TrueBlueCubFan

Shouldn't this be moved to rants? B/C everytime Macias or Perez get an AB this season there will be someone on this board who will be ready to crush Dusty.

Team Stats 1. 92 2. 8 3. 795 4. 643 Player Stats 1. 35 2. 68 3. .316 4. 112 5. 14 6. 2.92 7. 228 8. 28 Tie breaker 1. .805 ----------------------- ETA (Serena) Team Stats 1. 92 + 0 2. 8 + 50 3. 795 + 25 4. 643 +175 Player Stats 1. 35 + 0 2. 68 + 0 3. .316 + 0 4. 112 + 5 5. 14 + 40 6. 2.92 + 20 7. 228 + 0 8. 28 + 50 Tie breaker 1. .805 Total: 365

Remlinger & either Ohman,Rusch,Randolph,Orepesa or Koronka

Are Reyes or Wainwright ML ready? I never said your bullpen would be a weakness, I just said it would be weaker with the losses of Kline,Haren & Calero. Myers doesn't make up for those losses.

The Cards are not as well balanced in 05 as they were in 04. Mulder does stregthen your rotation. However, losses of Calero & Kline weaken your bullpen,losses of GG's Renteria & Matheny weaken your defense. Eckstein & Grudz in the MI is both a downgrade defensively & offensively to that of Renteria & Womack. You will also miss the veteran leadership Matheny brought to your pitching staff. The loss of Haren,retirement of Ankiel from pitching & FA loss of Williams also effects the depth your team has in it's rotation. What will they do if 1 or maybe even 2 pitchers go down with a minor or even a major injury?

I respect your opinion, however I think most of your observations are both bias & misguided. The Cards benefits & strengths in 04' were( in this order): 1) Health & the lack of health of their division foes in the Reds,Cubs & Astros. 2) Defense (best defensive team in MLB LY) 3) Bullpen 4) Starting pitching 5) Scheduling (Interleague KC & TB?) & finished with the Cubs by June 20th( just happen that the Cubs were decimated with injuries more then any team in MLB in the beginning of the year). I think you are underestimating the capability of a healthy Wood,Prior & Zambrano for 90-105 starts. In 04' the Cards did not face a healthy Prior once, not once. Only faced Wood twice. To think you upgraded at 2nd base with Grudz over Womack is a little naive. Offensively, I think Eckstein is a equal replcament to Womack & his career year he had LY. Grudz is a huge downgrade offensively to Renteria & Eckstein is a huge downgrade defensively @ SS. Actually, I don't think you lost much speed in signing Eck to replace Womack. You are underestimating Renteria both defensively & offensively who is very solid. The Cards groundball pitchers benifted from the excellent defense middle IF they had in 04'. Eckstein will rely more on Rolen when a ball is hit into the hole then did Renteria. Renteria has a strong arm & Eck's range is below avg. for a ML SS. Rolen is the best defensive 3rd basemen in the game & he should help Eckstein in some areas of his defense. Grudz is solid defensively @ 2nd, like Womack was for the Cards LY. Both are avg. defensive 2nd basemen. Walker is a very good hitter & a great OBP OF. A nice #2 hitter. However, he is already banged up in ST, which does not fair well at all for the Cardinals. He is very injury prone. You should expect a few DL stints from him this year. To cross your fingers & hope he is healthy is again a little naive. Don't plan on it. However, I think Mabry is a very nice replacement temporarily for the Cards off the bench. Molina in no way is an upgrade over Matheny. Molina will go through some growing pains in his 1st full season. He has a very strong arm & throws out basestealers & holds runners on very well. The one area that will effect the Cards the most @ the C position is the game calling skills. Matheny is one of the best in the game at this. In no way will Molina be able to repeat or even come close to Matheny in this aspect. I wouldn't say your offense has improved on paper, but I wouldn't say it decreased much either, unless you take some hits health wise. Izzy will have a better year than in 04'???? He is also another very injury prone player on your roster. When has he every put back to back healthy seasons? Mulder was a good acqusition for the Cards in the offseason. If he stays healthy & doesn't wear down in the 2nd half, this could turn out to be a great move. However, his chronic hip problems still remain in ? If the Cards get to the playoffs with a healthy Mulder it could help them tremendously. I also expect Morris to have a better year in 05' then in 04'. However, he has been on a slight decline in #'s his last couple years. Best case scenario for the Cards would be 97-100 wins. The Cubs,Reds & Astros must all once again be devestated with injuries & the Cards must stay as healthy this year as last. Not likely to happen. The Cards bullpen was a strength for them in 04' Calero,Kline & (Haren who helped you in the pen & was one of your better relievers in the playoffs) will be sorely missed. Myers will not repeat what Kline did in 04'. I also read that Lincoln had another bump in the road, so don't expect him to help you early in the season. I predict the Cards to finsih a very respectable 90-72. They will be in the WC race & possibly the division race. Cards fans shouldn't expect 100+ wins in 05' , it's just not realistic.