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As usual for Wednesday The Red Baron shared a Draft Preview with us, though this one was a little different. As a Persons of Interest post, The Baron covered five players rather than three, with less to say per player. They also aren't expected to go in the first couple rounds, but are more about naming some less known players that the Cardinals could end up snagging in the later rounds. With the draft around the corner and the Cardinals holding three of the top 34 picks, now is the time to be familiar with the talent in this year's draft.
Next up, Ben Godar looked at 538's new ELO ratings to see what the system considered the best teams in Cardinals history, the list is littered with the Musial-led teams of the '40's with the '31 team the lone Gas House Gang representative. The only modern team to make it is the 2004 MV3 lead Cardinals, which is pretty neat. Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds combined for 25 WAR that year. If not for the Wainwright trade, it could have been the MV4 that year, with J.D. Drew posting 8.6 WAR for the Braves that year. I wouldn't take back that trade for anything, but it's interesting to think about how things might have been even better that year.
Albert Pujols' desire to return to St. Louis (as a visitor) was the subject of yesterday's Hunt and Peck. I for one think it's pretty lame that the Cardinals have went to Anaheim twice in the last three years and the Angels haven't come to St. Louis once since Pujols went out west following the 2011 season.
John came up with an interesting way to find the most valuable players in Cardinals history. The premise is looking players whose WAR exceeded the total of games that the Cardinals made the playoffs, and multiplying that effect by how long they went in the play-offs. Check out the results.
The Cardinals beat the Angels again yesterday 5-2, check out the game thread for VEB's takes as they happened, and check out Dr. Howl's recap for a full post-game breakdown. The Cards go for the sweep tomorrow, with Adam Wainwright looking to build upon his good outing last game. He'll face off against Jered Weaver, the same Jered Weaver who is striking out less than five hitters per nine innings this year and is down to just 82 mph fastball velocity. Go Cardinals!