• Carpenter, Mulder, and Clement fail to combine for 30 starts
  
• Colby Rasmus is kept in the minors for too long
  
• Brendan Ryan returns to the minors for some period of time
  
• Juan makes the team and flames out by mid May and is released
  
• Due to the release of Juan and an injury to Ludwick, Joe Mather makes debut and slugs several homers by the end of the season, but with a Rob Deer-esque batting average
  
• Ankiel puts up 30 HR and 100 RBI with 10 outfield assists (would be higher but runners stop testing him by early June)
  
• Wainwright is the only starter over .500
  
• Hoffpauir makes debut and puts up Brendan Ryan #'s with more RBI's. Cards sign Edgardo Alfonzo, Bret Boone, or Neifi Perez to be everyday 2B (assuming they find a way to rid themselves of Kennedy)
  
• Cards finish 69-93 and choose not to take the best player with the early draft pick because of cost considerations.
  
• Molina wins 1st gold glove

• Hoff and Ryan establish themselves as the DP combo of the future
  
• Troy Glaus slugs 40 homers
  
• Albert avoids the DL
  
• Carpenter, Mulder, and Clement combine for 60 starts
  
• Rasmus busts out in a huge way
  
• Barton establishes himself as the leadoff man (so Rasmus won't have to do it)
  
• Duncan is traded for a starter
  
• The Cardinals orginization gets serious about winning a W.S. again

Aaron Miles gets most the playing time at 2b and hits .285, but a .650 OPS. Kennedy manages to improve over last years, but only puts up a .600 one.

Reyes will end up in Tony's doghouse and ends up being replaced by Sidney Ponson

Ryan ends up in Tony's doghouse and ends up demoted in favor of Barden.

Rasmus gets called up, but ends up in Tony's doghouse

Ankiel hits 30 homeruns, but has an OBP under .300. He still spends most of the season batting 2nd

Duncan gets hurt again, Skippy ends up becoming the full time left fielder.

Miguel Cairo joins the team after getting released by someone else

Cardinals finish 62-99, missing losing 100 games because a game with the Pirates is rained out and they don't bother to make it up.

And not Cardinal related, but Dusty Baker does several things that make people scratch their heads, but the Reds still come in first ahead of the surprisingly bad cubbies, who finish 3rd behind the Brewers

1. That the Cards will be 1st in the NL Central
   
2. That the outfield will provide 90HR
   
3. That Mulder will come back at top form
   
4. That Albert will undergo surgery
   
5. That Reyes will stick to the rotation

-One of them will sustain yet another injury that will prevent them for starting 5 games.

-Pujols will NOT finish in the MVP vote for the first time of his career, due to injury.

-Colby Rasmus will put up monstrous numbers for a partial season while big-league pitchers try to figure out where his holes are. (I expect they'll find the holes either in late 08 or early 09 before Rasmus then re-adjusts)

-Rick Ankiel isn't as good as we all hope, but still pretty solid, batting somewhere between .260 and .280 and putting up around 25 HRs and 70 RBI.

-Troy Glaus plays at least 140 games and hits 35 or more home runs.

-The Cubs win the division with 89 wins, and either the Brewers or Reds challenge, while the other falters.  The Cardinals sneak in the middle in 3rd place, but still finish below .500 with a record eerily similar to last season.

-The middle infield will be a mess all year, with none of the possible options starting 120 games.

1. The middle infield is a massive monster of mediocrity all year, with Kennedy returning to his former, um, uh, greatness(?) or something, but only posting a .275/.340/.380 or so...and yet pacing the group.
2. Ankiel will have a higher batting average than OBP, becoming the first everyday player ever to do such a thing (at least I think he'd be).  His like will a freakishly cartoonish .260/.258/.500 with 28 home runs.
3. Duncan will stop dipping.
4. Brendan Ryan will remember the signs and to wear his shades, or maybe Tony will break his vegetarian rule by gnawing his fingers off.  I'm not sure one way or the other on that one.
5. Juan Gonzalez will make the team, then tear his hammy in his first at bat...again.  

1. The 08 Cardinals will shock us all by scoring early and often, to the tune of 806 runs.  Big years by Pujols, Ankiel, and Dunc, along with an out-of-nowhere career year from Ryan Ludwick, plus the late-season debut of Rasmus and a surprisingly potent bench (led by part-time OF and PH-er extraordinare JuanGone), will do the job.
   
2. Pitching, however ... not so much.  STL hurlers will shave a not-quite-enough .15 runs off the team ERA, ending at 4.50.
   
3. Despite prediction #1, prediction #2 will doom our boys to another sub-80-win season, thus allowing Mark Mulder, his shoulder and pitching career in tatters, to join the PGA tour by Oct. 15.
   
4. Led by Dusty Baker, the Reds will be the surprise winner of the NL Central and will take the NL champion Dodgers to 7 games before yielding in the NLCS. (Arm-reattachment surgery for at least 3 Cincinnati pitchers will then be scheduled for Nov. 1.)
   
5. A nasty rift will open between TLR and John Mozeliak as the trade deadline approaches, created by Moz's refusal to send down Brendan Ryan or to sign Neifi Perez for the stretch run.

1. The players we lost Edmonds, Rolen, Eck, Wells, Bennett, etc. were all no key parts to our wins last year. If anything, most of them hurt us often (and yes, I loved Edmonds, Rolen, and Eck, but let's focus on last year).
2. Glaus when healthy (even as recent as last year) was a dangerous hitter. He's bound to out-produce Rolen's numbers. Also, Edmonds had a horrific time hitting and was often replaced by Taguchi. Ankiel should be a significant step up from that, even if Rasmus doesn't come up for awhile.
3. Yes, our pitching is bad, but basically the same as last year. I'm not sure how some of your predictions have us at 60 wins when our pitching has changed very little. If anything, I've got a better feeling about it this year. Reyes can't do worse than last year. Mulder is expected back sooner and in better form. Carp is actually going to come back into action and will be with us for half of the year. Clement should do better than Kip did.
4. Our bullpen hasn't change. We should feel good about that.

In all, I honestly feel more confident about the team this year than last. It should be a year hovering around .500, not a record where we only finish with 60 wins.

1. Wainwright in top 5 for Cy Young Award
   
2. Reyes wins 14 games
   
3. Glaus hits 40 hr
   
4. Duncan hits 30 hr
   
5. Ankiel hits 25 hr
   
6. Chris Perez ready to close, Izzy traded at Deadline for prospects (middle infield) Izzy signs 1 year contract in offseason to play "Cal Eldred" role in bullpen, retires a Cardinal after '09
   
7. Rasmus has Hunter Pence type rookie year and wins ROY
   
8. Pujols top 5 in MVP
   
9. Cardinals Win Central, Cubs win Wild Card, Cardinals let Cubs have 3-0 lead, comeback and win NLCS and sweep the Red Sox in the World Series - Bizzarro 2004 Fall Classic.
   
10. Juan Gonzalez named NLCS MVP
    
11. Mark Mulder named WS MVP
    
12. Juan Gonzalez hits 20 hr and wins Comeback Player of the Year