Limited Edition Mike Matheny Valentine’s Day Cards

ST. LOUIS - Fifteen years after a feud with manager Tony La Russa contributed to his retirement, Cardinals hall of fame shortstop Ozzie Smith will return to the field as a guest instructor with the club during Spring Training. Smith accepted an invitation from new manager Mike Matheny to join the club in uniform this spring, something he hasn't done since he retired following...

ST. LOUIS Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday doesn't plan on forfeiting the upcoming season just because three-time MVP Albert Pujols decided to leave for the Los Angeles Angels in the offseason. As the Cardinals look to defend their World Series Championship, Holliday knows he and the rest of the team will just have to do a little bit more to make up for the nine-time All...

Now that Albert Pujols has gone to the Los Angeles Angels, catcher Yadier Molina is the longest tenured position player on the Cardinals. With his contract up at the end of the season, Molina could move on, too. Molina said he loved St. Louis but the Pujols offseason departure showed him a different side of baseball. "We've been through a lot of the same things together...

The St. Louis Cardinals got Jake Westbrook at the 2010 trade deadline, and he performed well enough down the stretch to earn a 2-year contract with a mutual option on a third year.  Last season he did not perform like the 2010 stretch Westbrook, though to be fair he did pitch to his career averages.  What do we want to to see from Jake in 2012?  More 2010 Westbrook, and less 2011...

Apparently, other television networks across the Major League Baseball landscape – whether regional or national – are not particularly interested in seeing the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals this spring. In spring training broadcast schedules posted at MLB.com, only two of the Cardinals’ eight spring opponents will be televising even one Florida contest with St...

Any lingering uncertainty regarding Jordan Swagerty's role in the Cardinals' Minor League system can be put to rest, as Cardinals farm director John Vuch confirmed that Swagerty will return to the starting rotation in 2012.

Over the last few days, word has reached the non-California parts of the world that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have initiated a new marketing campaign featuring Albert Pujols. That is hardly news in itself. After all, since Halos owner Arte Moreno committed $270 million of his money to bring the first baseman to Anaheim for the next two decades, it only makes sense his organization...

Though Ryan Jackson's time in the Arizona Fall League was spent jumping around on defense, the Cardinals intend to continue prioritizing work at shortstop for the 23-year-old infielder.

BREAKING NEWS: Yadier Molina is not Albert Pujols.  The catcher for the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals is entering the final year of his current contract, and, unless extended will become a free agent once the upcoming season ends.  And that’s about where the similarities between the redbirds’ catcher, and their former first baseman end. Molina, 29, has garnered some attention...

Believe it or not, most of our writers didn't enter the world sporting an @baseballprospectus.com address; with a few exceptions, they started out somewhere else. In an effort to up your reading pleasure while tipping our caps to some of the most illuminating work being done elsewhere on the internet, we'll be yielding the stage once a week to the best and brightest baseball...

Our analysis of the placement of St. Louis Cardinals prospects on six national top 100 prospect lists, including our own Scout.com rankings, of course.

In just days, the Cardinals will open camp in Jupiter, Fla., as the hunted. It's their title to defend, their burden to shoulder the corresponding expectations. They'll also congregate under unfamiliar circumstances.

Transition may have defined the Cardinals' offseason, but it doesn't minimize the fact that the Cardinals will arrive at Spring Training eager to defend as World Series champions.