All Decade Team Part 2: Houston Astros

In part 2 of the Brain Trust's All Decade series, we'll be looking at current opponents and possibly the largest rival from the mid 2000's, the Astros.  Although now and in the past few years the Stros have been bottom dwellers in the Central, I think some people forget just how stacked this team was in the mid and early part of the decade.  Really stacked.  Putting together this team, we actually had to do a little shuffling just to fit in all of the talent, so without further ado, and an ode to the Puma, here is your 2000-2010 Houston All Decade team:

Series Preview: Astros

Cardinals (12-10) vs Astros (8-14)

Minute Maid Park : 3 Game Series

And your First place St. Louis Cardinals...It feels so good to say that, lets hope they can keep it up. And to start this road trip they head down to Houston, owners of the 2nd worst record in the league (just in front of Seattle). Unfortunately we also have to now worry about Albert. While he finally is starting to hit, .286 in the last two series, he now has a hamstring problem. We have seen these before, and it is a major reason why many are hesitant to sing him to a long term contract. His body doesnt seem to be aging well, and that elbow could be a ticking time bomb. But the real stories of this series are at 1B for the Astros, not the Cards. Their Former first baseman, Lance Berkman, is having a career revival with us out in left field, while their current is one time Cardinals top prospect Brett Wallace.

Series Preview: Reds

Reds (10-9) vs Cardinals (10-9)

Busch Stadium : 3 Game Series

We all know what happened last year in Cincinnati, and Im sure that we will still be looking for revenge, but it will be just as much about what happened in the standings as about what happened behind home plate. There is now actual distain between many on both sides of this once non-rivalry, but what will keep it a strong rivalry is the battle in the standings.

Series Preview: Nats

Nationals (8-7) vs Cardinals (8-8)

Busch Stadium : 3 Game Series

Boy how much a road trip to the west can completely change the picture. When we were getting ready for the D'Backs, the Birds offense was stagnant and in the bottom 5-10 of almost every offensive category. Now as we get ready for a bit of home cooking, we are atop the league in offense along with those pesky Reds. Sitting at 1st place in both team Batting Average and On Base Percentage, 2nd in Runs scored, and 4th in Slugging. The past 7 games have been the offensive explosion needed to kick-start this team. When leaving San Fran for Arizona, our Cardinals were sitting at a less than impressive 3-6 and are coming home at a much more respectable 8-8. The Nats are no slouch this year either, and are only sitting 2 games behind the Phillies for first place. On a bit of a winning streak, 3 straight over the Brew Crew and 7 of their past 10, Washington is starting to put some things together, even without their best players or their best prospects yet.

All Decade Team Part 1: St. Louis Cardinals

Mark Prior. Kerry Wood. Derrick Lee.  Sitting in class today, I was having a friendly convo with a friend who is also a Cubs fan.  We got to talking about general things, and he made the claim that while he admitted the Redbirds have had the most success in the last decade, the Cubbies had just as many great players.  I argued, that the Astros would hold this honor.  So, I got to thinking, and decided to start a 6 part series on the 2000-2010 All Decade Teams in the NL Central.  If the Pirates held onto all their prospects, would their team be stacked?  Do the Cubs really match up with the Birds?  Let's take a look in Part 1 today, the Redbirds:

Weekend Wrap-Up

After yesterday's walk-off blast from Matt Kemp, this Monday morning seems a little bitter for Cardinal Nation. But, there was a lot of very good things that came out of this weekend, so let's recap:

1,000 Views

Just a quick note.  The blog surpassed 1,000 views all-time this week, and wanted to thank everybody who has been following.  Thanks and Go Cards!