My Expected 25-Man Roster

Here is the 25 man roster, if the season started today:
C - Yadi
1B - Pujols
2B - Ryan
3B - Mather
SS - K Greene
LF - Schumaker
CF - Ankiel
RF - Ludwick
B - Barden, Duncan, T Greene, LaRue

SP - Carpenter, Lohse, Pineiro, Wainwright, Wellemeyer
LHR - Miller, Reyes
RHR - Franklin, Kinney, McClellan, Motte, Perez, Thompson

DL - Glaus

On the Bubble: Barton, Hawksworth, Rasmus, Thurston

No Chance: Craig, Hoffpauir, Manning, Ostlund, Ring

Second base is still up on the air, but I think the Skip Experiment is done. They won't give him the starting job, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him there every one in a while. Ryan will probably get the starting gig, but Tyler Greene and Brian Barden will get opportunies as well.

That means Rasmus will start the season in Memphis, barring a trade. It looks thin on the back up outfielders, but Ryan has been getting some time in the outfield, and I wouldn't be surprised if Barden and Greene do as well. Mather is also an option if one of the other 3 utility infielders starts at third. I also expect Barton to be sent down to get regular at bats.

The rotation is set; the bullpen is close to being there. If they don't keep 8 releivers, I think McClellan should be sent down so they can work on extending him into a starter. They'll probably send down either Motte or Perez.

Cardinal Thoughts

Here's my blog dedicated to the Cardinals. To start things off, let's look at what we have tied up for next year (based off today's 40-man roster, including players on the DL, and this year's salary - note that the players are paid if they are on the major league roster; Hoffpauir is not making $390,000 unless he's on the MLB roster):

C - Yadier Molina ($1.8MM)
1B - Albert Pujols ($13.8MM)
2B - Jarrett Hoffpauir ($390,000), Adam Kennedy ($3.5MM), Aaron Miles ($1.4MM)
3B - Troy Glaus ($12.5MM)
SS - Brendan Ryan ($393,000), Rico Washington ($390,000)
OF - Rick Ankiel ($900,000), Brian Barton ($390,000), Chris Duncan ($439,000), Ryan Ludwick ($411,000), Joe Mather ($390,000), Skip Schumaker ($396,000), Nick Stavinoha ($390,000)

SP - Mitchell Boggs ($390,000), Chris Carpenter ($10.5MM), Jaime Garcia ($390,000), Blake Hawksworth ($390,000), Mike Parisi ($390,000), Joel Pineiro ($5.5MM), Adam Wainwright ($687,500), Todd Wellemeyer ($1MM).
RP - Randy Flores ($1MM), Ryan Franklin ($2.25MM), Kelvin Jimenez ($390,000), Tyler Johnson ($390,000), Josh Kinney ($390,000), Kyle McClellan ($390,000), Jason Motte ($390,000), Chris Perez ($390,000), Brad Thompson ($414,000), Mark Worrell ($390,000).

Free Agents: Jason LaRue ($850,000), Cesar Izturis ($2.85MM), Juan Encarnacion ($6.5MM), Braden Looper ($5.5MM), Kyle Lohse ($4.25MM), Jason Isringhausen ($8MM), Russ Springer ($3.5MM), Ron Villone ($600,000), Mark Mulder ($7MM), Matt Clement ($1.25MM).

As of today, there are 39 roster spots filled on the 40-man roster, with Carpenter claiming the 40th tomorrow. With the impending free agents leaving, we'll be down to 31. I'd like to assume that the Cardinals would drop Blake Hawksworth and Rico Washington from the 40-man after the season (or possibly at the trade deadline, depending on the deal); 29 taken roster spots.

As far as payroll, the Cardinals will have $40.3MM come off the payroll, on top of the money they are still paying Jim Edmonds (a couple of million, if I remember correctly). Ankiel, Duncan, Ludwick, and Schumaker will probably receive nice raises; all are arbitration eligible and salary will exceed a million each. All of the veterans with multi-year deals will probably see a slight raise; it's safe to assume that we'll have close to $70MM tied up before trades and free agency. That would leave us $25MM or so to spend.

(If I can find the exact numbers, I'll post them)

I expect the team will need to find a back up catcher, an upgrade in the middle infield (or 2), and pitching - which I will look at next time.