St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Keep or trade him? That was the big question surrounding the St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols this offseason. Despite reports that the Cardinals were close to trading away their prized first baseman, Pojuls is on the opening day roster. Cards GM Paul Taylor says "We were in talks with teams about Albert, but we knew in the back of our minds that we didn't necessarily want to trade him. If we would have had a great trade out there that would have been good for the present and the future of the organization then we would have made the deal. But I think this team can compete for a division title and to do that we need Albert." Will the Cards entertain offers again if things don't go well to start the season? Taylor says that's a possibility, "if we fall behind in the race and we don't feel this team can compete for division titles, then yes I think we'd have to take a look at the possibility of moving him to help upgrade the team as a whole".

The Cardinals don't look like they need to be in complete rebuild mode just yet. St. Louis's top end of the starting rotation is as strong as anybody in the league with Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, and Adam Wainwright giving them a chance to win every time out. Carpenter, however, is coming off of Tommy John surgery and could start a little slow. Another big question was whether or not 21 year old Jamie Garcia would make the starting rotation out of spring training. Taylor decided it was best for him to start out in the minors. "Jamie threw the ball well this spring. But shoot he's only 21, we don't want to push him when we don't need to. If Carp wasn't ready to go off of surgery then I think there would have been a good chance Jamie would have made the starting rotation. You'll see him sometime this season I'm sure, but I'd like to get him some more innings in the minors first." The bullpen isn't real deep and St. Louis needs a healthy Jason Isringhausen this season or there could be problems. That, however, is a big question mark because he has had injury problems in the past.

There are question marks in the lineup, but they've got a very young and talented outfield in Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, and Skip Schumaker. The Cardinals will need veteran Scott Rolen to stay healthy and be productive this season and have catcher Yadier Molina continue to grow in his position. .

Since the Cardinals didn't trade Pujols, GM Taylor had to make some tough decisions to release some players to get them under their budget. Taylor released Scott Spiezo, Cesar Izturis, and Jason LaRue and Taylor was most sad to see Spiezo go. "Scott is such a Warrior and a great teammate. He provided some big hits for us in key situations. He gave us flexibiity in the infield that we're going to sorely miss, especially if we don't stay healthy." Without the Izturis, LaRue, and Spiezio on the team they won't have much depth so health will be a big key for this team

Do the Cards have what it takes to win the Central Division title? Can they take down the Cubs and their vaulted lineup? With Carpenter, Mulder, and Wainwright they've got a chance but they are definitely question marks heading into the season.