St. Louis Cardinals: Greg Holland should improve Cardinals power rankings

The Greg Holland signing moves the St. Louis Cardinals up the MLB power rankings with various media outlets.  And it should.

Before the beginning of the season, many media outlets had the St. Louis Cardinals in the eight position in their MLB power rankings.  CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and MLB.com seem to reflect the Media’s general attitude about the Cardinals before the season started.

However, the Cardinals addressed one of their weaknesses going into the 2018 season on Thursday by signing Greg Holland.  This should help clarify roles in the bullpen now that the closer has been identified.

The question for this article is: How does this affect the St. Louis Cardinals power rankings with media outlets?  Will the Cards move up and by how much?

I reached out to Matt Synder of CBS Sports, Gabriel Baumgaertner of SI, and Alyson Footer of MLB.com to get their thoughts on the Greg Holland signing and if it improved the Cardinals’ power ranking with their outlets.

CBS Sports has the Cardinals at number eight in their power ranking, between the Indians at seven and the Angels at nine.  Matt Synder says the top seven teams in the CBS power rankings are “head and shoulders above the rest.  Synder has the Cardinals finishing second in the NL Central, but losing out to the Diamondbacks and Rockies  for a Wild Card spot.

When I asked Synder if the Greg Holland signing improved the Cardinals power ranking, he said no.  “Stronger than before, but there is a huge gap between the top seven and everyone else.”

MLB.com has the Cardinals sitting at eighth also, between the Red Sox at seventh and the Blue Jays at ninth.  Ayson Footer felt like the signing of Holland would help the Cardinals’ power rankings “a lot” and called the signing “huge.”  Footer said the panel meets weekly that determines the power rankings and she expects the next one would reflect the Holland signing.

Sports Illustrated has the Cardinals in the eighth slot (do you see a pattern?) between the Red Sox at ninth and the Diamondbacks at seventh.  Gabriel Baumgaertner says the signing of Holland matters.  Baumgaertner also noted  he already had the Cardinals in the NLCS, losing to the Dodgers.

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ESPN has the St. Louis Cardinals going into the season at number-you guessed it- eight.  Sitting between the Boston Red Sox at number seven and the Los Angeles Angels at nine.  Although ESPN has not commented as of yet on the Holland signing by the Cards, they did point out as a weakness going into the season, the undefined roles in the bull pen.

The preseason power ranking polls are much like any college football or college basketball preseason poll, generally meaningless. Only performance after the season has started do polls start to take any real meaning.

Therefore, the power rankings of MLB teams will reflect who are the playoff contenders as the season progresses.  The deeper as the season goes, the more the power rankings will take meaning.

Because the Greg Holland signing by the St. Louis Cardinals was a significant move, it should reflect in the power rankings.  Especially since it addressed one of the Cardinals weaknesses going into the 2018 season.

In conclusion, how much will the Cardinals move up in the power rankings?  Will they pass the Red Sox in the MLB.com and ESPN rankings?  Should they pass the Diamondbacks in the SI rankings?  CBS Sports has already said they won’t pass the Indians in their rankings.  Do you agree with CBS?  Are the Cardinals better than the Rockies and the Brewers, as most of the power rankings reflect?

Next: Roster moves after spring

Let us know your thoughts.  Thanks for reading.