2008 Cardinals baseball

Well, the opener for the Redbirds it today and I find myself pretty excited about baseball beginning again, even though I expect this to be a pretty awful year for the Cards. The Cardinals didn't do much in the offseason other than get rid of a couple of high priced veterans in Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen. They did add Troy Glaus to take Rolen's place over at 3rd base, but the market was terrible this year for free agent pitching, so once again the Cards go into a season with huge question marks on the mound. Also gone from the team is SS David Eckstein, the 2006 World Series MVP. In his place is the anemic bat of Caesar Izturis, one of the worst offensive starting players in baseball. His partner at 2nd base is Adam Kennedy, whose fielding and batting were woeful last year. The outfield is going to have to rely on unproven players as well with Rick Ankiel getting his first full season in the bigs and Brian Barton and Ryan Ludwick expected to get major playing time.

I'm not sure why Tony LaRussa decided to come back this season to be honest. The club is obviously rebuilding and a lot of young players are going to have to play big roles. LaRussa has always favored the veterans, so it's not a natural fit. I see bad year ahead for the Redbirds. I am predicting a 90 loss season, and if that's the case it's going to be a l-o-n-g summer.

The weather is not supposed to cooperate today. Right now it is very overcast and windy beyond belief. The chance of rain is very strong, as it is for the next few days. Let's hope the field doesn't get too bad and that the Cardinals and the Rockies come out of this series healthy.

Come on, Cards. Make me look like a fool with my prediction. That usually isn't such a hard task.