Tim McCarver Going Against Cardinals?

Tim McCarver may be retired from calling baseball games on a national basis, but that doesn’t mean the former St. Louis Cardinals catcher is out of the limelight locally.

McCarver, who played from 1959 to 1969 with the Cardinals and was a member of the 1967 and 1968 World Series squads, thinks the Cardinals may have some problems if things don’t go a certain way.

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Still, McCarver believes the Cardinals can be competitive.

“Somehow they find a way with their farm system on a year-to-year basis to replace their players – and these guys are prepared not only physically, but mentally. It’s amazing,” McCarver said in an interview with Tiki Barber and Brandon Tierney of CBS Sports Radio. “When they bring guys up, I’d say the Cardinals have not only a 40-man roster, but about 10 other players that feel as though they belong in the big leagues.”

McCarver will call approximately 30 games for Fox Sports Midwest this season, and that will put him in position to see some quality teams every year in and out of the National League Central.

One of those teams — the Pittsburgh Pirates — could be one that gives the Cardinals some fits.

“If there is one team that, in my view, that can run away with the National League Central, it’s Pittsburgh,” McCarver said.

What do you think, Cardinal Nation? Is McCarver off the wall with his prediction or could another team take the NL Central away from St. Louis?