Roy Oswalt was the target. He is a proven winner and veteran presence that would have been great for the Cardinals. He wanted to pitch in St. Louis. But it wasn’t meant to be.
Oswalt was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies Thursday for J.A. Happ and two minor league prospects. The Phillies front office worked their magic again, getting the Astros ace for next to nothing and convincing Houston to eat $11 million of his remaining salary.
Coming into the season, I viewed Philadelphia and St. Louis as the top teams in the National League. Both came into 2010 with complete lineups [...]

The clock is ticking and the Cardinals can feel every second as they try to find the right piece to add to their club. St. Louis wants a quality starting pitcher to help their thin rotation with Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse on the disabled list. Roy Oswalt seemed like the man, but his and Houston’s demands have killed that deal. Now, the Cardinals have turned their attention to other options on the market. The names aren’t as big, but they could be just as effective as Oswalt. The Cards need for arms is big, but in my opinion, it’s [...]

Yesterday at this time, Roy Oswalt appeared destined for Philadelphia to help fix some of the Phillies problems as they hang onto their playoff hopes by a thread. Today, that deal is just about dead because Philly doesn’t want to guarantee Oswalt’s $16 million option for 2012. Oswalt wants that money more than he wants out of Houston. But there are still plenty of interested teams in the Astros ace.
With Philadelphia out, the St. Louis Cardinals are the favorite to land Oswalt, according to Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports. [...]

Adam Wainwright is already dominating opposing hitters this season. He is 13-5 with a 2.11 ERA. The guy has it all. He throws a hard fastball, a big hook, and a cutter-slider hybrid that can break any bat. Throw in command of every pitch and a desire to win and it’s almost not fair. The past two years, he has been among the top pitchers in baseball and this season he has the chance to top 20 games and take home the Cy Young. You would think all he needs to do is stay focused and healthy for the rest [...]

When the Cards arrived in Jupiter, there were few questions surrounding the NL Central favorites as a unit. Instead, the focus was on Mark McGwire. Now, that seems like ancient history. With that issue in the rearview mirror, more questions have come up this spring.
Will the bullpen get the job done? Is Albert Pujols’ back OK? What will the lineup look like? When will Shelby Miller be ready? Is Albert Pujols going to Philly in a blockbuster? (OK, the last one was for a laugh, but it did come up.)
The one question that the Cards had going into Spring Training [...]

Today was more of what Brad Penny hoped for when he signed with his childhood team. After getting rocked in his spring debut, Penny came out sharp in his rebound game. He threw four shutout innings and allowed just one hit to help the Cards beat the Nationals 6-4.
His performance on the mound was complemented by an equally impressive day at the plate for rookie Allen Craig. Craig made his spring debut after missing every game to this point due to injury. The rookie did not disappoint. He showed the power that makes him a big league level talent, and [...]

The Cardinals take on the Washington Nationals today, hoping to improve on the poor start to Spring Training. The club should get a lift from Albert Pujols, who will DH in his first action since Saturday. The star slugger missed the previous two games due to back problems.
Allen Craig will be filling in at first base for Pujols. It will be the first appearance this spring for Craig, who has been limited by quadriceps strain. He is among a talented group of young players battling for one of the final roster spots, and has some work to do to catch [...]

With Spring Training underway for the Cards, a few storylines have developed. Besides McGwire’s recent talks and the hovering cloud over the rookie hitting coach, the Cards made some staff additions and the competition for the fifth spot in the rotation is becoming clearer. Here’s what we have learned in the first few days of “Spring” (It’s still cold and snowy up here at the ‘Cuse).
-Mike Matheny will take on a more prominent role in the organization. The former catcher has enjoyed Spring Training as an instructor the past few years, but has now agreed to a more involved position. [...]

Blake Hawksworth finished 2009 as one of the top bullpen options for the Cardinals. He has been at the top of the Cards farm system for eight years, mainly because of injury problems. After last season’s performance, it appears Hawksworth is ready to fulfill his potential for the big league club. In 30 games with St. Louis, he was 4-0 with a 2.02 ERA out of the ‘pen. That small taste has Cards fans hungry for more in 2010.
It also landed him on the USA Today’s list of 100 Names You Need To Know. Hawksworth is ranked No. 54 on [...]

The Rotation:
The Ace: Chris Carpenter. Carpenter soared to new heights after joining the Cardinals in 2004, winning a career-high 15 games. He came to St. Louis with a history of injury problems in Toronto. A change from the Bluebirds to the Redbirds proved to be a comfortable change of scenery. His first season was a sign of things to come, as he became the ace of the Cardinals staff for the last half of the decade. He won the 2005 Cy Young and battled for the award again in 2006 and 2009. He anchored the staff that won the [...]