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     The Most Valuable Player award this year has three strong candidates again this year. Now, being a Cardinal fan and loving Albert Pujols, my vote is to Albert Pujols; however, I'll have to say Ryan Howard and Carlos Beltran both have a good shot. Each player's breakdown include their accomplishments this year, a reason why they should win and a reason why they shouldn't win.
ALBERT PUJOLS, CARDINALS 1B: Pujols has a batting line of .321/.423/.681 (AVG, OBP, SLG). He has 101 runs scored and is third in the league with 43 homeruns, and second with 115 RBI. He needs just three more homeruns to match his career high (46 in 2004) and 15 RBI more to match his career high in that category (130 in 2001, 117 RBI last year). He has put up his sixth straight 30+ HR, 100+ RBI, 100+ runs season. He has only made five errors at first base and is probably looking at his first ever gold glove (his previous low was 2003 with five, but was in the outfield and at first base. His previous two season he had 10 and 14 errors at first). Now, you're thinking these numbers are awesome stats and another Pujols like season. Well, you're wrong. He has only played in 118 games and can only play in maximum of 144 games (a career low. Previous was 154 in 2004). He was out for 18 days in June. So, you have to wonder about the lost numbers because of that injury AND the effects he is still feeling.
REASON WHY HE SHOULD WIN: He is the regining MVP and he is playing on a first place team. He is the main reason why the Cardinals have been in first or shared first since May 12.
REASON WHY HE SHOULDN'T WIN: He will more than likely not be the leader in any offensive categories, and he was injuried for awhile and you can't assume his numbers would be better.
PREDICTION: MVP

RYAN HOWARD, PHILLIES 1B: Howard is the MLB leader in HR and RBI (53 HR, 134 RBI). Those are some impressive numbers. In fact, his numbers are better than Andruw Jones' numbers from the end of last season (51 HR and 128 RBI), and Jones led the NL in both categories (the MLB in HR). Thats imprssive. Whats more impressive is the Howard won the Century 21 Homerun Derby back in July and Rookie of the Year last year. He played in only 84 games last year and hit 22 HR. The downside: he's 26, the same age as Pujols. So, are those numbers as impressive after knowing that? Yes and no. It does take tremendous skill to hit 50+ homeruns, and it also takes a lot of skills to overcome the effects of the Homerun Derby (ask former Fightin Phil Bobby Abreu).
REASON WHY HE SHOULD WIN: He does lead the planet in HR and RBI, and is hitting over .300. He is also one of two reasons why the Phils are back in the hunt for the Wild Card.
REASON WHY HE SHOULDN'T WIN: It took him 16 days to pass Pujols in HR and RBI (while Pujols was on the DL) and is playing a team that more than likely will not go to the playoffs and could more than likely end up under or just barely above .500.
PREDICTION: VERY CLOSE 2nd

CARLOS BELTRAN, NEW YORK METS CF: Beltran plays on the New York Mets, the best team in baseball. He has Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Shawn Green following him in the batting order. The guy is in the top five of every offensive category and is having a career year on top of it. There is a downside, he has Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Shawn Green following him in the batting order. Thats some of the best offense in the game right there. So, if he played somewhere else, would he have this good of numbers? Probably not. Look back to last year when he only had David Wright, who really wasn't a big offensive threat last year. His numbers were extremely down. So, does having someone good behind make a difference? Damn straight. Pujols' numbers last year came with Yadier Molina and Abraham Nunez batting after him following Reggie Sanders injury. Then, when Larry Walker and Sanders got back, Pujols' numbers raised. Howard's numbers this year came because of Pat Burrell and Chase Utley batting after him. Pujols has had Scott Rolen and Juan Encarnacion. So, you figure that Pujols and Howard have had less offense behind them and have better numbers than Beltran, who has had some big fire power behind him, you know Beltran's name shouldn't be muttered in the MVP voting.
REASON WHY HE SHOULD WIN: He has had a career year on a winning team.
REASON WHY HE SHOULDN'T WIN: He is on a team that could win without him. He has a lot of protection around him, and his numbers are inflated because of that.
PREDICTION: 3rd
     Now, you may be wondering about the name of the article. It's pretty simple. In M V P, there is a P. Does it stand for Pujols, Phillie (Howard) or Puerto Rican (Beltran)? See, it's simple.

     There are some moves the Cardinals need to make for next year. I'll give you a rundown in a second. First off, lets remember not to long ago the Cardinals had an over $90 million payroll. What did that bring? A World Series appearence. What has this $85 million dollar payroll bring? Disaster. There are teams that have upped their payrolls past the Cardinals. Now, the Cardinals can say they don't want to spend to much. However, whats too much? When Scott Rolen, Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter make over $31 million (for good reason), I think you know that you have to up the payroll. After all, those three make more than a third of the payroll. So here's what the Cardinals need to do:
     First off, the Cardinals need to up their budget to $100 million. Now, remember that's their budget, not their payroll. You need some flexability, and this is how you start it. Now, you set your sites on a few goals. First and foremost, limit your spending to your own possible free agent players. You don't want to spend too much, but you don't want to spend too little. So, here's what I would do. I would resign Ronnie Belliard to a two year contract worth $6 million, with a club option for a third year worth $4.5 million. Next, trade Ricardo Rincon for a minor league player, outside of the league. This frees up spots for Tyler Johnson and Randy Flores to be the full-time lefties out of the pen. Next comes the tricky part: Jim Edmonds. I would deny his option. Then, try to sign him to a one year deal worth $1 million. If he denys, fine. If he accepts, great. Either way, this saves $6-7 million. After this, I would resign Jeff Suppan, who has probably been the number two pitchers the past three years. I would definently resign Preston Wilson. This gives the Cardinals a lot of insurance. If they can't sign a big time outfielder, at least they have a fall back plan. Now, the expensive part: Mark Mulder. I would definently try to work out a deal with Mulder. Sure, he's been a little inconsistent, but everyone knows the capability this guy has. I would try to sign him to a five year contract worth between $48 and $55 million dollars. Why so high? The money we would get back on Mulder and the money we save on Edmonds would cover the first year of the contract, and it still gives us $2-3 million to play with.....along with $13.5 million dollars. Ah ha, think of that. Sounds bad, but when you break it down, it's huge. We have about $28 million to spend in the offseason. We have an open outfield spot for a big time signee and a set rotation (Carpenter, Mulder, Suppan, Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright). Also, look at the bullpen: Flores, Johnson, Brad Thompson, Josh Hancock, Jorge Sosa, Braden Looper and Jason Isringhausen. Plus, after a big offseason signee of an outfielder, we can add a few arms to the bullpen, if we want. Now, lets move on to the free agent market.
     Now, the free agent market is going to be a huge part of the Cardinals offseason. On the shopping list is: a backup catcher, a utility infielder, a big outfield bat and maybe some bullpen pitchers. First target: outfield. The Cardinals outfield (assuming Edmonds resigns) will be pretty crowded. The following are the names of the outfielders on the roster (* means they are starting): Edmonds, Wilson, Chris Duncan*, Juan Encarnacion* and So Taguchi. So, backup outfielders are not necessary. Now, lets go shopping. Down the fvie tool isle, we see Alfonso Soriano (2B/LF). Soriano comes with great speed, an even better bat and a better than average throwing arm. He converted to the outfield in Washington. With St. Louis, he's still an outfielder. Soriano will cost a lot, but guess what? We got close to $30 million to spend. So, lets try to pick him up. Soriano wants a no-trade clause, and plenty of teams are going to try for his services. Here's a few: New York Yankees, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres. Like I said, just a few. So, the Cardinals need to blow Soriano away with an offer. Here's my offer layed out over the period of years the contract states:
Year 1 - $12.5 million
Year 2 - $13 million
Year 3 - $13 million
Year 4 - $16 million
Year 5 - $18 million (club option; buyout: $3.5 million)
Yeah, thats a big contract, but for a good reason. Soriano is worth the money. He can hit fourth in the order with Scott Rolen batting after him, followed by Duncan and Encarnacion. This gives the Cardinals a batting order of five guys that can hit for 20+ homeruns. Thats worth $54.5 million over four years.
     Next isle: Carlos Lee. This cat is worth the dough, but not as much as Soriano. Lee has great power and the ability to hit for a high average and score a lot of runs. He's basically a Panama version of Albert Pujols. What I would do with him is lay out another four year contract with a fifth year option, but not as much money:
Year 1 - $11 million
Year 2 - $11 million
Year 3 - $13 million
Year 4 - $14 million
Year 5 - $16 million (club option; buyout: $3 million)
Soriano's contract can be worth either $72.5 million or $58 million. Lee's can be worth $65 million or $52 million. It's significantly less money, but beings Soriano has more abilitys than Lee, it's actually pretty reasonable.
     Now, notice what I'm doing here with Lee and Soriano. I'm looking for guys who can hit 40+ homeruns and drive in over 100 runs. Why do that when I have Pujols? Here's a question to your question: why have Manny Ramirez bat after David Ortiz? You have two guys who hit over 80 homeruns and drive in over 270 runs a year (between the two). This gives the Cardinals an even more dangerous middle of the order and it takes a little pressure off Rolen to always come through.
     The bench can be easily addressed. We bascially only need two players for the bench. We have Micheal Hernandez at Triple A right now, and we can always resign Jose Vizcaino. So, no big deals there. The bullpen, yes it could always use an extra arm (espically after watching it this year). So, basically, whoever becomes available, we go after. After all these moves, we should have about $12 million left over for jus in case moves, and to carry over and pay for some salaries of guys' contracts  that grow.
     Now, how can you argue with that?

     Folks, I think it's offical. Take out the gun and shoot them now. Walt Jocketty has done everything he can to keep the farm system intact and try to win. He has done a pretty good job too. Bringing in Preston Wilson to help off the bench and start once in awhile. He has also added Ronnie Belliard to help spark the offense. However, none of these plans of Jocks have worked out the way he wanted them to. Lets break these down, shall we?
     Belliard has floped as a Cardinal. He has posted a batting line of .264/.312/.361 (AVG, OBP, SLG) in 19 games. Also in those 19 games, Belliard has hit one homerun and put up nine RBI and six runs. How can this help, honestly? I know the platoon of Hector Luna and Aaron Miles wasn't producing a lot, but they produced better numbers than Belliard has put up so far. My hope for this move is that Belliard understands he's not as good as he has been and takes a paycut for next year. I would love to see him back in a Cardinals uniform and see how he produces in a full year in the STL.
     Wilson, for only being around for five games hasn't been bad. He's been himself, really. He has a .235 batting average and he's played center and right field. He's got two taters and three RBI as a Cardinal so far. Now, thats not bad for five games. Wilson was picked up for his veteran skills. He can play all three outfield positions, and all well. He has a Jim Edmonds like arm and defensive skills. He also has Carlos Beltran speed. The guy packs a wholap as a five tool player. His downfall is that Chris Duncan is in left and will not move. Edmonds is in center and Juan Encarnacion is in right. Now, if I were Tony La Russa, I would do this with Wilson. Against lefties, play him in center and give Edmonds a day off. Do NOT put him in right and move Encarnacion to center. Encarnacion needs to stay in right field and not be moved around. Also, use Wilson in right or left field every fourth game (fill in for Duncan) and fifth game (filling in for Encarnacion). This way, Wilson gets to play at least twice every five games and it keeps the outfield fresh for October (assuming they get there).
     Almost done. Not only does that explain the story, it explains this next person: Jose Vizcaino. Vizcaino was released by the San Francisco Giants. He's a utility infielder (like Scott Spezio) and can play all four infield spots. The advantage Vizcaino has over all these other new comers: Playoff Experience. Thats huge my friend. Now with David Eckstein on the disabled list, Vizcaino was desperately needed. Here's the scoop though: what to do afterwards?
     After Eckstein gets off the DL, what will the Cardinals do? Assuming Edmonds gets healthy, the Cardinals will have two outfielders on the bench (Wilson and So Taguchi), three infielders (Spezio, Vizcaino and Miles) and a backup catcher (Gary Bennett). Then you think about the bullpen (and yes I know, if you add up everything, there will be 26 players, don't worry) consisting of: Randy Flores, Braden Looper, Adam Wainwright, Jorge Sosa, Tyler Johnson, Jason Isringhausen and Josh Hancock, what will happen? You have to drop someone to get to 25. A bench guy or a bullpen pitcher? Who knows. My planning would be to drop Johnson, being a rookie how would he handle the pressure of the playoffs?
     Last, but not least, closer. This has not been the year of the closers. Ask Brad Lidge, Francisco Cordero (before going to Milwaukee), Derrick Turnbow, The Braves, Bobby Jenks, The Reds, Eddie Guardado (before going to Cincinnati) and Eric Gagne. Oh, I forgot one, didn't I? Isringhausen. What will the Cardinals do with Isringhausen? Some people want La Russa's head for going with him all the time. Some are cutting Isringhausen slack (like I did). My idea: bump Isringhausen to the seventh and eigth innings and use a combonation of Brad Thompson (in September), Jorge Sosa and Braden Looper in the closers role. A closer by committee group. It can work for the rest of September. This gives Isringhausen a chance to make his cutter better in earlier innings and it won't blow the game.

     Wow, the Los Angeles Dodgers need some serious help in their front office. They traded off Odalis Perez and two pitching prospects to the Kansas City Royals for Elmer Dessens. Dessens may add a little depth to the Dodgers bullpen, but it's not a great addition. Dayton Moore is proving he's a smart man. By adding Perez, who yes was upset in Los Angeles, he now has a frontline starter. Sure, Perez has never really shown how good he is, but by going to a no pressure town like Kansas City, Perez will shine.
     This isn't the best part. In two days, Moore has added four, yes FOUR, minor league prospects from two teams who are known for developing good pitchers. He traded Mike MacDougal yesterday to the Chicago White Sox for two minor league pitchers and then today, this. By trading MacDougal and Dessens, Moore opens the door for Ambiorix Burgos to be the closer for a long time. Moore also has some other vets he can trade off for some more prospects. He's rebuilding Kansas City's future in the right way.
     Jim Bowden needs to take notes about Moore. Both teams have players that teams want. There isa  difference though. Moore is more opened to trades where as Bowden is not. Bowden wants guys who can play now, not prospects. This is where he'll run into problems. By asking for guys that are at the Major League level (i.e. Brandon McCarthy), he'll get laughed at. Whereas Moore asks for young prospects that his scouts say are good and the team he's getting them from say they aren't. Bowden needs to stop asking for proven young guys and ask for unproven young guys. If he wants to rebuild the minor league system, thats how you do it.