St. Louis Cardinals: Sports are not played on paper

Last night’s Super Bowl was the perfect reminder for St. Louis Cardinals’ fans that sports are not played out on paper.

Not many gave the Broncos much of a chance last night. They all thought that Cam Newton and his high flying offense were going to run away with things last night. However, that wasn’t the case. This reminds me of this current MLB offseason, nobody is giving the St. Louis Cardinals a chance.

They’re saying that Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, and Matt Holliday are too old and that they’re impact will be minimal at best. Meanwhile the Cubs have found the fountain of youth and have all of the young prospects in the game and there will be no sophomore slump for their rookies. Their offense is just too good to get beat by good pitching.

I think last night is the perfect example of how things normally go the opposite way. We know the saying “pride comes before the fall” from the book of Daniel. However, maybe a new phrase should be adapted for the sports world, one like “hype comes before the fall”.

Look, it’s obvious that there are questions surrounding the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2016 campaign. However, the bulk of a team that played like their hair was on fire for most of the season last year is still intact.

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Yes they lost one of their best players in Jason Heyward to the very team they are competing against. However, when the Cardinals were at their best last season (first two months of the season) Heyward was not along for the ride (87 wRC+ from April 5-June 5).

Most importantly the Cardinals should be able to avoid the injury bug that bit them so hard last season. If they do not, I firmly believe that like last season the club has the options to address these issues.

Yes, first base is still a pretty big question mark, but I believe that the combination of Brandon Moss and Matt Adams will provide what the St. Louis Cardinals need out of that spot. The two of them competing will be something that drives both of them to provide their best. No, I don’t expect 50 homers and 150 RBI from them, but a combo of 30 and 100 is not too much too expect from two players.

With the ace back on the hill and more young guys getting their chance to shine, this team should have plenty of ability to take care of the “paper champions”.

If you want to poke fingers at the players on this team being old then do the same for the Cubs’ starting rotation. The Cardinals like the Broncos have defensive side of the ball taken care of with their great rotation, and should have enough offense to get by.

Next: Ten days from Spring Training

This is going to be a fun season, and being just nine days from Spring Training, has me so ready for it to get under way.