-season (he certainly was today during his complete game shutout?  My biggest concern… is by far the closer situation.  LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan seem content early on to let the matchups dictate who throws in the 9th?  Behind closed doors i’m sure LaRussa is telling everyone “I told you so” after the strong push to sign Brian Fuentes this winter.  Jason Motte was handed the ball on Monday… and it took one game to blow the first save of the season.  The Cardinals bullpen combined for an astounding 30 blown saves a year ago… would they have won the central with a good closer?

The Cardinals need to hand the job to Kyle McClellan for the time being.  Motte is not the answer.  At least right now.  He needs more experience in the 7th and 8th before becoming the closer.

Other notes from this week… just how good is Albert Pujols?  A grand glam and a three run homer on Saturday tied his career high with 7 (more on Albert coming up this week).

I really don’t like Khalil Greene in the cleanup spot.  I know LaRussa likes to use a different lineup virtually everyday but to me Ludwick needs to be hitting cleanup when he’s in the lineup.  I like Greene hitting 2nd in front of Pujols or sixth after Rick Ankiel or Chris Duncan.

Colby Rasmus:  It’s way too early to tell if he will live up to the hype that surrounds him.  But, if he’s only going to play two days a week with Duncan-Ankiel-Ludwick being the primary outfield penciled in, why isn’t Rasmus in AAA getting to play daily.  Wait til midseason to bring him up when the Cardinals before the Cardinals will have a tough decision to make after the season when it comes to resigning  Ankiel.

We’re just a week away from opening day in the best baseball city in America.  The Cardinals come into the 2009 campaign with many question marks after a relatively quiet offseason in free agency. The Cardinals failed to address a few holes which have to be concerning a season after finishing 11.5 games behind the central division winning Chicago Cubs.

The Cardinals biggest priority going into the offseason was to obtain a closer.   I really liked that manager Tony LaRussa told the media that free agent closer should be the top priority this off-season. But, when the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outbid the Cardinals for one of the top closers on the market, that didn’t settle too well with Cardinal Nation who expected the Cardinals to pony up to obtain the southpaw. Bringing back Jason Isringhausen shouldn’t be an option after the injuries and blown saves he piled up during 2008 (blew 7 out of 19 save opportunities). Ryan Franklin who filled in for Isringhausen and led the “closer by committee” did a serviceable job notching 17 saves. However, his natural role should be the set-up man for Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan. So, barring an unforeseen trade the Cardinals will go with a combination of hard throwing Jason Motte, who only had a handful of appearances in the majors last season and Ryan Franklin. Chris Perez who came into the spring as the favorite to be the closer has battled discomfort in his right shoulder.

Ryan Ludwick: While the Cardinals right fielder had a career year with 37 homeruns and 113 driven in, that didn’t stop the Cardinals from almost dealing him to the Colorado Rockies. If it wasn’t for the potential trade being leaked through the media, the trade might have gone through and we could be talking about Matt Holliday protecting Albert Pujols instead of Ludwick. Holliday gets shipped to Oakland instead and Ludwick will look to silence his critics who say he’s a one year wonder.

Skip Schumaker: No Cardinal has received more attention during Spring Training then Schumaker after it was announced that he’d be given a shot to play 2^nd base. I understand the Cardinals thinking that they already have a crowded outfield and in order to get his bat in the lineup they are asking him to play a position he hasn’t since college. This should be an interesting one to track… especially if he struggles early.

It’s still hard to believe they let Aaron Miles get away. Is he an everyday player? No. But you can’t tell me someone else you would have rather had at the plate last season (outside of Albert Pujols) with the game on the line. Making it even worse – he’s now a member of the Cubs.

Colby Rasmus: The hype will never stop with the Cardinals top prospect and therefore everyone wants to rush him to St. Louis to patrol

Center Field. The 22-year-old who has drawn comparisons to the Cleveland Indians Grady Sizemore seems to struggle at every level at the beginning of the season. The Cardinals have reportedly discussed using him in the number nine hole as LaRussa likes batting the pitcher eighth. I don’t think that’s such a good idea… if Chris Duncan is healthy let’s give him a shot in left with Rick Ankiel in center and Ludwick in right. Let Rasmus continue to develop at AAA and left him get his at bats. If Rasmus isn’t ready to play 6 days a week, there’s no reason for him to sit on the bench in St. Louis.

Khalil Greene: Can he regain his form from the 2007 season? During the ’07 campaign at pitcher friendly Petco Park, Greene had 27 hr’s while driving in 97. Last year he struggled and hit only .213. His solid defense will be an asset to the Cardinals ground ball pitching staff but his offense remains the big question mark. Only time will tell to see if he can regain his old form.

3^rd Base: It’s been an interesting position for the last couple of seasons. First it was the gold glover Scott Rolen who clashed with Tony LaRussa which led him to the trade sending him to Toronto in exchange for third basemen Troy Glaus. Glaus, the former World Series MVP with the Angels was welcomed to St. Louis and struggled during the early part of 2008. Glaus, who has been a streaky hitter over his career finished with 27 homeruns and 99 RBI’s. Rehabbing from shoulder surgery will likely keep the 6’5” third basemen out of LaRussa’s lineup for an undetermined amount of time.

His replacement? Well, David Freese who had a terrific season last year in AA after coming over from the Padres in the Jim Edmonds deal was thought to be the favorite. However, after an injury due to a car accident (which he apparently didn’t disclose to the Cardinals for a couple of days) didn’t win him any points. While his rehab was taking place, utility man Joe Mather who saw action last season in the outfield on a limited basis was thought to be the candidate to fill in for Glaus. Struggles at the plate (1-for-29 slump) have diminished those chances. So now, it looks as if David Freese will get the shot on opening day. I’m looking forward to seeing what this kid has to offer. At the time of the Edmonds deal it didn’t look like much – but this is his time to start showing he can be the Cardinals third basemen of the future.

Chris Carpenter: Many didn’t think Carpenter would be healthy this spring after offseason elbow surgery in November. I couldn’t believe the Cardinals were counting on him in the rotation and didn’t go after another FA pitcher or re-sign a solid starter like Braden Looper. Carpenter, who hasn’t been healthy in two years, will have to ease back into things. Anything the Cardinals get from him should be a bonus. If he can’t produce, the Cardinals might be forced to make a deal if they hope to contend in the central.

Tony LaRussa: While LaRussa has his critics no one can argue about the success the man has had and that he’s the best at getting the most out of players. This very well could be his last in St. Louis, especially if ownership doesn’t provide him with the player’s he wants.

There’s a lot of hope and optimism for the 2009 season and thankfully we’re just a week away from the start.