Why are the Cardinals the best team in Baseball?

1. I gree.

2. I agree except about Wainwright

3. Good for him.

4. Are we talking about 2006, or is it now 2008. And if the Cubs had won a World Series in the last year or two (or99) would that make your team any better or worse. Bringing that up means absolutely nothing - deal with the present . Nothing that happened in 2006 or in any other season has anything to do with this year.

5. Happy for you - you got a good farm system. And some of the youngsters are contributing. But does having a few good homegrown players define success?

6. Sorry - LaRussa is decent, Duncan is decent, but it's real hard to argue that either one is the best. A great manager would have won more then 1 World series with the A's in 88-90.

7. Just like spending a ton of money is not a guarantee that your team will be good (look at the Yankees now, the Orioles a few years ago, etc.) NOT spending money does not automatically qualify your team as good. Certainly impressive to me if you can win without it, but doesn't make the team any better. (By that logic - the guy that works the fryer at McDonalds must be a better chef then Wolfgang Puck because he works for a lot less money)

One thing counts toward making a team the best - wins and losses. How they get there, whether it be through free agency, shrewd trades or developing their draft picks does not matter one bit. You've got a good team there, (hard for a Cubs fan to admit) but not a single one of your reasons makes the "the best".

Keep rooting though, lots of time left for them to really prove they are.

I'm a huge Cardinals fan, but I don't think they are the best team in Baseball.

1. I do think Pujols is the best player in baseball. Nobody has done what he has to start his career. Also a gold glove firstbasemen

2. Todd Wellemeyer (7-1) has had a fine year, Wainright is probably in the top 5 in the NL and in a few years might be the best

3. Ludwick is awesome right now, lets see how the rest of the year goes

4. 2006 is 2006...this is 2008

5. There are some good looking prospects coming along

6. LaRussa's record speaks for itself. 3rd best all time. Duncan has a way of turning around guys that other teams get rid of, that's for sure (Wellemeyer for example)

7. Not really relevant to being the best team

Overall, I'd say they are probably in the top 5 in the NL. When Albert comes back, and if Carpenter, Clement and Wainright come back like their old selves, they might be the best in the NL. We'll have to wait and see.

1. Albert Pujols...that man is awesome. I take nothing away from him. Great player. Great guy. Now that Griffey won't have the record, I would love Pujols to take the HR record by the end of his career.

2. Wellemyer has been doing well, but he has had some real bad games as well. Lohse, Pineiro, Looper all have their good days, but are not consistent enough in my mind. Wainwright is very good. I feel sad about that because I'm a Braves fan, and we traded him for that asshole JD Drew, who left after the best year of his career.

3. Ludwick is having a fine season, but we'll see if he can keep it up later on.

4. Doesn't matter when you last won one. I mean, the White Sox won in '05, but they were god awful last year...so that has nothing to do with it. You guys also had a very different team then.

5. I honestly don't know any of those names. I don't doubt that they're good, but I just don't know them. I'm a Braves fan, so I obviously assume that our prospects are better :)

6. I really don't like LaRussa. I think Bobby Cox is way better...even though LaRussa has more wins...I don't care. Pitching coach, I don't know much about, but he is not leading his pitching staff to the #1 ERA in the NL. Cubs have it right now, followed closely by Atlanta, and then Arizona. I don't even know where St. Louis is.

7. That is true. I give you props for that. I'm an Atlanta fan. We traded for somebody with a contract that big, and I think we learned our lesson (Mike Hampton anyone?). Never again...lol.

So, I agree with some of your points, but I disagree with a number of them too. I don't think they're the best team in baseball.

Yeah, this isn't a bias entry. Ok dude....grab a pen and some paper. The STL cardinals are NOT the best team in baseball! They are not even the best team in their division! In fact, they weren't even the best team in Baseball when they won the World Series in 06'! They barely scraped by to make the playoffs that year.

Youre on some pretty good hooch if you think Adam Wainwright is the best pitcher in the NL. Try Brandon Webb. Don't even act like Kyle Lohse should be a major league pitcher. I'll hit him for a two run shot.

Your talent from the minors? I'll give you Colby Rasmus. He will be a good player one day. ONly problem is....he's still in AAA. Nice try.

NL Best manager is T. Larussa? Yeah, he doesn't even attend all the AA meetings he's supposed to!

Ryan Ludwick I will give you. He is having a very good season to this point. I'll drop over dead if he continues this all year.

Don't ever compare Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz to Albert Pujols. Thats like comparing Tommy LaSorda with Anorexia. Nobody denies Albert Pujols is not one the game's premiere players. Nobody with normal brain activity will deny that. He doesn't compensate for his line up though what Manny and Papi do for their line up and team.

Cubs do spend the budget of a small country to get the players that end up failing them anyways. I'll give you that one too.

Yes, I get your point. Cubs haven't won a World Series in 100 years and the Astros never have. You didn't mention the 2004 and 1987 World Series the Cardinals failed to win. Ironic.

You're delusional.....

W-L are all that matters and you're not even the best team in your division.

Wellenmeyer is NOT a top 5 pitcher in the NL, and wainwright isn't the best. Ever hear of Brandon Webb? Jake Peavy?

Talent in the Minors doesn't make you the best team in the Majors....

I won't argue with the Pujols or Ludwick points.

It doesn't matter how you get to a winning team, as long as you get there. Cubs may have spent a ton of money, but the still have a stocked farm system...

Maybe you should at least get to the top of the division before declaring yourself the best?

Even though the Cubs are up by 2 1/2 games over the Cardinals & if I were to bet, I would take the Cardinals because unlike the Cubs, they can't win on road & the Cards are better than them on the road, just look at their road records. I am not a fan or hater of neither team but just giving my opinion on the race in the NL Central

1) OK...point taken...Derek Lee is still better because of his defense.

2) That's a joke. Wellemeyer couldn't even stay on the Cubs roster. Looper and Wellemeyer will crumble in the 2nd half because they will run out of gas. Pineiro and Loshe have never had a good season. Wainwright is good, but I would rather have Carlos Zambrano.

3) Good pickup...having a nice year.

4) Winning the WS in 2006 does not make the Cards the best team in baseball now. Heck, they won 83 games in 2006 and had a good playoff run....during the season they weren't even the best team in baseball in 2006.

5) Big deal...lots of teams have good raw talent, including the Cubs.

6) What makes LaRussa the best? The fact that he is a jerk to his players and fans? Or maybe that he sets a good example by driving drunk and then criticizing his players for doing the same thing? LaRussa is a bad person.

Duncan is ok, but a bad Dad for not warning his son about the dangers of steroids.

7) The Tampa Bay Rays have almost an identical record as the Cards and their payroll is even less. Point?

They aren't. They aren't even the best team in their division.

Pujols is a great player, but until he has the longevity and continued success Manny has (for example 500+ HR's) please don't compare the two. Or until he can almost single handedley dig his team out of an 0-3 hole in the NLCS like Ortiz did for the Sox in the ALCS in 2004 he's nowhere near as "clutch".

I don't think Joel Pineiros mom would even label him as a "hidden gem". Adam Wainwright is arguably the best pitcher in the NL? Really? Not Brandon Webb, or Edinson Volquez, or Tim Lincecum.

No arguments about Ludwick, he's tearing it up!

The only thing LaRussa is best at is endangering the lives of US motorists and pedestrians.

Sorry, but the Cards are not the best team in baseball. They are argueably the best in the NL, however Cubs fans are on a high at the moment, and if it weren't for the recent 2-game skid at Florida, Phillies would argue that as well. While you have made nice points (especially about the FA signings) I disagree with being the best team. I would take Philadelphia (personal bias) the Angels or the Red Sox over the Cards.

the cubs are going to run out of steam...they always do. Even if they make the playoffs, they will blow it like they have for the past 100 years. The cardinals can definately be argued as the best team overall this decade, they have been to the nlcs atleast 4 times i believe, and the world series twice (winning one). If the cardinals and cubs go into the playoffs (which looks likely), expect the cardinals to blow past them. They are a very clutch team with the best management. And if Carpenter is healthy later this season, itll be allll over.