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| Former St. Louis Cardinals Manager announces retirement/usatoday.com |
After an offseason filled with losses and bad news, the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals need to regroup and find respectable replacements for the 2012 season.
By Andrew Muckell
Two teams atop the National League Central met in the National League Championship Series. The favored Milwaukee Brewers, behind the leadership of 1B Prince Fielder and LF Ryan Braun, fought their way through an enduring season to capture their first division title since 1982; the St. Louis Cardinals and 1B Albert Pujols, in contrast, surged in late August and September to come back and overtake the Atlanta Braves for the Wildcard spot. The Cardinals continued to shock the world when they came back from series deficits against the Philadelphia Phillies, Brewers and the Texas Rangers en route to a World Series title.
In the offseason, the only ones shocked are the Brewers and Cardinals.
Days after the miraculous series with the Rangers, Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals manager, announced his retirement from the sport. LaRussa was not the only Red Bird to leave while still on top, however: Pujols signed a ten-year, $246 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Angels, turning down a $210 million contract from his former squad.
News broke in late November that the NL Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun tested positive for performance enhancing drugs late in the season. Braun, despite denying these allegations, is projected to serve a 50-game suspension in the 2012 season.
Oh yeah, and let us not forget Prince Fielder.
The 27 year old will be playing ball at Comerica Park next year with the Detroit Tigers. The Cats offered him a nine-year $214 million contract, surprising more persistent (and possibly needy) teams like the Washington Nationals and Rangers.
With these losses to the National League Central, the division sure seems more volatile. Both the Cards and Brewers have top-five power lineups, but each must feel a decrease in morale. The loss of high-impact players and even a veteran manager would affect any team, and in the case of these two teams it is more extreme. Both teams have potentially good pitching, yet one should not count on these brittle pitching staffs.
The Brewers and the Cardinals struck a chord in the league last year playing the role of underdogs; with weakened offenses for 2012, these ball clubs need to persist and show that they can outdo themselves again.
