Cardinals
Realistic Expectation for 2008: Third place with a record slightly above .500.
Team’s Biggest Strength: Is not having an identifiable strength considered a strength? No? Well then I’ll go with the fact that Tony LaRussa is the manager most likely to get the most out of a roster of 25 interchangeable parts.
Team’s Biggest Weakness: A pitching staff only Dave Duncan could love. Once you get past Adam Wainwright things get sketchy in a hurry. The Cardinals are going to have to get big contributions from Brandon Looper, Joel Pineiro and (gulp) Matt Clement to meet their potential.
They can win the division if: The staff holds together, Glaus provides support in the line-up for Pujols and at least two of the three outfield spots produce above league average numbers. It would also help if Chris Carpenter can come back healthy by the All-Star break.
The one player they can’t afford to lose: Are you kidding? Pujols, and there is no second choice.
The one player most likely to break out: Adam Wainwright. He moved to the rotation after filling in at closer during the championship run and posted a respectable year. If he can show some improvement he could be a fine number two behind Carpenter.
The one player most likely to tank: Braden Looper. He gutted out a 12-12 record last year in his first year as a starter. Unfortunately, his peripheral stats didn’t support a record that good and the chances of regression to the mean are pretty high.
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