Richard4168:The Cardinals are already heavily favored to win the 2012 pennant as well.
Not sure where that came from. The Cardinals are one of about 8-9 teams that have pennant aspirations for next season in the NL, and I have not seen one (non-St. Louis) publication name StL the favorite. Of course, last year's top 2 regular season teams have big question marks. In Philly, an aging team gets older and Howard's injury puts a big ? at first, but they still should have the best pitching in the NL. The Brewers are still up in the air with their first base situation and Ryan Braun's situation. After that, no one knows how the Cardinals will react to losing Pujols and LaRussa, but it seems a healthy Wainwright and the adddition of Beltran may make up for the loss of Pujols, at least in WAR (Wins Above Replacement). Who knows how the Braves will react to their collapse last year? Will the Marlins' big splashes make them a contender? Can the Giants rebound behind their own formidable pitching staff? Can the Dodgers parlay the best hitter and pitcher in the League into contention? Will the Diamondbacks play over their heads again? And what about the Nationals? Strasburg, Zimmerman, and now Gonzalez make up a very strong top of the rotation, Clippard (did you know he led all of baseball, including position players, in WAR last year?) and Storen a strong end game, and with Bryce Harper on the horizon, their offense should be improved this year. Will they contend?
The National League looks set up for a wild one next year, but I don't see the Cardinals as being the favorite any more than any of these other teams. The big factor right now, the big unanswered question is "Where does Prince Fielder land?", because he could make the difference for any of these teams, including the one is he presumed to be leaving.
Right now, presuming Fielder leaves the Brewers and not presuming where he ends up, I think the Phillies' pitching is too strong in the East, I think the Cards win in the Central, and I think San Fran rebounds to win the West. After that? Braves, Nationals, Brewers, Marlins, D-Backs, and Dodgers all will be scrambling for the wild card (or wild cards, depending on the outcome of post-season expansion talks). The loser in all of this? The Mets, who's top-end payroll looks destined for the bottom of the NL East for the foreseeable future.
/end OT