Kuzul

When it comes to classy organizations, the Cardinals remain perched at the top of the pecking order. Adam Wainwright’s new five-year, $97.5 million contract extension further justifies the claim. The deal also upholds the abundance of benefits the Cardinals continue to garner without Albert Pujols. Initially, many may have been under the impression the Cardinals would flounder after being outbid by the Angels for then-free agent Pujols. We all know how that tale ended; Pujols darted for greener pastures out West, where he signed a 10-year, $254 million mega deal with the Angels.El Hombre packed up and left the city that was so devoted to him for so many years. He bolted St. Louis after saying he wanted “to be a Cardinal forever.”But Pujols and Wainwright are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of professionalism and class. Wainwright was in the same boat as Pujols. Entering the final stanza ...

You don't win 11 World Series championships by stumbling upon them blindly. The St. Louis Cardinals, with the second-most World Series titles in the history of baseball, have almost always been a shrewdly run organization.Throughout their history, the Cardinals have consistently managed player evaluation, player development and the team's payroll with world-class precision.It's for this reason that the Cardinals' recent signing of Adam Wainwright, as reported by Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, is such an interesting topic. Especially on the heels of their decision not to pursue Kyle Lohse, who, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, was recently signed by the Milwaukee Brewers.Although Lohse, at the age of 34, is a few years older than the 31-year-old Wainwright, there seemed to be more at work in the Cardinals' evaluation of these two players than just the wear on their respective arms.Lohse had one the best years in his career last season, ...

The 2012 campaign for Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright had more twists and turns than the famous Lombard Street.  One minute he was looking like the ace of 2009-2010 as he showed in August.  The next he was struggling to get to the sixth inning and giving up home runs in droves.Wainwright dominated August with a 5-1 record and a 2.75 ERA and helped the Cardinals get their stretch run toward the postseason started.  You never would have known that his April was downright putrid when he went 0-3 in four starts and gave up five home runs in 19.1 innings.  But one thing the Cardinals and their fans know for sure about Wainwright (besides his practical joker side) is that he is ready to get after it in 2013.  He's a guy who has a tremendous amount of confidence and knows he is the ace of a pretty solid Cardinals ...

ST. LOUIS–The St. Louis Cardinals are back at it again—defying all the odds to keep driving deeper into October. They met a hiccup in their plans on Friday night when they lost Game 5 of the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants. When your team has a pair of Mr. Octobers, the chance to keep a game or series alive is always present. The Cardinals have been quick to credit their success so far in 2012 to rookie manager Mike Matheny for his methods and positive attitude. “I was thinking about Mike Matheny and he's a man of very few words, compared to a lot of people,” David Freese said prior to Game 5 of the NLCS. “But, when he speaks, it's meaningful.” Freese, like most members of the team, has an immense respect for Matheny both as a manager and a man. “He's got our back, from day one,” he ...

The St. Louis Cardinals should still be viewed as serious contenders in the second half of the 2012 MLB season despite the loss of Chris Carpenter. While the loss of any team’s co-ace starting pitcher is a huge blow, the Cardinals have already shown this year that they have what it takes to weather the storm. In Carpenter’s absence, the team has put together an impressive first half. With as many as seven key players on the disabled list at once, the Cardinals pushed through a tough May and a tougher early June to find themselves only 2.5 games out of first place and six games over .500 at the All-Star break. Given the Cardinals’ tough schedule in June and the problems they faced, they could easily be much farther down in the standings. Following are four reasons the Cardinals will still be legitimate contenders without Carpenter.Begin Slideshow

After another great outing from Adam Wainwright, the St. Louis Cardinals fall again after bullpen struggles and defensive miscues continue to plague the team.Wainwright put together a big night going seven innings giving up only two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts. By any stretch, that's a great night. Not only was he pitching well, he got an early base hit and made a pair of key defensive plays.It was clear early on that he was going to have to do it all.The game fell apart only moments after Wainwright went to the bench.Marc Rzepczynski came in and barely pulled one out before giving up two runs on three hits including a monster home run to Adam Dunn (21).RHP Mitchell Boggs then came in to clean up the mess, but with no luck. Boggs got the final two outs of the eighth inning, but not before giving up a ...

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright will take the mound tonight in anticipation of his sixth win of 2012.Wainwright, who is still getting back to form following Tommy John surgery in 2011, has seen more success in his last four outings than all season.His sinker sinks again. His curve moves again. That wasn't the case earlier in the season.Wainwright's road back has been a rocky one. So far in 2012 he has bounced back and forth between good starts and, well, not so good ones. We've seen glimmers of hope and moments of the old Wainwright, but his last few outings have shown more than a glimmer.It has been the culmination of 15 months of rehab and hard work to re-discover himself as a pitcher.Tonight, he will face off against Jose Quintana, the rookie pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. Quintana is 1-1 on the season and has ...

Adam Wainwright has gotten off to a pretty rough start this season, posting an ERA of 5.77 prior to Tuesday's action.After Tuesday night's contest against the Padres though, it's safe to say that his ERA will see a nice drop.Wainwright pitched a shutout against the Padres, throwing just 111 pitches over nine innings while allowing just five baserunners—four hits and one walk. He also struck out nine.Yonder Alonso, Edinson Volquez, Andy Parrino and pinch-hitter Blake Tekotte recorded the only hits off Wainwright. Parrino's and Volquez's hits went for doubles.The St. Louis Cardinals won the game 4-0.This is just his third career shutout, with the other two coming back in 2010—the year he finished second in the NL Cy Young voting.Any doubts that people had regarding Wainwright's recovery from Tommy John surgery should now be silenced, as it's clear that he is back to his dominant ways.He remained the only real ...

Baseball is a great sport for fantasy owners because everything can be quantified. Every at bat is an individual event and can be meticulously scrutinized to the point where we can use sabermetric statistics to predict future success or failures. Using some of these principles, we’re going to look at two players that are good “buy low” candidates and two pitchers that are good “sell high" candidates.Begin Slideshow

The “Fabulous Foursome” is a new column here at Rotoprofessor that we are going to run once a week focusing on four players fantasy owners should be looking to acquire for various reasons (for example, a new closer, prospect on the verge of a recall, buy-low candidates, etc.). Let’s take a look at who you should be targeting this week:1) Eric Hosmer—Kansas City Royals—First Baseman He was impressive in his rookie season (.293, 19 HR, 78 RBI, 66 R, 11 SB in 523 AB).  That’s what makes his early season struggles so surprising.  Would anyone have expected him to open the year hitting a measly .174 over his first 144 AB? Yes, he’s added 5 HR, 18 RBI and 16 R, but it’s not hard to imagine owners in your league not being willing to overlook the pathetic average that is staring them ...