St Louis Cardinals

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

On Friday, the New York Mets released second baseman Luis Castillo with a year remaining on the four-year, $25 million deal he signed after the 2007 season.

To be fair, the marriage between Castillo and New York was doomed from the get-go. Mets fans never really took to Castillo, booing him on Opening Day despite a strong 2009 season, and poor performance egged on by injury killed his career as a Met.

Opening Day is less than two weeks away, which means everyone and his mother is spouting predictions for the coming MLB season.

With so many talking heads out there, where can you go to find a variety of opinions together in one place? 

St. Louis Cardinals (2010 record: 86-76)

As spring training got underway a few weeks ago, the Cardinals were a serious threat to win the NL Central division title. But with the Albert Pujols contract situation hanging like The Sword of Damocles above everyone’s head and the subsequent injury (elbow) to RHP Adam Wainwright (who will be lost for the season), it is suddenly difficult to foresee the Cards posing a serious threat to the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

When camp broke, St. Louis Cardinals prospect Matt Carpenter seemed destined to start the 2011 season as the third baseman for Triple-A Memphis.

Yadier Molina was a tale of two players last year. In the first half of the season, he hit .223/.301/.294. In the second half, he hit .315/.368/.405. His end of the season splits ended up at .262/.329/.342. The big question arises. Which Molina will show up this year?

In the first half of last season, he was practically unusable. In the second half, he was a pretty solid option at catcher.

After Adam Wainwright went down for the season, Kyle McClellan looked like the leading candidate to take the open spot in the starting rotation. After his first outing of the spring, that spot is now McClellan's to lose.

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the most storied franchises in American sports history. They've won 10 World Series—second only to the Yankees. Their uniforms are perhaps the best-looking in all of sports.

But hungry fans want more. They want the Cardinals to compete harder against the Yankees' (Jankees') legacy. By spending the cheddar, the Cards can stay competitive.

What can Mark “I didn’t come here to talk about the past” McGwire teach Albert Pujols about hitting a baseball? Good question.  When I find the answer, I’ll let you all know. 

NL Offensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Silver Slugger Award winner, Pujols is a far, far better hitter than his batting coach.

When two objects plummet towards a narrow abyss, a meeting becomes more and more likely, until it is inevitable.

Such is the case of the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito.