A look ahead to a season in which we inevitably look back.
The end of the road
The twenty-five greatest Cardinals of the last twenty-five years: #1–Albert Pujols
For eleven glorious seasons, the Cardinals got to experience one of the three greatest first basemen who ever lived.
The twenty-five greatest Cardinals of the last twenty-five years: #2–Yadier Molina
The "Yadier Molina can't hit well enough to stick around in the Major Leagues" takes are now old enough to drive
The twenty-five greatest Cardinals of the last twenty-five years: #3–Jim Edmonds
Before Jim Edmonds, the Cardinals were a sideshow for Mark McGwire. Once Jim Edmonds arrived, they were a serious contender.
The twenty-five greatest Cardinals of the last twenty-five years: #4–Adam Wainwright
A look at Adam Wainwright, from postseason hero reliever to staff ace to innings-eating veteran
Could a lineup of former St. Louis Cardinals beat the current St. Louis Cardinals in 2021?
This doesn't even seem possible. The St. Louis Cardinals should easily have a better team in 2021 than the total sum of their former players. It would be one thing if the Cardinals had spent the last several years trading away their best players for prospects who may never come to fruition. But the Cardinals…
The twenty-five greatest Cardinals of the last twenty-five years: #5–Scott Rolen
You may not think the guy who used Limp Bizkit as his walk-up song because it repeatedly said a homophone of his name is "subtle", but Rolen was one of his generation's great quiet stars.
The Cardinals’ looming outfield disaster
According to Dan Szymborski's ZiPS projection system, which projects the performance of every player and team in Major League Baseball, there are 411 players designated as "outfielders"--this is, if you do some basic back-of-the-napkin math, obviously far more players than there are spots, but this incorporates tons of lifelong minor leaguers and players who aren't…
The twenty-five greatest Cardinals of the last twenty-five years: #6–Matt Carpenter
Matt Carpenter had one of the strangest origin stories of any superstar in franchise history
The twenty-five greatest Cardinals of the last twenty-five years: #7–Mark McGwire
You just had to be there.
