St. Louis Cardinals, unarmed to defend the World Series Championship Title 2011 – MLB News

St. Louis Cardinals, proud owners of World Series Title 2011, winning it for the 11th time, might not be able to retain their gold…easily. A huge statement especially for the Cardinals fans but I believe it’s a bit true. Cardinal’s most charismatic man
was none other than its legendary former coach Tony La Russa. He was in addition supported by one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball (MLB), Albert Pujols.

No doubt under the auspicious leadership of La Russa Cardinals made their way convincingly to the top. Tony had an effective command on his team, why not; he had been associated with Cardinals since 1996. I believe it was the old man’s ample experience and
understanding of the team that made him and his 40-men roster win the title. Now he is not in the team in fact, he is replaced by a guy who is the youngest manager in MLB history.

Apart from missing the diamond of their crest, Cardinals have to face another great concussion. Albert Pujols, the guy who helped substantially with his bat, is a free agent, and current speculations show that he might not opt for joining back to his old
roster. Several arguments are being put forth for this reason most importantly the absence of his old friend La Russa and not getting a handsome contract offer from Cards.

According to the latest news Cardinals has offered Pujols a $200 million contract worth 9-years but this is not what the 31-year old is looking for he needs more money. In the absence of the 2 most influential iconic individuals from the roster how can Cardinals
retain and successfully defend their title?. If Tony had been in the team he would have definitely helped them in retaining the title since all he needed to do was just move his finger as everyone knew him and his strategies by heart.

Furthermore consider for example that Pujols comes back and joins the roster. What is the guarantee that he and others remaining in the roster can perform the same way in all the 162 games as they did in year 2011. This is not what i am alone saying here,
apart from this, admitting the fact that Matheny is a 4-time gold glove award holder and that he had been a good catcher for Cardinals but at the same time he bears a serious deficiency. Mike has nil expertise in leading any kind of team. He hasn’t even led
a single franchise of any level. How come is it possible for such a guy to successfully guide a world champion league?

There is certainly not even a single convincing answer to this question. This is not a genuine argument that since Matheny has affiliations with most of Cardinals ace iconic players and that he has been in action with them in some of his games, he can led
them retain the trophy since he knows them. Managing a team requires iron nerves, presence of mind with unique strategies and ideas. To be honest for me cardinals have placed there 2012 12th championship already on the line.

One cannot learn the game at all in just 162 games. Apart from this aspect a wild card is not always there to help you out in times of need. Cardinals were the wild cards they fought with the Phillies; it was there incompetence that they were not able to
outclass Cards. Cards also had Pujols in their artillery now if they were that good in their game why weren’t they able to top national league and secure Phillies place? Add up this question with Pujols not becoming Cardinal again.

St. Louis did had some deficiency that’s for sure after tossing in the wild card spot Cards just had to face 3 opponents Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers and Phillies. Before that they had been through the 162-game extravaganza still then they didn’t secure
the top seed in the league. Now in current scenario when all these three powerful teams with hefty businesses as well are there to compete then how can Cards retain the gold?

To be honest while going through different analysis, critics are not hopeful even bettors have betted 14/1 for the Red Birds whereas 4/1 for Phillies. Phillies have successfully retained most of their ace men who gave a tough time to opponents above all
Phillies won 102 games whereas lost just 60. Against the Phillies win-loss percentage of .630, Cardinals won just 90 and lost 72 hence a win-loss percentage of .556.

Now the only positive aspect is the presence of all the former coaches. Matheny hasn’t up till now changed any of the bench or base coaches. This is a good aspect apart from this the induction of three young guns from affiliates might also help the reigning
champions BUT then again these all are assumptions. To date the only fact based scenario is that Cardinals will have a tough and rough time in facing their opponents and in successfully defending their gold.

Moreover I would like to pinpoint that the three newly added youngsters and Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny will experience the pressure of being a World Champion mounting their shoulders for the very first time when the 2012 season commences. Cardinals will
have to mostly depend on Chris Carpenter, Matt Holliday, David Freese and others most of them have crossed their prime positions. Whereas on the other hand Phillies have Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels, in addition to an experienced manager as well.

So let’s keep our stakes high, I am in favour of Philadelphia Phillies, they have money to buy hefty free agents and they already have a prudent competitive roster against Cardinals. The adversity of Cardinals not retaining the title is evident from the
fact that even before the start of the next years’ spring training speculations are against Cardinals and analysts are placing them in 5th or 6th place. Just not forget that Cardinals also have Yankees, Tigers, and Rays in the competition.

Tigers made their way to the American League Championship seat where they were defeated by Texas Rangers. Now these two teams and the other 3 will definitely give the Red Birds a hard time to remember.