The St. Louis Cardinals knew they weren’t going to be able to replace the most productive player in franchise history in one fell swoop. But netting Carlos Beltran at least somewhat softens the blow of losing Albert Pujols this winter.

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have reached a two-year, $26 million contract with Beltran. The free agent outfielder batted .300 with a .910 OPS and 22 home runs in 142 games this past season for the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. He was traded to San Francisco at the deadline for top pitching prospect Zach Wheeler, but he suffered a wrist injury that kept him out a few weeks and the Giants stunk down the stretch. (On a related note, it’s perplexing why the Giants didn’t even attempt to re-sign Beltran when they foolishly gave up their best minor league pitching prospect for what turned out to be a three-month rental.)

Beltran is expected to start in right field but he could move to center once Allen Craig recovers from offseason knee surgery. Craig told reporters earlier this week that he expects to be back by opening day, but the Cardinals will just have to wait and see how his recovery goes. The club also has John Jay, who will start in center when Beltran is playing right and will provide depth once Craig returns.

Considering Beltran was also fielding offers from the Indians and Blue Jays, this is a nice short-term risk for a St. Louis team that badly needed a bat with the departure of Pujols. Again, Beltran isn’t going to make anyone forget about the former St. Louis superstar, but at least he fills a void in the middle of the lineup. The biggest concern is whether or not he, Matt Holiday, and Lance Berkman can stay healthy. If they can – and if Adam Wainwright can recover from Tommy John surgery – then there’s no reason to think the Cardinals won’t make another run at the postseason this year.

Losing Pujols dramatically alters the club’s lineup, but give general manager John Mozeliak credit for landing one of the top names on the free agent market this winter.

To many, it was shocking that Albert Pujols decided to leave familiar territory in St. Louis and sign with the Angels on Thursday. But maybe even more shocking is the fact that the Halos’ offer wasn’t even the biggest that Pujols received.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Marlins were actually the highest bidders for Pujols, who will earn $254 million over the life of his new 10-year contract with the Angels. Miami offered the slugger $275 million but Pujols ultimately decided to head out to Southern California, which is presumably where he’ll finish his career.

With ownership trying to attract fans to a brand new stadium in Miami, the Marlins have been linked to many big names since the start of the winter meetings. They’ve already locked up shortstop Jose Reyes to a new six-year deal worth $106 million and also signed closer Heath Bell to a three-year, $27 million contract. In the end though, the club couldn’t catch the biggest fish of all (no pun intended), as Pujols heads West to play with the Halos.

The Angels seemingly came out of nowhere to not only outbid the Cardinals but also impress Pujols enough for him to take less money to sign in Southern Cal. Alex Rodriguez was the only player to secure a contract worth more than $200 million before Pujols signed his deal, although it’ll be interesting to see how much Prince Fielder eventually signs for once he chooses a destination. He’s now the most attractive name left on the market, and should receive plenty of high-priced offers over the next couple of days.

As for the Cardinals, they fell nearly $50 million shy of the Angels’ offer for Pujols, who said back in spring training of last year that he wasn’t going to take a hometown discount to stay in St. Louis. His previous contract was very club-friendly, so the Cards knew they would have to pony up this time around if they wanted to keep his services. In the end, it obviously wasn’t enough. Now the defending World Series Champions are left to pick up the pieces from an offseason that not only saw their long-time manager Tony La Russa retire, but also their best player and most marketable star leave for a bigger contract.

Here are a couple of predictions sure to be wrong this winter. (It’s not that I lack confidence in my prediction abilities. I just have complete confidence that they won’t be right. But hey, let’s have some freaking fun anyway, huh?)

Albert Pujols: St. Louis Cardinals
Do the Cardinals really have any choice but to work out a deal with Pujols? He is their offense, period. Matt Holliday, David Freese and Lance Berkman are all nice players but their games are enhanced with the mere presence of Pujols, who remains the best hitter in baseball. St. Louis is coming off a miraculous World Series run and just lost icon Tony La Russa to retirement. Turning around and losing Pujols to the Cubs or Dodgers is simply unacceptable. I also believe that St. Louis is the only place Pujols wants to play. But he’s already said that he’s not going to take a hometown discount, which he shouldn’t. That said, considering the Cardinals have allowed him to essentially run the clubhouse over the last decade, he might find that the grass isn’t greener on the other side if he decides to leave. This is a marriage that should stick because it works for all parties involved.

Prince Fielder: Chicago Cubs
Seeing as how I don’t buy into the idea of Pujols leaving the Cardinals, the Cubs make the most sense for Fielder if they’re willing to spend. Signing Fielder could be the start of Theo Epstein’s rebuilding project in Chicago. While the Cubs have a couple of bad contracts on their books, Epstein could build his team around Fielder just like he did with Big Papi in Boston. Management would have to approve a $150-plus million contract for this deal to happen, but it’s clear the Cubs want to win. You don’t acquire Theo Epstein and then tell him to sit on his hands. Could you imagine how many home runs Fielder could hit at Wrigley? I think he just hit one deep while typing this…

Jose Reyes: New York Mets
There are plenty of suitors for Reyes, who is young and productive. The Marlins, Giants, Nationals, Phillies, Pirates, Reds, Twins, Rays and Cardinals could all get involved in the Reyes sweepstakes but in the end, I think he’ll return to the Big Apple. He’s a fan favorite and seemed willing to re-sign with the Mets during the season last year but the situation never played itself out. Trading Carlos Beltran during the deadline last year made sense, as does re-signing Reyes to a new long-term deal.

Carlos Beltran: Boston Red Sox
A return to San Francisco certainly makes sense for Beltran. The Giants obviously need hitting and GM Brian Sabean might want to save face after he inexcusably gave away his top pitching prospect for a three-month rental that didn’t even help San Fran make the playoffs. That said, the Giants still have Aaron Rowand and Barry Zito’s awful contracts on their books and once they get done paying Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, they’ll either be unable or unwilling to sign a big-name free agent. Boston, on the other hand, seems like a perfect place for a guy like Beltran to land. They’re always willing to spend and have a void in right field. Plus, they don’t shy away from risks and seeing as how Beltran is a 34-year-old injury concern, he qualifies as a risk. He’ll be their first free agent signing in the post-Epstein era.

C.J. Wilson: New York Yankees
I had the Rangers listed next to Wilson’s name but I have a feeling that the Yankees will do everything in their power to land the top pitcher on this year’s market. They need a top-of-the-rotation arm to complement CC Sabathia and while Wilson struggled mightily in the postseason this year, he still racked up 250 innings over 39 starts and was Texas’ best pitcher. The Yankees have deep pockets and after missing out on Cliff Lee last winter, they’ll pony up for another Ranger this time around.

Other Predictions:

Jimmy Rollins: Phillies
Aramis Ramirez: Orioles
Edwin Jackson: Nationals
Roy Oswalt: Rangers

What a way to go. The St. Louis Cardinals had an incredible season topped off by one of the most exciting World Series comebacks in baseball history. 67-year-old Tony La Russa apparently has decided that this was the perfect way to end his career, as he announced today that he will retire as manager of the Cardinals.

Already the talking heads on ESPN are speculating that this really won’t be the end for La Russa. Who knows. But he’s had a great career with three World Series titles.

One criticism of La Russa is that he should have won more championships, as he had an incredible team in Oakland that managed to lose two of of three times in the World Series. But baseball is a funny sport. The best team doesn’t always win – the hottest team wins. Baseball history is littered with examples of how a dominant pitcher and a hot team can defeat the more dominant teams. Orel Hershiser and the Dodgers were one example against La Russa’s A’s.

La Russa was hailed as a genius at times, and that happened again after Game 1 of this World Series after all of his moves seemed to work out. Then he was the goat of Game 5 as the Cardinals ran the wrong relief pitcher out to the mound after what La Russa described as a communication problem.

None of those details really matter now. La Russa is leaving the game in the way players and managers can only dream about.

Following their epic extra innings victory in Game 6 on Thursday night, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa announced that ace Chris Carpenter would start Game 7 of the World Series against the Rangers tonight.

It was a move that has been anticipated since David Freese hit a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Cardinals a 10-9 win on Thursday night. Carpenter last pitched on Monday and has worked on short rest before in this postseason. While technically it’s Kyle Lohse’s turn in club’s postseason rotation and Edwin Jackson would be working on a normal rest period, La Russa has to turn to his workhouse in this situation.

In related news, both Matt Holliday (finger) and Nelson Cruz (groin) are expected to play in Game 7. Holliday suffered what Joe Buck called during the broadcast a “severely bruised little finger” when he dove back into third base during a pickoff attempt Thursday night. He jammed his hand into third baseman Adrian Beltre’s foot and was subsequently called out on the play. Holliday didn’t return to the game, leaving some to speculate whether or not he would play in Game 7.

Cruz strained a groin muscle on his final at-bat in Game 6 and was shown limping down the clubhouse steps. But as long as he can still walk, one would expect him to be in the lineup. This is Game 7 of the World Series, after all.

David Freese was having a rough night, as were the rest of the Cardinals as they did their best Little League impersonation in the field last night. But they wouldn’t give up, and every time the Texas Rangers took another lead, often after St. Louis blunders in the field, the Cards somehow fought back to tie up the game. Several times they were down to their last strike, and somehow they kept coming through.

In the bottom of the 11th, Freese hit a walk-off solo home run that sent this series to game 7.

It was an amazing game, and now we have game 7. The ratings have sucked for this World Series, but hopefully more people watched last night.

Albert Pujols clubbed three home runs as the Cardinals pounded the Rangers 16-7 to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series. He also had 5 hits and 6 RBIs. The Cardinals chased Rangers starter Matt Harrison in the fourth inning and then continued their assault on a Texas bullpen that had been brilliant in the post-season.

The series had been characterized by low-scoring games, but everything changed when the teams arrived in the warm Texas climate. Both pitching staffs had a rough night, but Texas suffered a total collapse by giving up 15 runs.

It had looked like Texas may have stolen momentum in the series with their dramatic ninth-inning win in game two, but the Cardinals shook it off and unleashed Pujols and the rest of the offense. Pujols had received heavy criticism for not talking to the media after committing a key error in the ninth inning of game 2, but he shrugged that off as well.

For the second straight night, the Texas Rangers’ powerful bats were silenced by a St. Louis starter.

Jaime Garcia pitched seven strong innings while allowing zero runs on just three hits and striking out seven. Everything was going right for the right-hander and manager Tony La Russa, who lifted Garcia for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh, which produced the Cardinals’ only run of the night when Allen Craig singled home David Freese.

But it was the Rangers’ work on the base paths in the top of the ninth that allowed Texas to come from behind by scoring two runs and propel them to a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Thursday night.

Down 1-0 and facing a 2-0 hole in the best-of-seven series, Ian Kinsler led off the ninth with a single to center. Had the Cardinals not been playing doubles defense, Kinsler’s shallow fly ball probably would have been caught by Matt Holliday in left field. Instead, it brought the go-ahead run to the plate for the Rangers, who were threatening for the first time all night.

With Elvis Andrus up to bat, Kinsler took off for second and appeared to be gunned down by St. Louis backstop Yadier Molina. But second base umpire Ron Kulpa called Kinsler safe to the dismay of the ground. Replays showed that shortstop Rafael Furcal swiped the ground as Kinsler got his hand to the bag safely, proving that Kulpa’s call was correct.

With Kinsler now in scoring range, Andrus delivered a single of his own off closer Jason Motte. While his hit wasn’t enough to score Kinsler from third, Andrus headed for second on a heads up play after he saw the ball get past cutoff man Albert Pujols, putting two men in scoring position for Josh Hamilton. The left-handed slugger then delivered a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Kinsler and moving Andrus over to third. Michael Young then did his job by hitting another sac fly to score Andrus and all of a sudden the Rangers had a lead for the first time all series.

Texas closer Neftali Feliz wound up walking the first batter he faced in the bottom of the inning, putting Molina on base and the potential game-winning run up to bat. But Feliz struck out Nick Punto and Skip Schumaker and then retired Furcal on a fly out to right to end the game and send Texas home with a split in the series.

Of course, base running wasn’t the only thing that saved the Rangers on the night. Andrus made two outstanding defensive plays in back-to-back innings in the fourth and fifth. In the fourth, he and Kinsler retired Holliday on a slick double play, as Andrus went to his left and flipped the ball back to Kinsler, who made a bare-handed catch while tossing the ball to first to complete the play. In the fifth, Andrus made an even better play while diving to his left to halt a potential base hit by Furcal, then flipping the ball to Kinsler using only his glove to register a force out at second. Both plays stopped potential scoring rallies for St. Louis.

With things tied at one game apiece, the series now shifts to Texas for three games, starting with Game 3 on Saturday night.

The St. Louis Cardinals won game one of the World Series 3-2 over the Texas Rangers. Tony La Russa seemed to have the magic touch as each of his moves worked perfectly in a tight game. In the sixth inning, La Russa sent out pinch hitter Allen Craig to hit for starter Chris Carpenter, and Craig got the game-winning RBI single.

From there, the Cards’ bullpen took over, and now they have game one.

My 2011 MLB season predictions were a little off this year.

I said the A’s would win the AL West and they actually finished 22 games out of first.

I said the White Sox would win the AL Central and they just traded their manager to another team, which sums up how well they did this year.

I said the Giants would repeat as National League champions and in doing so I cursed Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Freddy Sanchez and the 900 other players they placed on the DL this season.

I had the Braves winning the NL Wild Card and we all know how that turned out. Yiiiiiikes.

While I did have the Phillies winning the NL East and the Yankees making the postseason as the AL Wild Card, those were gimmies. My only claim to fame was predicting the Brewers to win the NL Central, although when you have the Red Sox winning the World Series and they don’t even make the postseason you have no right to brag about anything.

So if you’re offended by my postseason predictions below, don’t be. Chances are I’ll be wrong anyway.

ALDS: Yankees over Tigers.
I don’t trust the Yankees’ pitching but I trust it more than I trust Doug Fister. Justin Verlander was the best pitcher in the American League this season but he’s had a knack for coming up short on the road throughout the years. Knowing the Yankees they’ll be down in every game of this series and figure out some way to advance. Derek Jeter will be 16-for-18 with 11 doubles and one game-winning home run or something ridiculous.

NLDS: Phillies over Cardinals.
The Phillies did the Cardinals a favor by beating Atlanta but if I were them, I would have wanted the downtrodden Braves to advance. That team would have just been happy to reach the postseason after a miserable September. Nevertheless, the Phillies’ pitching will dominate the hot-and-cold St. Louis lineup and the Cardinals’ pitching will fail them in Philadelphia. They’ve got Edwin Jackson slated to start Game 2 in that bandbox the Phillies’ call a stadium, which should work out well considering he’s a fly ball pitcher. (Read: sarcasm.)

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