Fantasy Baseball: Top 5 St. Louis Cardinals for 2010

by Ray Guilfoyle on Jan 16, 2010 9:00 AM EST in Baseball

To continue in the Top 5 series, I'll move to the National League Central and start with the Top 5 St. Louis Cardinals that fantasy owners need to know come draft day 2010. The Cardinals improved their lineup this offseason by signing left fielder Matt Holliday to a 7 year deal, but lost infielder/outfielder Mar DeRosa to free agency.

Here are the Top 5 Cardinals for 2010:

1. Albert Pujols-he's the best hitter in the game, and it's not even close. He'll be the number one pick in most fantasy drafts in 2010, but some will take Hanley Ramirez, and I will take Matt Kemp. Expect a 40-125-.325 season out of Pujols, but I am sure he will top that projection.

2. Matt Holliday-Holliday signs with the Cardinals and will play left field and bat cleanup. I expect a 30-100 season out of him in 2010 with double digit SBs.

3. Adam Wainwright-Wainwright was 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 2009. He struck out 212 batters and had a K/BB ratio of 3.21 and a LOB%, or strand rate, of 80%, which is extreme and not repeatable. I see him winning around 15 games with an ERA in the low-mid 3's in 2010.

4. Chris Carpenter-Carpenter made only a handful of starts in 2007 and 2008 combined, butr returned from injury last year to start 28 games, going 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. He's not a big stikeout pitcher, and his LOB% was 79.5% in 2009, again not repeatable, as the league average is in the low 70% range.

5. Ryan Ludwick-Ludwick came down to earth in 2009 after hitting 37 homers in 2008. Ludwick went 22-97-.265-.329-.447 in 2009 after going 37-113-.299-.375-.591 in 2008. I can see him duplicating his 2009 season in 2010, and he was drafted in the 18th round in a recent mixed league mock draft I participated in.

Sleeper Alert: Colby Rasmus-Rasmus went 16-52-3-.251-.307-.407 (HR-RBI-SB-AVG-OBP-SLG) in 2009, but I think he can hit for a better average with a little more power and more SBs in 2010. I am thinking he can go 23-75-15-.280 in 2010, and he won't be drafted in the first 10 rounds in mixed league drafts. He was drafted in the 13th round in a recent mixed league mock draft I participated in.

Poll

Will Colby Rasmus have a break out season in 2010?

Yes, he was just getting his feet wet in 2009.

122 votes

No, he doesn't walk enough.

16 votes

138 votes | Poll has closed

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Cards

For a contending team the top 5 falls off quickly after #4. Ludwick could certainly bounce back and I hope he does. If Ryan Franklin can somehow repeat his 2009 then he certainly should replace Ludwick in the rankings. But we’ll just have to wait and see how that turns out. Maybe David Freese could be a sleeper but he’ll be 27 the first month of next season and that does not spell well for a guy with only 31 MLB at bats in his career. Otherwise it looks like Julio Lugo playing the 3 bag in StL unless Joe Mather makes some sort of turnaround.

by acr on Jan 17, 2010 12:45 AM EST reply actions