MLB Preview: St. Louis Cardinals

The 2007 season was a sign that the end had come for the St. Louis Cardinals. The team's nucleus of talent had led the team to the post-season throughout the decade, but father time had finally caught up to the Cardinals as they finished well below 500.

The Cardinals enter 2008 in a rebuilding phase as they let go of Jim Edmonds, David Eckstein, and Scott Rolen. The team does still have Albert Pujols, who is always a good starting point for any team.

Now it's time to look at three pressing issues for the 2008 St. Louis Cardinals

(1) Did the Cardinals pick the right time to rebuild?

There really never is a right time to rebuild as no team wants to essentially give up on a season, but even the Yankees have to do this on occasion. It is always tough to rebuild in the NL Central, as 85 wins has been more than enough to win the division the past two seasons. The good news about rebuilding in this era, is the Wild Card makes the rebuilding process that much shorter as teams are only a few player acquisitions away from being a possible contender.

The Cardinals likely will not undergo a full rebuilding phase as they are consistently amongst the most active teams around the trade deadline, and aren't afraid to go after Free Agents. That being said it's still important for the team to develop their farm system as they have one of the weakest systems in all of baseball.

The team does have Colby Rasmus, who is widely considered to be major league ready, and should be able to help the Cardinals as soon as this season. Rasmus gives the Cardinals a decent outfield which to build from. Rich Ankiel was a great comeback story last season as he swatted 12 home runs despite not being called up until late in the summer.