St Louis

With spring training just around the corner, St. Louis Cardinals players old and new are putting the finishing touches on the offseason as they prepare for 2013.

If the San Francisco Giants formula for success is as strong as it appears to be, they could have a run for their money coming from the St. Louis Cardinals over the next decade.

The cornerstone of the Giants success hasn’t come from blockbuster trades and massive free-agent splashes. It has come from two things, smart player acquisitions and some serious homegrown pitching.

While the St. Louis Cardinals did make a move before Tuesday afternoon's non-waiver trade deadline, their NL Central opponents made a bigger splash.

Will the Cardinals be able to make it past the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Cincinnati Reds? Have those teams shown they mean business in 2012?

After another great outing from Adam Wainwright, the St. Louis Cardinals fall again after bullpen struggles and defensive miscues continue to plague the team.

Wainwright put together a big night going seven innings giving up only two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. By any stretch, that's a great night. Not only was he pitching well, he got an early base hit and made a pair of key defensive plays.

One St. Louis Cardinal is rapidly making his way toward a rather exclusive club this season. Carlos Beltran is within hitting distance, no pun intended, of the 300-300-2000 club.

This status is reserved for players who have hit 300 home runs, stolen 300 bases and amassed 2,000 hits over their career. Lots of talk has floated about Beltran hitting 300-300, but the 2,000 hasn’t gotten much attention.

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright will take the mound tonight in anticipation of his sixth win of 2012.

Wainwright, who is still getting back to form following Tommy John surgery in 2011, has seen more success in his last four outings than all season.

His sinker sinks again. His curve moves again. That wasn't the case earlier in the season.

Overall, the upcoming MLB free agency class for the 2011 offseason is fairly weak.  Unlike 2010 when baseball fans anxiously watched to see where pitcher Cliff Lee and All-Star outfielder Carl Crawford would end up, 2011 will figure to be a quiet offseason.

Could new closer Mitchell Boggs be a saving grace for the Cardinals? 

I reserve the right to answer my own question in my own time. Maybe I will answer somewhere in this article.

He doesn’t throw Hail Mary passes, wear religious articles of clothing or pretend to be as righteous as the pope, but he could be a savior for the Redbirds when they get in tight ninth innings.

Question:  What lately has been lacing Lance Berkman’s milk bone bat?  Answer:  Leather baseballs bouncing off the wood and flying out of MLB venues.

The fantasy baseball season is starting to filter out the big fish from the small ponds, the rooks from the bishops and the Cardinals hitters from the haters.

OK, we're not saying we would trade the artist formerly known as Fat Elvis straight up for Super Joe, but here are 10 compelling reasons why Lance Berkman is more valuable than the reigning NL MVP.

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