Brian34Cook

Season brings uncertainty, hope
03/30/2008

In a baseball town so accustomed to traditional championship success, St. Louis' pampered Cardinal Nation is in an unfamiliar predicament on the eve of another new season.

For the second year in a row, the Redbirds are playing the wait-and-hope game. They're counting on the healing limbs and medical miracles, and not for a shot at the once-predictable championship contention, but for the unaccustomed hope of merely rising slightly above the middle of the mediocre pack in the unspectacular National League Central.

At least that's what the masses have been conditioned to believe. We believe the team that headed north from Jupiter, Fla., this week, particularly the pitching staff, should be portrayed as an uncertain temp service. This is a collection of questionable short-timers just occupying jobs until (did somebody say "if"?) the cavalry of healing superstar arms comes charging one by one out of rehabilitation and into the top of the starting rotation.

I'm not really sure what sort of team these 2008 Cardinals will be, but I do know that because of its storied and successful past, which includes a World Series title only two years ago, this franchise has earned the privilege of our time and patience. Rebuilding takes an intelligent plan from a front office that knows how to shop for talent, but also how to develop it. And for the first time in years, it looks like the people who are doing the shopping and the people in charge of the developing are actually working toward the same goals.

STLtoday - Season brings uncertainty, hope