Cardinals
You can quibble that the lineup is too right-handed and that the rotation behind Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright is potentially unremarkable. Still, there's Albert Pujols (the best player in baseball), Matt Holliday (the prize of this winter's market), the top one-two punch in baseball, and assorted worthies (e.g., Gold Glove-caliber fielders at catcher, short and center; a power source in right; and a manager who ranks among the very best of all-time). But ...
Fatal Flaw: Closer
Holliday may have been the tidy foil of last year's untimely playoff exit, but closer Ryan Franklin was the real villain. Franklin was unable to get anyone out from August onward, so his meltdown in Game 2 of the NLDS was hardly surprising. Franklin, in his career, has been an effective reliever, but never has he been as good as he was last season. And never again will he be as good as he was last season.
Sure, it's possible that Franklin, at age 36, figured out how to give up just 0.3 home runs per nine innings and post a sub-2.00 ERA despite poor strikeout numbers. But it's highly unlikely. Will Tony La Russa, in many ways the "Dr. Frankenstein" of the modern closer, be willing to turn to an unproved other should Franklin predictably regress? Cardinals fans had better hope so.
Fox Sports
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