The Cardinals lost the '13 World Series, but there "may not be a team in baseball that is better-poised for an extended run of future success," according to Drew Silva of NBCSPORTS.com. The Cardinals "will be playing on big stages for years and years to come," as they are "stacked with good, young talent" and have more than $30M in player salaries coming off the books this winter (NBCSPORTS.com, 10/31). In St. Louis, Bernie Miklasz notes the Cardinals this season won 106 games including the postseason, which is more "than all but four Cards' teams in franchise history." The team "extended the winning tradition of an esteemed franchise" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/31). Red Sox DH David Ortiz said of the Cardinals, "They're going to have to bring a lot of money to the table, because you have a whole bunch of cats out there performing at that level on that stage. You're dealing with an unbelievable pitching staff. I tell you what, man, those guys, they're legit." CBSSPORTS.com's Danny Knobler writes Cardinals Senior VP & GM John Mozeliak's team has "become an October mainstay." They have "revamped their team by building from within, and as Mozeliak said late Wednesday night, what they accomplished this year proved that the youth movement is working." The Cardinals "missed out on another championship, because they ran into an outstanding Red Sox team having a special season." But they "can keep this group together," so expect them to "get back here again" (CBSSPORTS.com, 10/31).
FORWARD THINKING: SI.com’s Joe Lemire notes the Cardinals have 18 homegrown players, and RF Carlos Beltran is “the lone free agent" from the team's 25-man World Series roster. If the organization wants, it can “keep intact the nucleus of a lineup that, in the last three years, won a World Series, lost in the seventh game of the NLCS and lost in the World Series” (SI.com, 10/31). MLB.com’s Mike Bauman writes to say the Cardinals “could be back this way soon is to assume a great deal,” but no other MLB club is “better set up for success in the immediate future than the Redbirds.” Matheny said, “There’s been a lot of talk about that, and rightfully so. ... There’s a lot of things to be excited about moving forward” (MLB.com, 10/31). ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick writes the Cardinals “will continue to serve as a model of continuity when they report to spring training in February.” The Cardinals “struggled to come to grips with a wonderful season that was punctuated by a disappointing ending.” Crasnick: “It produced a hollow feeling that will serve as motivation moving forward, if only because they'll do everything in their power to avoid re-living it” (ESPN.com, 10/31).
