Winter Winners

10. Cardinals. They underachieved last year, and retain baseball's best player in Albert Pujols, plus one of its best 1-2 pitching punches in Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter, for at least one more year. They didn't spend a ton, as they appeared to be saving for the obvious purpose of keeping Pujols long-term. But what they did made sense. Jake Westbrook is a solid starter, Ryan Theriot should be an offensive upgrade at shortstop and some see Lance Berkman returning to form. "Berkman can still hit,'' one NL scout said. "His knee was bothering him last year.''

Sports Illustrated